Bremen International Graduate School for Marine Sciences

The International Palynogical Congress is organised every four years and it is the major palynological conference where all the different branches of Palynology are represented. This 13th meeting was held in Tokyo (Japan) from 23rd to 30th of August and the main theme was “Palynology and Palaeobotany in the Century of the Environment”. More than 500 contributions between oral and posters were presented. During the session: "Into the Icehouse - Climate and vegetation change at the end of the Pliocene”, I gave a talk titled: “A marine palynological study from off north-western Africa as a tool for land–sea correlation in the Late Pliocene” showing the first results of my on-going PhD project. I received positive feedbacks during the discussion time and after I could discuss data with experts studying the Pliocene vegetation in other areas of the world. I participated in other sessions directly related to my PhD project and I got to know new perspectives within my field that will help me in my scientific career. Moreover, during the social events I could get in contact with people exchanging information and establishing a fruitful network.

Presenting my results at this congress was a very good opportunity to introduce myself and my PhD work to a broad palynological community. I thank GLOMAR’s financial support which gave me the chance to join this important congress.