AASP Primary Records Program

ALFRED TRAVERSE

Biographical Sketch

Alfred Traverse was born on 7 September, 1925, in St. James Anglican rectory, Port Hill, Prince Edward Island, Canada, the son of the Rev. A. Freeman Traverse, Anglican (Episcopal) priest, and Pearle Akerley Traverse, dietician and school teacher. The family moved trom P.E.I. to Lucknow, Ontario, in 1926, and to Allegan, MI, USA, in 1928. Traverse has been continually resident in the United States since that time and has been a naturalized citizen since 1934. He attended public schools in St. Joseph, MI, where he graduated from high school in 1943 as valedictorian of his class, won the Bausch & Lomb Science Award. was editor of the school paper and president of the local chapter of the National Honor Society. He was awarded a freshman scholarship at Harvard University, where he majored in biology and was graduated S.B., magna cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa, in 1946. His honors thesis was on a problem in corn genetics under the direction of Professor Paul C. Mangelsdorf. As an undergraduate, he was a member of Speakers' Club and of various student council committees. On graduation from Harvard, Traverse won a Lady Julia Henry Fellowship for study in England, and he spent 1946-47 at King's College, Cambridge University, studying paleobotany in the Cambridge Botany School. Returning to Harvard, he was Anna C. Ames Scholar 1947-48, and received the Master's degree in paleobotany in 1948. He was then also elected to Sigma XI. In 1948 he became a teaching fellow, dormitory proctor and freshman advisor. He was awarded the Ph.D. degree in June, 1951, with a dissertation on the fossil pollen of a small Tertiary lignite deposit in the town of Brandon, VT.

Traverse married Elizabeth Jane Insley, Wellesley (1949, B.A. Botany), in June, 1951. Soon afterwards they moved to Grand Forks, ND, where Traverse was coal technologist for the U.S. Bureau of Mines Lignite Research Laboratory, specializing in coal petrography. Concurrently, he held the title of assistant research professor of geology at the University of North Dakota. Two of the Traverses' children. Paul and Martha, were born in North Dakota. In 195S, Traverse was transferred to Denver, CO, to become head of the Bureau of Mines coal microscopy laboratory. However, after a few months he accepted employment with Shell Development Co., Houston, TX, and joined them in September, 1955. AAer four months learning Shell's palynological procedures at their headquarters in the Hague, Netherlands, Traverse and his family settled in Houston, where he specialized at Shell in the recent pollen sedimentation of the Gulf Coast. He remained at this post until 1962. The two younger Traverse children, John and Celia, were born in Houston.

In 1962, Traverse resigned from Shell and enrolled at the Episcopal Theological Seminary of the Southwest. Austin, TX. He continued as a consultant for Shell, 1962-65. He was awarded the M.Div. degree by the seminary in June, 1965, and soon thereafter was ordained deacon in the Episcopal Church. From June, 1965, until June. 1966, he was Visiting Lecturer in Geology at the University of Texas, and curate of St. Matthew's Episcopal Church, Austin. In May, 1966, he was ordained priest. In June, 1966, he accepted an appointment at the Pennsylvania State University as Associate Professor of Geology. In May, 1970, he was promoted to Professor of Geology and Biology (title changed soon aAerward to Professor of Palynology). Concurrently he was assistant priest at St. Paul's Episcopal Church, Philipsburg, PA, until May, 1975, and was vicar of St. John's Episcopal Church, Huntingdon, PA, from November, 1975, to July, 1980, and assistant priest at Christuskirche (Old Catholic), Zurich, Switzerland, 1980-81.

A high point in Traverse's professional career was service as on-board scientist on the Glomar Challenger in the Black Sea in 1975. One result of this experience was being invited to be Visiting Professor at the Swiss Federal Technical Institute ("ETH") in Zurich, 1980-81. as a guest especially of Professor K.J. Hsii, who had been chief scientist for the Deep Sea Drilling Proiect's Glomar Challenger expeditions in the Black Sea.

In 1988, Traverse published Paleopalynology, a 600-page comprehensive text and reference book based on lecture and practicum material from the general palynology course (Geosciences/Biology 423) that he taught at Penn State University for 30 years, beginning in 1966.

