Our new IGCP Project 653: Onset of the Great Ordovician Biodiversification Event formally kicked off with our opening meeting at Durham University in England at the end of September. It was a really fantastic event, a small meeting with lots of time for lively discussion of topics such as “Just what is the GOBE?” and “When did it start?” and “How do environmental changes, such a decreased sea temperature, actually cause the process of speciation to occur?” and “Is the Dariwilian increase simply a brachiopod pattern or it is more general?” I am excited to explore these topics and more with my colleagues as the project progresses.
My formal write-up and image gallery are over on the IGCP 653 website here.
Durham meeting in photos | IGCP 653
The opening meeting of IGCP 653: Onset of the Great Ordovician Biodiversification Event held September 25- October 1st at Durham University. Dubbed “Ordovician by the Lakes” due to the proximity of the conference room to Van Mildert College lake and the field excursion to the English Lake District, participants certainly had plenty of water to contemplate both from the meeting setting and the Ordovician seas.
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- Familiar diversity curves
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- IGCP 653 co-leaders and Ordovician Subcommission Chair
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- With Cautleyan brachiopods
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- Beautiful vista of a glacial valley
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- Searching for Hirnantian brachiopods
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- Brachiopod workers unite!
