Agora Paleobotanica 2015

July 2015, 6 - 9 - Autun (France)

Welcome to the webpage of the 2015 meeting of Agora Paleobotanica. This year, the meeting will be held in Autun, to commemorate the research conducted in the area by Bernard Renault (1836-1904).
The meeting will take place over three days, from July 6 to July 9. A day and a half will be devoted to presentations in all areas of paleobotany, but with a focus on anatomically preserved plants and fungi that were the main material studied by B. Renault. The visit of the collections of the Autun Natural History Museum “Jacques de La Comble » and a fieldtrip to the Permian site of Muse will complete the program.

Organizing comitee

Anaïs BOURA -- Université Pierre et Marie Curie, Paris
Jean BROUTIN -- Université Pierre et Marie Curie, Paris
Dominique CHABARD -- Muséum d’Histoire Naturelle Jacques de La Comble, Autun
Anne-Laure DECOMBEIX -- UMR AMAP, Montpellier
Jean GALTIER -- UMR AMAP, Montpellier
Georges GAND -- Université de Bourgogne, Dijon
Evelyne JONDOT -- Muséum d’Histoire Naturelle Jacques de La Comble, Autun
Brigitte MEYER-BERTHAUD -- UMR AMAP, Montpellier

News

15/06/2015
There are now 49 registered participants from 9 different countries. The talks (28) and posters (5) will present studies of fossil plants and fungi from the Ordovician to Eocene.

Important dates

Octobre 2014 : first circular
31 décembre 2014 : deadline for pre-inscriptions
Mars 2015 : second circular
May 15, 2015 : registration and abstract submission deadline
6-9 juillet 2015 : meeting

Program

Monday July 6

Museum d’Histoire Naturelle Jacques de La Comble (14 rue St Antoine)
16h-17h30 : participant arrival
17h30-18h : opening conference
18h-19h30 : welcome drinks
Diner

Tuesday July 7

Salon d’honneur de la mairie d’Autun (Place du Champ de Mars)
9h-12h20: communications
14h-17h30: communications
18h-19h : Agora Paleobotanica business meeting
Lunch and diner

Wednesday July 8

Salon d’honneur de la mairie d’Autun
9h-12h30: communications
Lunch

Museum d’Histoire Naturelle Jacques de La Comble
14h-17h: visit of the museum and of the fossil exhibition prepared by Jean Broutin and Jean Galtier

19h30-21h: banquet and award announcement.

Thursday July 9

9h-12h30: depart by bus to Muse, about 20 minutes from Autun. Morning at the 2 localities.
12h30-14h: Return to Autun, picnic and end of the congress

Download the program and abstracts

Communications

Topics: All topics related to palaeobotany and palynology are accepted. However, we particularly encourage communications devoted to anatomically preserved plants and fungi. This type of fossils, abundant in the Autun basin, was the preferred material of Bernard Renault and helped to make him known worldwide.
Talks: Talks will be 15 minutes + 5 minutes for questions. A computer (PC) and video projector will be available. It is recommended to have your talk in either a recent Power Point or .pdf format.
Posters: Format portrait A0 (841 × 1189 cm). Possibility to send your .pdf file for printing directly by the Autun Museum. In that case the file will have to be sent to the organizers before June 18.
Language: There is no official language of the Congress; communications can be presented in the chosen language of each participant. Each presenter is however responsible for the good reception of information by the public. If needed, a different language can be used on the slides (e.g., communication in French with slides in English).

Award : Student and postdoc members of Agora Paleobotanica will be able to compete for the best communication award (“Prix Boureau”).

Download the abstract template

Registration

The registration fee is 110 euros (60 euros for students and postdocs).
This amount includes the welcome drinks (6/07), participation in communications, the museum visit and fossil exhibit, the banquet (08/09), the field-trip to Muse and picnic (09/09). Participants who do not wish to participate in one or more of these activities are invited to inform the organizers.

Accompanying members are welcome. Fees are:

Icebreaker + banquet + visit to the Museum: 60 €
Icebreaker + banquet + visit to the Museum + last day field trip & lunch: 72 €

The deadline for registration is
May 15, 2015

Download the registration form

Partners

Association AGORA PALEOBOTANICA PALEOBOTANICA is an organization created in 2010 that gathers European researchers and amateurs interested in paleobotany and palynology. The current organization appeared from the re-organization of the OFP (Francophone Organization of Palaeobotany). The current group includes representatives from numerous countries, mostly from Western Europe.
The current administrative direction is the following
- President: José Bienvenido Diez Ferrer (University of Vigo, Spain)
- Secretary: Dario De Franceschi (Natural History Museum of Paris, France)
- Treasurer: Anais Boura (Université Pierre & Marie Curie, Paris, France)
The general assembly of Agora Paleobotanica will be held during this meeting. The board will be renewed for the next four years.

L'Umr AMAP is a multidisciplinary department, focussing on structural botany, systematics, modeling, and simulation of plant architecture and plant cover. It brings together botanists and ecologists, agronomists and foresters, applied mathematicians and computer scientists. AMAP includes Mediterranean, temperate, and tropical problematics, and seeks to take into account the phylogenetic and biogeographic dimensions through the study of various plant groups and life forms, homogeneous or diverse taxa, living or fossil, closely located or far apart. The UMR goal also being to develop tools or finalized products, the studied plant formations range from natural to anthropic.
Web site: amap.cirad.fr

Meeting location

Hôtel de ville d'Autun
Place du Champ de Mars
BP 133 71403 Autun Cedex
The carpark in front of the city hall should be free. It is inaccessible on Wednesdays because of the market.

Museum d'Histoire Naturelle Jacques de La Comble
14 rue Saint-Antoine
http://www.autun.com/Les-lieux-de-loisirs/expositions-temporaires-museum-d-histoire-naturelle.html
There is another access (backyard & garden) from Impasse Rollet.

View on a larger map

Association AUTUN is a town of about 15,000 inhabitants located in Burgundy. The city is located on the southern edge of the Autun Basin, which is Permian and includes the stratotype of the Autunian (equivalent to Asselian, first stage of the Permian). Autun is also an historical city of history, with many preserved antique and medieval buildings, such as the Roman theater and the St. Lazare Cathedral (twelfth century).
The climate is dry and temperate, with temperatures ranging 15-25°C (60-77°F) in July.

More information on the city: http://www.autun.com

By TGV (high-speed train)

Station « Le Creusot - Montceau TGV » is 1.5 hour from Paris (« Paris Gare de Lyon » station). From there, it takes 30 minutes to go to Autun by car or using the bus service.
No. 5 bus runs between the TGV station and Autun and schedules are fitted on the arrivals and departures of TGVs. The buses depart in front of the TGV station. In Autun they arrive at the old train station downtown.
Download the bus timetable

By car

Autun is 2 hour drive from Lyon and 3 from Paris. 3 exchangers are located near Autun: Beaune, Pouilly en Auxois and Chalon sur Saône (about 45 min). Autun is reached via highway A26 when coming from Calais, A5-A6 from Paris, A31 from Luxembourg, Nancy and Metz, A6 from Lyon.

By plane

Two international airports are located 2 hours from Autun: Geneva (Switzerland) and Lyon St-Exupery.
The regional airport of Dijon is about 1 hour from Autun.