As part of the Birbal Sahni Centennial celebration, held at the Birbal Sahni Institute of Palaeobotany, Lucknow, India, in November, 1991, the Palaeobotanical Society of India awarded Traverse its International Medal for 1991-1992 for "outstanding contributions to palynology." Traverse also presented several invited lectures at this meeting.

In 1991-92, Traverse was a Senior Fullbright Scholar and Guest Scientist at the Senckenberg Natural History Museum, Frankfurt am Main, Germany. During this period he also finished preparation of the book he edited on paleopalynological sedimentation, Sedimentation of Organic Particles, published by Cambridge University Press in 1994. After serving at the Senckenberg, he was made Corresponding Member of the Senckenbergische Naturforschende Gesellschaft.

In 1995, Traverse retired formally from teaching, although he was permitted to give the basic palynology course once more in 1996. During his active teaching years he also taught courses in advanced palynology, paleobotany, historical geology and evolution. As of June, 2001, he is working on a second edition of Paleopalynology and continues a strong interest in Devonian to Triassic non-marine palynology, as well as in general applications and problems of paleopalynology. In addition to teaching and research, Traverse has been active in many scientific organizations. He was Secretary-Treasurer and (twice) Chairman of the Paleobotanical Section of the Botanical Society of America. He was a founding member of the American Association of Stratigraphic Palynologists, in which organization he has served as Councillor, Secretary- Treasurer, President, and is now archivist. He was for many years Secretary of the International Association for Plant Taxonomy's Committee for Fossil Plants and remains a member of that committee. He was a Councillor and then President of what is now the International Federation of Palynological Societies and is now archivist for that organization. He is a Fellow of the Geological Society of America and of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and is a member of many other scientific societies.

ALFRED TRAVERSE

1925 Born, 7 September, in Port Hill, Prince Edward Island, Canada.
      Primary and secondary education, public schools of St. Joseph, Michigan

Higher Education

1946 S.B., magna cum laude Harvard University (Biology) Phi Beta Kappa, Sigma Xi
1947 Certificate, King's College, Cambridge, England (Botany; student of
      H. Hamshaw Thomas)
1948 A.M., Harvard University (Paleobotany)
1951 Ph.D., Harvard University (Paleobotany; student of Elso S. Barghoorn)
1965 M.Div., Episcopal Theological Seminary of the Southwest

Experience - Industrial and Academic

1951-55 Coal Technologist and Head, Fuels Microscopy Laboratory,
      U.S. Bureau of Mines
1955-62 Palynologist - Research, Shell Development Company
1962-65 Consultant, Palynology, Austin, Texas
1965-66 Assistant Professor of Geology, University of Texas
1966-70 Associate Professor of Geology and Biology, The Pennsylvania
      State University
1970-95 Professor of Palynology, The Pennsylvania State University
1980-81 Guest Professor, Geological Institute, Swiss Federal Technical
      Institute, Zurich
1991-92 Senior Fulbright Research Professor, Senckenberg Natural History
      Museum, Frankfurt a/M, Germany
1995- Professor Emeritus of Palynology, The Pennsylvania State University

Courses Taught at Penn State

Geosciences 002	Historical Geology
Geosciences (Biology)	423 Introductory Palynology
Geosciences (Biology)	420 Paleobotany
Geosciences (Biology)	427 Evolution
Geosciences (Biology)	526 Problems in Palynology
Geosciences (Biology)	496/596 Independent Studies
Geosciences (Biology)	597 Special Topics

