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THE INTERNATIONAL PALAEONTOLOGICAL ASSOCIATION: 2005 MIDYEAR NEWS Richard J. Aldridge, Roger L. Kaesler and Rosalie F. Maddocks Since 1933 the International Palaeontological Association has represented paleontologists of the world. The aims of the IPA are to promote and coordinate international cooperation in palaeontology of all geological periods and to encourage the integration and synthesis of all palaeontological knowledge. The Association represents the interests of palaeontology in the International Union of Geological Sciences (IUGS) and the International Union of Biological Sciences (IUBS) and now also sponsors the International Palaeontological Congresses. Lethaia, the international journal of palaeontology and stratigraphy, is a formal publication outlet for the IPA. We value this long-time association and are pleased to have this opportunity to communicate with paleontologists worldwide. Website and Directories At the IPA website <http://ipa.geo.ku.edu> the IPA maintains a free online World Directory of Paleontologists. The site is immensely popular, and many people have already entered their data. If you have not yet done so, please visit the site and follow the instructions to enter your information online. This site is most valuable if it is comprehensive and up to date, so please take the few minutes to submit or update your entry. If you entered your data previously, please visit the site briefly to verify that everything is correct, especially the e-mail address. If changes are needed, please complete the form fully and select the UPDATE button. Also at this site you will find the Directory of Fossil Collections and the PaleoLink Database. Please visit those databases as well, to add or update your information. A Directory of Globally Important Paleontological Sites is under development, though not yet ready for viewing. This is intended to serve as a global resource of information concerning threatened, endangered, and protected paleontological sites. The officers of IPA welcome input concerning this activity. A Directory of Paleontological Societies and Associations is also being developed. The IPA is grateful to the webmaster, Michael Cormack of the University of Kansas, for maintaining these directories. IPC2006: Second International Palaeontological Congress The IPA sponsors this meeting, which will be hosted by the Palaeontological Society of China in Beijing, China, June 17 to 23, 2006. Detailed information is available at the IPC2006 website <http://ipc2006.ac.cn>. The schedule will include field excursions, a one-day mid-congress excursion, exhibitions of collections, and four days for plenary sessions, special sessions, and business meetings. There will be about 35 symposia, including plenary sessions with speakers representing IGCP projects and other international programs. All Corporate Members of IPA are invited to sponsor or co-sponsor one or more symposia at IPC2006. Proposals for symposia and other suggestions should be forwarded to Dr. Jin Yu-gan, Vice-President of IPA and Co-Chair, International Scientific Committee for IPC2006. The first congress held in Australia in 2002 represented a wide range of interests of our community and showcased the vigor and vitality of our discipline. It also provided an invaluable venue for our colleagues worldwide, and across all subdisciplines, to meet and mingle, and as a result, facilitated both international and interdisciplinary collaborations. We hope that the IPC 2006 will capture the rapid growth in our paleontological knowledge and highlight the importance of exploring unknown territories in our discipline. IPA Constitution The Constitution of IPA, as revised July 8, 2002, is published online at the IPA website. The Officers are considering a proposal for amendments to the Constitution, which will be circulated to the Council for discussion, published on the website and in Lethaia, and brought to the General Assembly at the International Palaeontological Congress in Beijing in 2006. IPA Membership Corporate Members are national paleontological societies and other organizations who support the aims of IPA. All Corporate Members should have received a statement for 2005 early in the year and are asked to pay dues promptly to support the work of IPA. If your organization is not currently a Corporate Member of IPA or if you did not receive a dues statement, we encourage you to contact the Treasurer, Dr. Roger L. Kaesler <kaesler@ku.edu> for information about how to join. Individual membership in IPA is linked to subscription to Lethaia. For more information please visit the IPA website. For the Future It is our hope that all members of the global palaeontological community will continue to support the IPA and to benefit from its activities. We wish to keep an open dialogue with all our membership. All officers of the Association welcome your comments and suggestions on how we can further the cause of palaeontology around the world. PRESIDENT Prof. Richard J. Aldridge, Department of Geology, University of Leicester, University Road, Leicester, England LE1 7RH UNITED KINGDOM fax: 0116 252 3918 e-mail: ra12@le.ac.uk TREASURER Prof. Roger L. Kaesler, Paleontological Institute, The University of Kansas, 1475 Jayhawk Blvd, Rm 121 Lawrence, KS 66045-7613 USA fax: 785 864-5276 e-mail: kaesler@ku.edu SECRETARY-GENERAL Prof. Rosalie F. Maddocks Department of Geosciences Room 312 Science & Research Bldg. 1 University of Houston, Houston, TX 77204-5007 USA e-mail: rmaddocks@uh.edu VICE PRESIDENTS: Dr. Luis A. Butois (Canada) Dr. Daniel Goujet (France) Prof. Else Marie Friis (Sweden) Prof. Jin Yu-gan (China) Dr. Tat'yana N. Koren (Russia) * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Dr. Rosalie F. Maddocks Department of Geosciences Room 312 Science & Research Bldg. 1 University of Houston Houston, TX 77204-5007 U.S.A. 713-743-3429 * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
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