QRC members lead and participate in a wide range of disciplinary and interdisciplinary research projects from the study of past earth climates and glaciations to shifts in the geographic distributions and evolution of vegetation and faunal communities, to the evolution and dispersals of the genus Homo and the increasing scales of human modification of earth environments through the Holocene. QRC provides a venue for meeting and collaborating with scholars across Quaternary disciplines. We are also fortunate to be able to provide seed funding and small grants for member research projects. We are especially happy to support grad student and junior scholar research activities, much of which leads to larger, external funding from agencies like the National Science Foundation.
Workshop: Defining the Cutting Edge of Quaternary Science of Genetic Paleoecology
Abstract: The QRC Workshop in Genetic Paleoecology (November 15-16, 2018) will bring together a sample of leading researchers in ancient DNA (aDNA) specializing in the extraction of ancient biological information from a range of contexts (e.g., paleontological, archaeological, botanical, and sedimentary). Much work in this exploding field has focused on issues of evolutionary phylogeny and paleobiogeography. To a more limited degree, some researchers are starting to explore the potential for paleoecological analyses using paleogenetic data sets. Some are also tackling previously unexamined issues related to taphonomic and other processes influencing genetic information recovered from these samples. This workshop is intended to explore these issues through 1) presentations by invited experts from outside of UW; 2) panel and open discussion between those invited experts and UW specialists in related fields; and 3) a brainstorming session to define the “top-20” questions at the forefront of Genetic Paleoecology. We anticipate that these three activities will provide QRC and other participating students and faculty an opportunity to advance understanding of this growing area of study, provide avenues for those inclined to network and pursue future research using and evaluating the developing approaches. We hope that bringing these scholars together to explore questions not yet answered will also inspire them and others to anticipate new research needs. QRC has a nearly 50-year legacy leading and inspiring the field of cutting-edge Quaternary science, especially in the area of paleoecological method, theory and practice. While we don’t currently have QRC faculty working in paleogenomics, we see this workshop as another step to perpetuate this tradition of service to Quaternary science and UW.
Workshop: International Phytolith Taxonomy Committee
Abstract: Plant silica (phytoliths) is an increasingly common tool for answering archaeological, palaeoenvironmental, evolutionary, taxonomic, and climatic questions, often within a multidisciplinary framework. Owing to the diverse fields in which phytolith analysis is applied, the establishment of a universally accepted nomenclature and classification system of phytoliths has lagged behind. This lack of a universal system substantially hinders communication among researchers and inter-study comparisons. An effort to standardize the naming of phytoliths was made by the International Committee for Phytolith Nomenclature (“ICPN 1.0”) in 2005, but suffers from major shortcomings. In addition, a formal way to describe and classify phytolith taxonomic units (‘morphotypes’) is still missing.
In 2015, the ICPT formed, with the purpose of updating and revising the ICPN 1.0, creating a formal procedure/format for phytolith description, and a classification system. The ICPT consists of archaeologists, Quaternary paleoecologists, botanists, and deep-time paleobotanists, representing a cross section of phytolith scientists. After four workshops we have a rough draft of the first publication (‘ICPN 2.0’); however, a fifth workshop is needed to finalize several important aspects and plan out the next steps.