12 Doctoral dissertations and 6 Master's theses supervised [see below]

Pertinent Honors and Accomplishments

1946-47	Lady Julia Henry Fellow, Cambridge University (U.K.)
1951	Ph.D. dissertation, "The Pollen and Spores of the Brandon Lignite, a Coal in Vermont of Lower Tertiary Age," was the first North American doctoral dissertation in paleopalynology.
1965-96	The introduction to palynology course, taught every year for 32 consecutive years, at the University of Texas, in 1965, and at Penn State, 1966-96, trained more students in basic palynology than any other program in the USA.
1966-67	Publication on palynology of recent sediments, Great Bahama Bank, was the first comprehensive palynological study of a carbonate depositional system. It established the long-term floating capacity and depositional characteristics of some sorts of pollen.
1970	Granted title "Professor of Palynology." As far as we can ascertain, no one else in the world had this title up to that time.
1972-86	Publications with Ph.D. students (Dunay, Cornet, Litwin, Robbins and Ediger) and post-doc (Moy) established the palynostratigraphic framework for the Triassic/Jurassic basins of North America.
1975	Selected as on-board palynologist, "Glomar Challenger" Leg 42B, Black Sea, May-June. 1977-82 Adjunct (i.e., honorary) Professor of Geobiology, Juniata College, Huntingdon, PA.
1980	Presided at 5th International Palynological Conference, Cambridge, England, June-July.
1988	Publication of Paleopalynologr, the first comprehensive book in English on the subject, for reference and teaching.
1989	Invited participant and position-paper author, IUGS Symposium on Global Change, Interlaken, Switzerland, April.
1991	Recipient of The Palaeobotanical Society of India biennial International Medal "for outstanding contributions to palynology".
1992-	Elected corresponding member of Senckenbergische Naturforschende Gesellschaft, Frankfurt am Main, Germany (a very select group, with only about 30 members in the world).
1992-	North American palynological editor for the German journal, Palaeontographica Abt. B.
1994	Invited to give keynote address at 10th Palynology Symposium of A.P.L.E. (the international organization of Spanish-speaking palynologists), meeting in Valencia, Spain, September.

Society Memberships (and Other Activities)

American Association for the Advancement of Science (Fellow)
American Association of Stratigraphic Palynologists (Founding member;
      Secretary-Treasurer, 1967-1970; President, 1970-71;
      Councilor, 1971-72; Archivist, 1984- present)
American Quaternary Association
Botanical Society of America, Paleobotanical Section (Secretary-Treasurer, 1957-60;
      Acting Chairman, 1958; Chairman, 1960-61)
Catalog of Fossil Spores and Pollen (Member, Editorial Board, 1957-66;
      Editor, 1966-77) Geological Society of America (Fellow)
International Association for Plant Taxonomy Committee for Fossil Plants
      (Secretary, 1969-94)
International Commission for Palynology, now International Federation of
      Palynological Societies (Member of Council for USA, 1973-76;
      President, 1976-80; Past-President, Councillor, 1980-84;
      Archivist-Historian, 1984- present)
International Organization of Paleobotanists

Honor Societies

Phi Beta Kappa, elected at Harvard College, 1946
Sigma Xi, elected at Harvard University, 1950

PUBLICATIONS

Traverse. A., 1950. The primary vascular body of Mesoxylon thompsonii, a new American cordaitalean. Amer. J. Bot. 37: 318-325.

________ and E.S. Barghoorn, 1953. Micropaleontology of the Brandon Lignite, an Early Tertiary coal in central Vermont. J. Paleont. 27: 289-293.

Traverse, A., 1954. A method for the petrographic analysis of commercially delivered lignite. Econ. Geol 49: 92-100.

________ Occurrence and properties of lignitic coals. U.S. Bureau of Mines Inf. Circular 7691: 33-76.

________ Coal microscopy: an important research technique. Consulting Engineer 4: 38-41, 78-9.

________ Applications of coal microscopy. Consulting Engineer 4: 32-5, 74.

Traverse, A., 1955. Pollen analysis of the Brandon Lignite of Vermont. U.S. Bureau of Mines Re ort of Investigations 5151: 108 pp.

________ Occurrence of the oil-forming alga Botryococcus in lignites and other Tertiary sediments. Micropaleont. 1: 343-50.

________ Behavior of petrographic components of North Dakota lignite in preparation, low-temperature carbonization and steam-drying. Econ. Geol. 50: 102.

________ 1956. Systematic methods for Mesozoic and Cenozoic plant microfossils. Micropaleont. 2: 396-8.

________ 1957. The nomenclatural problem of plant microfossil species belonging to extant genera. Micropaleont. 3: 255-8.

________ 1958. Locating plant microfossils on mixed slides. Micropaleont. 4: 207-8.

________ 1960. P.S.B.S.A. the oldest organization of paleobotanists in the world. Plant Sci. Bull. 6: 1-4.

________ Report of the S.E.P.M. delegate to the IX International Botanical Congress, Montreal, Quebec, August: J. Sed. Petrol. 30: 340.

________ Still more on conversion of microscope coordinates. Micropaleont. 6: 424.

________ 1961. Effect of the 1959 International Botanical Congress on nomenclature of fossil spores and pollen. Micropaleont. 7: 485-9.

