What is the collective noun for palaeontologists? An assemblage? A formation? A museum? Whatever it is, there was a big one last week in Melbourne/Naarm, Australia, for the 18th Conference on Australasian Vertebrate Evolution, Palaeontology & Systematics (CAVEPS 2023).
Alice Clement, Aaron Camens, & Jacob van Zoelen
Some >180 attendees from Australia, New Zealand and beyond gathered to share their research on all aspects of the evolution and palaeontology of vertebrate animals (animals with a backbone). It was a very exciting and promising indication of the future of palaeontology in our region with more than half of all attendees being students (who often gave the best presentations).
It was a busy week for me, giving a presentation in the “Synchrotron Imaging” workshop on Monday, presenting a poster (VAMP!) and giving one of the plenary lectures (alongside Tim Flannery & Kliti Grice).
A very important and insightful component was the session about why palaeontologists need to collaborate with First Nations people, facilitated by Jillian Garvey and Steve Salisbury. I was very pleased to see the beginnings of some (hopefully) meaningful change in our discipline and look forward to seeing how our approaches evolve in the years to come.
A big thank you to the organisers for a wonderful meeting, and I hope everyone is looking forward to the next one, to be held in Adelaide in 2025!
Dr Alice Clement 