Paleontological Societies in the 21st Century

Jean-Claude Gall, Dianne Edwards, Sergio Archangelsky, and Jere H. Lipps

Why Have Paleontological Societies?

Paleontological societies exist in most large and some smaller countries of the world, as well as in particular regions. Many countries or regions support more than one society, but these are dedicated to different aspects or taxa of fossils. In particular, the United Kingdom, United States, Germany, France, India, China, Russia, Argentina, Australia and some other countries, each has several professional societies dedicated to general paleontology, micropaleontology, paleobotany or other special topics. Societies also have been organized by amateur paleontologists wishing to exchange information or fossils. Usually a society has been formed when a certain critical number of people (several hundred) have decided that there would be mutual benefit from one. Most paleontologists are associated with at least one society.

Who Are the Paleontological Societies?

In the beginning, paleontologists were part of the geological community. Progressively, they asserted the specificity of their discipline in creating paleontological societies. The oldest one is probably the Palaeontographical Society founded in 1847 in London. In 1908 the Paleontological Society (United States), in 1912 the Palaeontologische Gesellschaft (Germany), in 1955 the Asociacion Paleontologica Argentina, in 1947 the Societa Paleontologica Italiana, in 1957 the Palaeontological Association in England, in 1958 the Sociedade Brasileira de Paleontologia, in 1970 the Latinamerican Association of Paleobotany and Palynology, in 1979 the Association Palontologique Francaise, and in 1987 the Sociedad Mexicana de Paleontologia were founded. Other societies were also formed for different subdisciplines and at different times. Presently, there may be over 100 societies worldwide dedicated to some aspects of paleontology. There is little communication between them, however.

Many societies now have sites on the WorldWide Web that contain a variety of useful information and membership applications. Links to some of these sites can be found on the PaleoNet (www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/Paleonet/Places) and other sites. A complete listing is required.

What Do the Societies Do?

Every scientific community needs an organization that allows its members to meet, communicate, and cooperate. In the case of paleontological societies, this requirement is expressed through holding meetings, organizing field trips, and publishing journals, memoirs, and newsletters. These activities are without exception designed to permit society members to learn about the science, to communicate their research results to the paleontological community, and carry out societal business.

Membership in paleontological societies consists of professional paleontologists who make a living at the science, and amateurs who do it for pleasure. No one joins without an interest in fossils. Perhaps 10,000 people worldwide are employed as paleontologists. But more and more non-professional colleagues join the professional paleontological community as their interests develop beyond the accumulation of fossils. Such an evolution is irreversible and indicates that amateurs should be welcomed in paleontological societies. These are often very enthusiastic members, spending much time collecting and caring for fossils, and thus providing a significant contribution to paleontology. The integration of non-professional members is the best way to avoid the loss of information represented by private collections, to educate both professional and amateur members about the others goals, and to develop useful collaborations that yield results for the entire community.

Recently, in 1991, the European Paleontological Association (EPA) was created as an answer to the wishes of many European paleontologists to structure their profession within the framework of the European Union. This Association does not intend to take the place of national societies, but to offer the opportunity to foster cooperation among paleontologists from different European countries, as well as to strengthen and to protect the paleontological heritage of Europe. Since 1992, EPA workshops and congresses are held yearly in different countries, which convene paleontologists around topics of particular interest.

What Can the Societies Do?

Paleontological societies could have major influence over their own and their members future if they refocused some effort. In North America, Europe, and elsewhere, opportunities for academic, industrial, and museum paleontological employment have decreased in the last decade or so. The decline is economically based, in that employers seek to cut costs by decreasing less useful employees. In most of these situations, paleontologists appear to be dispensable because other disciplines produce more visible or applicable science and other techniques make paleontology appear less useful. Likewise, funding for paleontological research has become increasingly difficult to acquire. In contrast, however, there is a tremendous popular interest in paleontology through collecting fossils, visiting paleontological exhibitions, attending lectures and reading books dealing with fossils. The public fascination with fossils has promoted blockbuster movies, cover stories in national magazines, and, negatively, a resurgence in fossil-based pseudoscientific TV programs, magazine pieces, and books. Paleontological societies thus have their work cut out for them, if they are concerned about the survival of their discipline.