Traverse, A., K.H. Clisby and F. Foreman, 1961. Pollen in drilling mud "thinners", a source of palynological contamination. Micropaleont. 7: 375-7.

Traverse, A., 1965. Preparation of modern pollen and spores for palynological reference collections. In B. Kummel and D. Raup (eds.), Handbook of Paleontological Technigues. San Francisco: Freeman: 598-613.

________ 1966. Review of "Morphologic Encyclopedia of Palynology. An Internationnal Collection of Definitions and Illustrations of Spores and Pollen," by G.O.W. Kremp. Econ. Bot. 20: 468.

Traverse, A. and R.N. Ginsburg, 1966. Palynology of the surface sediments of Great Bahama Bank as related to water movement and sedimentation. Marine Geol. 4: 417-59.

Quinlan, J.F. and A. Traverse, 1967. Humic acid and humate deposits in Salts Cave and Mammoth Cave, Kentucky: a preliminary report. Nat. Speleological Soc. Bull. 29:3: 93-9.

Traverse, A. and R.N. Ginsburg, 1967. Pollen and associated microfossils in the marine surface sediments of the Great Bahama Bank. Rev. Palaeobot. Palynol. 3: 243-54.

Traverse, A., 1967 (Abstract) Diagenesis of jet. Program, Geol. Soc. Amer., New Orleans meeting.

________ and D.J. Nichols, 1967 (Abstract) Palynological and petrological characteristics of the commercial lignites of Texas. Program, Geol. Soc. Amer., New Orleans meeting.

Kremp, G.O.W., A. Traverse, and H.T. Ames, 1967. Permian-Triassic transition and Mesozoic spores and pollen. Catalog of Fossil Spores and Pollen 26: 280 pp.

Traverse, A., H.T. Ames and G.O.W. Kremp, 1967. Carboniferous megaspores and microspores. Catalog of Fossil Spores and Pollen 27: 305 pp.

Traverse, A. and R.W. Kolvoord, 1968. Utah jet: a vitrinite with aberrant properties. Science 159: 302-5.

Traverse, A., H.T. Ames and G.O.W. Kremp, 1968. Mesozoic megaspores, microspores, and pollen. Catalog of Fossil Spores and Pollen 28: 280 pp.

Traverse, A., 1968. Review of "Pflanzensoziologie und Palynologie: Bericht iiber das internationale Symposium in Stolzenzu/Weser 1962, der internationalen Vereinigung fur Vegetationskunde," R. Tuxen (ed.). J. Paleontol. 42:2: 608-9.

________ and H.T. Ames, 1968. Mesozoic and Cenozoic spores, pollen and other microfossils. Catalog of Fossil Spores and Pollen 29: 282 pp.

Traverse, A., 1968 (Abstract) What is sporopollenin? Am. J. Bot. 55: 722.

Traverse, A. and H.T. Ames, 1969. Mesozoic and Cenozoic spores and pollen. Catalog of Fossil Spores and Pollen 30: 382 pp.

________ Mesozoic and Cenozoic spores and pollen. Catalog of Fossil Spores and Pollen 31: 326 pp.

Traverse, A., H.T. Ames and W. Spackman, 1969. Information Circular 8. Catalog of Fossil Spores and Pollen, 23 pp.

Traverse, A., 1970. Review of "Handbook of Palynology," by G. Erdtman and "Aspects of Palynology," R.H. Tschudy and R.A. Scott (eds.). Am. Scientist 58: 443-4

________ and H.T. Ames, 1970. Devonian spores. Catalog of Fossil Spores and Pollen 32: 349 pp.

________ Cumulative Index, volumes 21-30. Catalog of Fossil Spores and Pollen, 166 pp.

Traverse, A. and W. Spackman, 1970. Catalog of Fossil Spores and pollen - history and status. Rev. Palaeobot. Palynol. 10: 165-73.

Dunay, R.E. and A. Traverse, 1971. Preliminary report on Triassic spores and pollen of the Dockum Group, Texas Panhandle. Geosci. and Man 3: 65-8.

Nichols, D.J. and A. Traverse, 1971. Palynology, Petrology, and depositional environment of some Early Tertiary lignites in Texas. Geosci. and Man 3: 37-48.

