The Laboratory of Paleontology and Stratigraphy participates in activities concerning topics related to the history of life on planet Earth and, also, organizes events to communicate the activities of its members and associates to the other members of the Department. Furthermore, field trips are organized frequently in order to train students in fieldwork and collect new specimens.
Field expeditions of Laboratory Palaeontology & Stratigraphy
In an effort to enrich the collection of the Laboratory with new samples and, in the same time, train the students, excursions to nearby locations are organized in order to discover new fossils, which the students will preserve and study later in the laboratory.
Fossils from the Chelmos- Vouraikos UNESCO Global Geopark
The Laboratory of Palaeontology and Stratigraphy, in collaboration with the Chelmos- Vouraikos UNESCO Global Geopark, has undertaken the project of studying the fossiliesed flora and fauna from sites of the area. In the context of this collaboration, a small collection of indicative fossils was prepared and is displayed in the building of the Chelmos-Vouraikos Management Body in the town of Kalavryta, while some of the plant fossils of the area were chosen as the cover of the informative leaflet and 2019 calendar of the Geopark.
Organization of the 2nd International Meeting of Early- stage Researchers in Palaeontology
The Laboratory of Palaeontology and Stratigraphy successfully organized the 2nd International Meeting of Early- stage Researchers in Palaeontology (2nd IMERP) in Sigri, Lesvos, between the 19th-22nd of May 2017. Young palaeontologists from 13 European and Asian countries attended the meeting, presented their work, discussed with their colleagues in a friendly environment, learned about the local biodiversity of the past and present and got acquainted with the local cuisine. During the meeting, lectures were given by distinguished professors from greek and foreign universities while a fieldtrip took place at sites of paleontological, ecological and cultural interest of the island. The meeting was hosted at the Natural History Museum of the Lesvos Petrified Forest (Sigri, Lesvos), where the delegates had a tour. You can find a short article on the 2nd IMERP, as published in The Palaeontological Association Newsletter No 96, here. You can find the Book of Abstracts here.
Organizing an open event for the public presentation of the results of the PLOSTRAC and KAL- PAL research projects
On the 19th of December 2019, the Laboratory of Paleontology and Stratigraphy organized an open event for the public presentation of the results of the PLOSTRAC and KAL-PAL research projects in the framework of the "Supporting Researchers Focusing on Young Researchers" program, which was managed by the Laboratory between 2018-2019. During the event, presentations of the results of each project were made by the members of the research teams (postdoctoral researchers, PhD candidates), followed by a discussion with the participants (collaborators of the Laboratory, colleagues, undergraduate students).
Palaeontology- Stratigraphy Meetings
The Paleontology and Stratigraphy Laboratory occasionally organizes series of lectures performed by its members and partners on subjects concerning their specialties. These meetings are open to other members of the Department and at the end of each meeting, there is a discussion with questions or ideas the attendees had on the topic.
Participation in Patras Science Festival
The Laboratory of Palaeontology and Stratigraphy participated in Patras Science Festival presenting some of the most important fossils of its collection to the public. Children and adults were impressed by learning about what kinds of microorganisms are found in the sea- sand, what were the dwarf elephants and hippopotamuses and where they lived and how was the flora around the University of Patras 2.5 million years ago!
Participation in the action
Students from kindergartens, primary schools and high schools from Achaia visit the Palaeontology and Stratigraphy Laboratory and attend special lectures concerning “The World of Fossils”. The kindergarten students and the first classes of primary school students watch (and participate!) a lecture entitled "Walking with Dinosaurs", where they learn about the largest reptiles that ever stepped on Earth, their extinction and evolution. Older primary school students and high school students attend the lecture "Life and Evolution", which focuses on the evolution of life on Earth from its beginning until the end of the Cretaceous. After the lecture, the students have the opportunity to briefly study selected fossils from the Laboratory’s collection, while they are given small souvenirs of their visit to the University.
Simple Picture Slideshow:
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Summer school for senior high school students
Participating in the Department of Geology student summer school- in collaboration with the 1st Educational and Counseling Support Center of Achaia- the Laboratory of Palaeontology and Stratigraphy welcomed eight senior high school students from schools from Achaia. The students received the all the information with great interest and enthusiasm and, for two days, had the chance to train as a palaeontologist by observing microfossils under the stereoscope, assembling a human skeleton and cleaning and preserving fossils.
