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Tillywhanland Quarry, Forfarshire in July 1997 (see entry for V.T. Young) and Middle Devonian of Tynet Burn, Scotland in July/August 1997. Trewin, N.H. & Davidson, R.G. (in preparation). Lake Level changes, sedimentation and faunas in a Middle Devonian basin-margin fish bed. (Tynet Burn, Scotland).

Prof. David Dineley (Bristol): Devonian environments and biogeography.

agnathans;

their

morphology,

biostratigraphy,distribution,

palaeo-

Dr. Chris Duffin (London): Palaeozoic sharks; their morphology, biogeography and biostratigraphy and palaeoenvironment. During August 1997 a workshop meeting took place between Dr. C. Duffin and Dr. A. Ivanov from St. Petersburg University, Russia and National Correspondent for Russia. Discussions included topics of mutual scientific interest such as the stratgraphic record of Cooleyellaand Lissodus, and the distinction between various "cladodont" genera. They also spent a one day field work visit together with Dr. D. Smith of Derby University inspecting the Brigantian (Early Carboniferous) succession of the Matlock area, and collecting from Steeplehouse Quarry, the type locality for Coolyella fordi(Duffin & Ward 1983) and Lissodus wirksworthensisDuffin 1985. One bedding plane was composed almost entirely of the dermal denticles of Petrodus patelliformis. In early September C. Duffin presented a brief overview of the Carboniferous vertebrate palaeontology of Derbyshire at the international 45th annual Symposium of Vertebrate Palaeontology and Comparative Anatomy at the University of Derby, the talk being preparatory to a field trip to a number of sites in the Derbyshire Carboniferous, including Steeplehouse Quarry, Once a Week Quarry and the Coles Hill Quarry complex. Mags Duncan (Trinity, Dublin): Working on Lower Carboniferous chondrichtyan microremains from Ireland. She attended the international scientific meeting of IGCP 406 meeting in St. Petersburg in September 1997. Gave a preliminary talk at the Palaeontological Association in December 1997. Rebecca Hitchin and Elizabeth Cook (Bristol): Planning a redescription of the (?)Fammenian Woodhill Bay fish bed, Portishead, North Somerset. This will include palaeontology, stratigraphy and sedimentology. Dr. Simon Braddy is looking at the eurypterid fossils found there. The site is visited each month and new material collected from latest cliff falls, and new exposures. R.H is particularly interested in Devonian biogeography and Palaeozoic actinopterygians. Professor Michael House (Southampton): Scientific work does not involve vertebrate palaeontology but involves related Middle Palaeozoic biostratigraphy. This has recently included collation for publication of accounts on two Devonian GSSPs, that of the Givetian, listed below, and that of the Emsian which is to be published in Episodes in 1998.A collective work on the Kacak Event has appeared which is a marine event which may correlate with the Achanarrass Fish Bed. Joint work in the Timan of northern Europeean Russia under an INTAS programme (1994-1996) with Russian colleagues, Vladimir Menner (IGIRGI), Nonna Ovnatanova (VNIGNI), Alexei Kuz'min (VNIGNI) and Sergei Yatsov (PIN) in conjunction with R. Thomas Becker (Humboldt University, Berlin) has been completed and results presented at a conference in Aberdeen in June 1997 (Abstract listed below). This programme has been extended for a second phase with Pierre Bultynck as coordinator (1996-1998). Essentially this work attempts high resolution correlation of the Pechora Basin succession with other areas and attempts to elucidate local and eustatic sea level signatures. A more general view of Devonian sea levels resulting from the DECWOL (Moscow 1994) symposium of the Devonian Subcommission on Stratigraphy on Stratigraphy was published in CFS in 1997: this contains many papers covering Europe, Asia and Australia. Work has been published on attempting to establish an orbital forcing timescale (OFT) for the Middle Devonian. Duncan Hawley (S. Wales): Studying the sediments and fossils of the Brecon Beacons area for a PhD. Interested in sedimentology, palaeo-environments, palaeontology, palaeo-geography, and field mapping. Sue Turner, Jo Vergoossen and Rod Williams are pursuing microvertebrate work in the same area. Dr. Liz Loeffler (Bristol): In 1996 spent a week in Canada 7-13 July 1996 part funded by IGCP 406 and a University of Bristol Travel Grant. In addition to attending the Workshop Meeting of the Canadian Arctic Working Group she was able to examine and discuss the important Canadian Arctic vertebrate collections at Edmonton (with Mark Wilson and his group) and at Calgary (with Ray Thorsteinsson). She is continuing work on the vertebrate material from the Cape Storm Formation of Somerset Island - see 1998 listing. Dr. John Marshall (Southampton) and T. Astin (Reading): General scientific interest (JM): Palynologist, working on Devonian sediments. Recently completed three field seasons on the Devonian of East Greenland. Aim to construct a climate based stratigraphy for mid to late Devonian, which can then be used as a template for the same interval in the UK and North Sea area. eg. last season we measured 3.5 km of Frasnian and Fammenian section, established a climatic stratigraphy and the palynological samples are now being processed to establish the tie points. This has given us the first accurately measured section through the famous Late Devonian fish and tetrapod sites in East Greenland. Prior to working in Greenland we have done 21/19 years in the Orcadian Basin in Northern Scotland on a variety of palynological and stratigraphic topics. Dr. Tim Astin, Sedimentologist, has established the climatic stratigraphy and essential facies identification, logged sections etc. both in the Orcadian Basin and East Greenland. 1996: Six weeks field work on the Late Devonian rocks in East Greenland in association with the Cambridge Arctic Shelf Programme. The broad aim was to produce a detailed integrated litho and palynostratigraphy through the Kap Graah and Celsius Bjerg Groups. Interpretation of the sedimentary facies enables a broad climatic stratigraphy to be established and dated with recovered palynomorphs. These sections will be 7