Traverse, A., 1971. Review of "Aspects of Palynology," R.H. Tschudy and R.A. Scott (eds.). The Bryologist 74; 228-9.

________ and H.T. Ames, 1971. Cretaceous pollen and spores. Catalog of Fossil Spores and Pollen 33: 266 pp.

Traverse, A., 1972. Palynological definitions. Glossary of Geology, M. Gary, et al. (eds.). Am. Geol. Inst.

________ A case of marginal palynology: a study of the Franciscan Melanges. Geosci. and Man 4: 87-90.

________ Review of "Evolution of the Earth," by R.H. Dott, Jr. and R.L. Batten. J. Palqonfol, 46; 925-7,

________ and H.T. Ames, 1972. Cenozoic pollen and spores. Catalog of Fossil Spores and Pollen 34: 273 pp.

________ Permian pollen and spores. Catalog of Fossil Spores and Pollen 35: 318 pp.

Traverse, A., H.T. Ames and W. Spackman, 1973. Cretaceous pollen and spores. Catalog of Fossil Spores and Pollen 36: 293 pp.

________ Paleozoic megaspores and miospores. Catalog of Fossil Spores and Pollen 37: 236 pp.

________ Information Circular 9. Catalog of Fossil Spores and Pollen, 27 pp.

May, F.E. and A. Traverse. 1973. Palynology of the Dakota Sandstone (middle Cretaceous) near Bryce Canyon National Park, southern Utah. Geosci. and Man 7: 57-64.

Nichols, D.J., H.T. Ames and A. Traverse, 1973. On Arecipites Wodehouse, Monocolpollenites Thomson & Pflug, and the species "Monocolpollenites tranquillus: Taxon 22: 241-56.

Warg, J.B. and A. Traverse, 1973. A palynological study of shales and "coals" of a Devonian-Mississippian transition zone, Central Pennsylvania. Geosci. and Man 7: 39-46.

Cornet, B., A. Traverse and N.G. McDonald, 1973. Fossil spores, pollen, and fishes from Connecticut indicate Early Jurassic age for part of the Newark Group. Science 182:4118: 1243-7.

Traverse, A., 1973 (Abstract) Palynological investigation of WHOI Black Sea cores, 1474-K and 1474-P. Geosci. and Man 7: 125.

Traverse, A., 1974. Plant microfossils help date rocks of questionable age. Earth & Mineral Sciences 43:4: 28-9.

________ Palynologic investigation of two Black Sea cores. In Degens, E.T. and D.A. Ross (eds.), The Black Sea Geology, Chemistry and Biology. Am. Assoc. Petrol. Geol. Mem. 20: 381-8.

________ Paleopalynology, 1947-1972. Ann. Missouri Bot. Gard. 61:1: 203-36.

________ Review of "World Pollen and Spore Flora," S. Nilsson (ed.). The Bryologist 77:3: 495.

Traverse, A., H.T. Ames and W. Spackman, 1974. Mesozoic pollen and spores. Catalog of Fossil Spores and Pollen 38: 246 pp.

________ 1975. Mesozoic pollen and spores. Catalog of Fossil Spores and Pollen 39: 250 pp.

Wilson, B.R. and A. Traverse, 1975 (Abstract) Further information on the palynological stratigraphy of Devonian-Carboniferous rocks of central Pennsylvania. Geosci. and Man 11: 160.

Cornet, B. and A. Traverse, 1975. Palynological contributions to the chronology and stratigraphy of the Hartford Basin in Connecticut and Massachusetts. Geosci. and Man 11: 1-33.

Traverse, A., 1975. The challenge of abundance in palynomorphs a critique. Geosci. and Man 11: 14S-7.

________ Report of the Committee for Fossil Plants, IAPT, to the XII International Botanical Congress, Leningrad, 1975. Taxon 24: 387-9, 690.

________ Review of "Mesozoic and Cenozoic Palynology: Essays in Honor of Isabel Cookson," J.E. Glover and G. Playford (eds.). Rev. Palaeobot. Palynol. 19: 239-40.

________ (Abstract) Further Franciscan forays. Geosci. and Man 15: 146.

Traverse, A., B. Cornet and H.T. Ames, 1975 (Abstract) A new look at the "Classopollis-Circulina" taxonomic nomenclatural problem. Geosci. and Man 11: 159-60.