How Can They Do This?

The mission of paleontological societies in general must expand beyond their traditional roles. The nature of the expansion will depend on the goals of the society, its location, the public community in which it resides, and the national or regional situation. Each society needs to consider carefully and individually how to modify its own mission and efforts. In general, however, we have identified the following possibilities:

1. Societies should, above all, continue their traditional activities of supporting professional activities, like publishing journals and monographs. Indeed, the publication of monographs is becoming increasingly difficult as the production costs rise and income sources dwindle, and societies may well be the only remaining hope for specialized works. The societies must continue to run their operations in a business-like manner that makes the majority of resources available for their missions.
   
   
2. Societies can play an essential role in popularizing paleontology in the general public. Exhibitions, publications and lectures are different ways for establishing a dialogue between paleontologists and the public. For example, the European Paleontological Association plans to publish a book illustrating the history of life by describing selected European Fossillagerstatte, the Paleontological Society sponsors public events such as Fossil Fest and DinoFest that attract thousands of people. Such initiatives deserve to be encouraged, but there are many other ways to influence the public. Societies could issue news releases and arrange press conferences that deal with significant or popular results (dinosaurs, Martian fossils, ancient events in a region, etc.). An unexplored opportunity may be for societies to organize their membership to interact with the media, television in particular, by encouraging meetings and workshops for writers, producers, and actors. Certainly, they need the help!
   
   
3. Paleontological societies must play a larger role in education. While public outreach helps enormously, teacher training that emphasizes paleontology and its connection with other sciences is essential. Indeed, children already enthusiastically receive paleontology; hence the step to more serious education about science is easily made. The Cushman Foundation, The Paleontological Society and the Society for Vertebrate Paleontology have collaborated in teacher training workshops at national meetings in the United States quite effectively. Hundreds of teachers have learned about hands-on exercises involving fossil vertebrates, invertebrates, plants and foraminifera both in workshops, books (Paleontological Society Papers No. 2, "Learning from the Fossil Record", and on-line (http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/fosrec/fosrec.html).
   
   All were well received. These efforts, however noteworthy, are minuscule (serving only a few hundred teachers in a single country) compared to the potential and need worldwide. Other ideas, especially at the national levels are required, and these will be done of necessity by the societies.
   
   Societies also need to educate the amateur paleontologists about the various goals of the science and the amateurs need to educate the professionals about their goals. The best way to do this is to include amateurs, at least serious ones, as members of the societies. In addition, societies might award outstanding contributions by amateurs. For instance, the Paleontological Association recently instituted an award for the "best amateur paleontologist", and the Paleontological Society has for a number of years presented its Strimple Award to an outstanding amateur(s).
   
   
4. Paleontological societies must take an aggressive stance against the elimination of paleontology jobs in industry, academia and museums. These efforts must be carefully crafted for particular cases or classes of cases. For example, it would do little good to try to convince an oil company to retain paleontologists when management may be able to demonstrate other ways of solving their problems, either scientifically or administratively. On the other hand, the elimination of paleontology from geology departments can be attacked because much of the history of the earth was influenced by life and it can be deciphered only by fossil studies. Biology departments generally spend their efforts studying and teaching about living systems without any consideration of those systems' history. We must convince biologists who hire faculty to consider paleontologists because they open a whole host of new hypotheses and tests of models, which are based only on the Recent. Paleontological societies can do this through their publications, sponsorship of symposia at meetings of geological and biological societies, and by direct influence with their colleagues in the other sciences.
   
   
5. Paleontological societies can also play an influential role in regional and national political decision-making of consequence to paleontologists. For example, the regulation of fossil collecting is an issue in many countries of direct concern to paleontologists whose best means of input is through society involvement. Similarly directing national research agendas and funding is an appropriate activity for societies, if for no other reason than the societies have significant numbers of dedicated members. In politics, numbers count. So does organization. Societies only need the will.
   

