Summer Newsletter 2024

Posted June 21, 2024

Newsletter items: 1. Summer 2024 Update; 2. New Excursions Officer and Leader; 3. Reminders and an appeal for information; 4. Upcoming meetings of interest. 

Dear NORDQUA colleagues,

1. Summer 2024 Secretariat Update

Here is your mid-year newsletter with some updates from the Secretariat.

  • NGWM2024: The winter meeting seems a long time ago already; though it was another excellent meeting with a great range of Quaternary-related sessions and contributions. As usual we held a short NORDQUA members meeting and post-icebreaker social event, both of which were well attended, and despite the meeting being squeezed in between lunch and the Nordic Geoscientist Award.
  • The Nordic Geoscientist Award, as many of you will already know, was awarded to Professor Emeritus Jan Mangerud, long-time supporter and member of NORDQUA. This was also the second time in a row the award has gone to a Quaternary Scientist. Many Congratulations Jan!
Jan Mangerud standing in front of a projected slide of his presentation 'The Scandinavian ice sheet through the last ice age'
Professor Jan Mangerud giving the Nordic Geoscientist 2024 Award Lecture, Gothenburg, Sweden.
  • Changes in the Secretariat: At the NGWM 2024 Ívar Örn Benediktsson stepped down from the Secretariat Team. We take this opportunity to thank Ívar for his 6 years of service to Nordqua in the role of Excursions Officer; a role that was created in 2018 and Ívar has helped to forge. We thank Ívar for his many contributions, enthusiasm and ideas, seeing us through the challenging period of excursion planning, post-ponements, and re-planning through a global pandemic, as well as organising, not one, but two NORDQUA excursions to Iceland. þúsund takk Ívar!
Group photo of the Palaeoarc 2023 local organising committee sitting round a table in a restaurant.
Our in-coming (Wes Farnsworth – left) and out-going (Ívar Örn Benediktsson – right) Excursions Officers, together with co-organisers (Esther Ruth Guðmundsdóttir, Hreggviður Norðdahl, Skafti Brynjólfsson) of the NORDQUA-Palaeoarc 2023 Excursion, August 2023. 
  • Changes in the Secretariat: In Gothenburg Anna Hughes also indicated her intention to step-down after 6+ years of service as Leader in the interests of bringing new ideas and energy to the network. In January, the Secretariat were still actively seeking nominations for this role and so Anna agreed to stay on up until the next NGWM in Finland, or as soon as a successor was identified, to ensure continuity and a smooth hand-over….which brings us to the next exciting news item….

2. New Leader and Excursions Officer

  • We are delighted to announce two new members of the NORDQUA Secretariat team; Dr Wesley Farnsworth based at the Institute of Earth Sciences, University of Iceland (from January 2024) and Dr Malin Kylander based at Stockholm University, Sweden (from September 2024). 
  • Wesley (Wes) Farnsworth is a Researcher and Asst. Professor specializing glacial geology, geochronology, volcanic and sea level history. His research has largely focused on the Arctic and North Atlantic given much of his last 15 years have been based in Svalbard, Iceland and Scandinavia (however, he is always excited to visit new mountains and (former-) ice margins).
  • Wes has stepped-in to the role of Excursions Officer with gusto and is excited to keep the momentum with semi-regular Nordqua excursions, and is already outlining plans for 2025 and beyond.  Feel free to contact him if you are interested in running an excursion, and be ready if you hear from him first!
Wesley Farnsworth drilling through a frozen lake
New NORDQUA Excursions Officer Wesley Farnsworth, Eastfjords of Iceland.
  • We are also delighted to announce that Dr Malin Kylander, Associate Professor of sediment geochemistry at the Department of Geological Sciences, and the Bolin Centre for Climate Research, Stockholm University will take up the role of Leader later this year. Malin is specializing in inorganic chemistry in lake sediments and peat. Her research interests include developing proxies for the reconstruction of past climate change on time scales from the last hundred years to 100,000 years. We are especially pleased that Malin’s appointment means we have representation from three of the Nordic countries in the Secretariat Team.
  • Good luck Malin and Wes! We look forward to a bright future for NORDQUA under your leadership together with the continuing members of the Secretariat Team; Henry, Daniel, and Aloïs. The network is in excellent hands. 
New NORDQUA Leader, Malin Kylander

3. Excursion update, reminders and an appeal for information… 

  • EXCURSIONS: As announced at the NGWM there will be no Nordqua excursion in 2024. Plans are in progress for 2025, 2026 and beyond, though do get in touch if you are interested in running an excursion in the next few years.   
  • CALLING RECENT PHD GRADUATES: If you recently completed your PhD please note that you have the opportunity to be highlighted on the Nordqua website. If you have a student that recently graduated please remind them, as this is an excellent way to be aware of some of the latest research occurring within our network: https://nordqua.org/phds/
    • To be included all you need to do is fill out this form: https://nordqua.org/phd-form/
  • OLD EXCURSION REPORTS AND PHOTOS: 2024 is the 50th anniversary year of the NORDQUA network (founded in 1974). To celebrate this we would like to digitise and archive any information that may exist from the original series of Nordqua excursions that occurred between 1976 and 1987. We have some limited photos kindly provided to us already, but we hope that some further material may be languishing within various member’s offices and filing cabinets.  Did you attend any of these meetings? Perhaps you have photos, slides or copies of excursion reports lying around that you are willing to share. If so, please get in touch with the Secretariat. 

4. Upcoming meetings of potential interest

We wish all NORDQUA members a great summer!

Best wishes, 
Your NORDQUA Secretariat: Anna, Wes, Henry, Daniel, and Aloïs 

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