How Can the Societies Do These Things?

Paleontological societies need two things to accomplish these goals, including their most treasured traditional missions, in the modern world. First, they must be organized among themselves, and second, they must have monetary resources.

1. Societies could organize themselves into overarching organizations that would serve to coordinate activities. For example, the new European Paleontological Association arose to bring paleontologists in the European Union together and the Association of North American Paleontological Societies, an informal organization, tries to coordinate certain activities. Such organizations need to be able to support society efforts and professional advancement in ways that the societies cannot do alone. Otherwise they become yet another financial and labor burden. In times of decreasing resources and the need for public and political outreach, activities of several, if not all, societies in single regions could be coordinated. For example, lobbying the regional and national political structures, coediting or publishing journals or monographs, coordinating outreach and similar activities most effectively can be done through the efforts of a single organization, made up of the officers and members of a group of societies. Certainly, national and regional super-organizations are required and perhaps even an effective international organization may be desirable as electronic communication continues to bring far-flung paleontologists together.
   
   
2. Financing even the traditional missions of paleontological societies has become difficult. Membership fees usually are not enough to support paleontological societies, especially when they publish regularly. Alternative funding is always needed but seldom available consistently (industry, foundations or government agencies). The only effective way to guarantee the long-term success of a society is through an endowment fund properly invested. Endowment funds can be established and increased through contributions of members, their industrial employers, bequests of money and property, assignment of royalties from books, films, and other income-yielding activities done by the society itself or by its members, by increasing costs of its publications slightly to insure the future, and by returning income from the endowment itself. Properly invested at moderate risk and return levels, these funds can quickly accumulate and support many activities. Compound interest will insure the future of paleontology.
   

Will Societies Help Paleontology?

Societies are embedded in their own social and political situation. Thus, the summary of activities underway or suggested for the future given here must be tailored to each society. Largely, these activities must be initiated or continued by the officers of the societies. The membership at large of nearly all societies are content to simply reap the traditional benefits and they commonly see no need to be involved personally or even that their society should be involved in any other activity. None of these things can be accomplished by a passive membership. The members must know what their society does and intends to do. At least some must take an active role in pursuing those activities that their societies choose, but the majority of the remaining members must support those who do take part.

We have written this section chiefly to promote thought about non-traditional society activities. We are woefully incomplete, but this is a matter of creative thought and additional time and space for communication. Some of these things may be of no value in certain situations while others may be usefully modified. What is clear to us, however, is that paleontological societies worldwide can do more than they have to promote paleontology, paleontology's image, and their own well being.

Paleontological Societies Delegates

Dr. J. C. Gall--Topic Coordinator
Inst. Geologie, Univ. Louis Pasteur
1 Rue Blessig
F-67084 Stasbourg Cedex
FRANCE
Jcgall@illite.u-strasbg.fr
33 88358568 (FAX)

Dr. Sergio Archangelsky
Urquiza 1132
1638 Vicente Lopez
Buenos Aires, Argentina
sarcang@nsl.overnet.com.ar

Dr. David Bruton
Paleontologisk Museum
University of Oslo
Oslo, Norway
d.l.bruton@toyen.uio.no

Prof. Diane Edwards
Dept. of Geology, Univiversity of Wales
College of Cardiff
P. O. Box 914
Cardiff, UK CF1 3YE
edwards@cardiff.ac.uk

Prof. Jere H. Lipps
Department of Integrative Biology and Museum of Paleontology
University of California
Berkeley, CA 94720 USA
jlipps@ucmp1.berkeley.edu
510-642-1822. (FAX)
510-642-9006 (PHONE)

Prof. Gail Ashley
Rutgers University
Dept. of Geological Sciences
Piscataway, NJ 08855-1179 USA
gmashley@rci.rutgers.edu
908-445-3374 (FAX)
908-445-2221 (PHONE)

This page is maintained for the Paleo21 Organizing Committee by Norman MacLeod and H. Richard Lane. Corrections, inquiries about, and updates to any of the information shown above should be directed to Norm and/or Rich.