Ames, H.T., A. Traverse and W. Spackman, 1976. Triassic-Cretaceous spores and pollen. Cataloa of Fossil S ores and Pollen 40: 243 pp.

Traverse, A. and B. Cornet, 1976. Palynological contributions to the chronology and stratigraphy of the Hartford Basin in Connecticut and Massachusetts: Corrections. Geosci. and Man 1S: 141.

Traverse, A., 1976. (Abstract) History of the late Cenozoic climate and vegetation in the Black Sea drainage based on DSDP deep cores ("Glomar Challenger" Leg 42B). Abstracts of papers received for 4th Int. Palynological Conf., Lucknow, India: 184.

________ Report to the IAPT Committee for Fossil Plants. IOP Newsletter 1: 2-3.

Cornet, B. and A. Traverse, 1976. (Abstract) The Triassic-Liassic basins of eastern North America palynofloral evidence for their age and paleoecology. Abstracts of papers received for 4th Int. Palynological Conf., Lucknow, India: 38.

Traverse, A., 1977. (Abstract) Preliminary palynological results of "Glomar Challenger" Leg 42B (1975) to the Black Sea. Palynol. 1: 177.

________ and H.T. Ames, 1977. Cumulative Index, vols. 31-40. Catalog of Fossil Spores and Pollen: 165 pp.

Bebout, J.W. and A. Traverse, 1978. (Abstract) Paleoclimatic reconstruction for the Golden Valley Formation (Paleocene-Eocene) of North Dakota, based on overlapping geographic ranges of overlapping "relict genera". Palynol. 2: 213-14.

Streel, M. and A. Traverse, 1978. (Abstract) Spores from the Devonian/Mississippian transition in the Horseshoe Curve section near Altoona, Pennsylvania. Palynol. 2: 233.

Traverse, A., 1978. International Commission for Palynology. Grana 17: 1: 59-60.

________ International Commission for Palynology. Lethaia 11: 216.

________ Review of "Atlas of airborne pollen grains and spores in northern Europe," by S. Nilsson, J. Praglowski and L. Nilsson. The Bryologist 81:4: 643.

________ Palynological analysis of DSDP Leg 42B (1975) cores from the Black Sea. Init. Rept. Deep Sea Drilling Proj. XLII:2: 993-1015.

________ Supplementary palynological information from Site Reports, DSDP Leg 42B. Init. Rept. Deep Sea Drilling Proj. XLII:2: 29, 41, 48, 119, 128, 147, 159, 161, 293, 305, 399. . Application of simple arithmetic ratios to study of DSDP Black Sea cores. Palaeobotanist 25: 525-8.

Streel, M. and A. Traverse, 1978. Spores from the Devonian/Mississippian transition near the Horseshoe Curve section, Altoona. Pennsylvania U.S.A. Rev. Palaeobot. Palynol. 26: 21-39.

Strother, P.K. and A. Traverse, 1979. Plant microfossils from Llandoverian and Wenlockian rocks of Pennsylvania. Palynology 3: 1-21.

Traverse, A. and S.V. Meyen, 1979. Proposal on Article 3: remove "form-genus" too!. In Proposals to revise ICBN. Taxon 28:5/6: 595-8.

Hedlund, R.W. and A. Traverse, 1979. Mart Philip Schemel, 1925-1979. (Obituary). AASP Newsletter 12:4: 2.

Traverse, A., 1979. (Abstract) Palynological insights into Neogene climates of the Black Sea Basin. Palynol. 3: 293.

________ Review of "The whole fungus: the sexual-asexual synthesis," W. B. Kendrick (ed.) (Proc. 2nd Int. Mycol. Conf., Nat. Mus. Nat. Sci., Nat. Mus. Canada and Kananaskis Found., Ottawa, Canada), 2 vols., 793 pp. ICP Newsletter 2:2: 6.

________ All you probably want to know about amendments to the International Code of Botanical Nomenclature ("ICBN"), and more.... IOP Newsletter 9: 7-10.

Strother, P.K. and A. Traverse, 1979. (Abstract) Plant remains in Silurian rocks of Pennsylvania. Palynol. 3: 292.

Delfel, D., A. Traverse and J.W. Fuchs-Parker, 1979. (Abstract) Palynostratigraphy of the Late Cretaceous La Ventana Formation, New Mexico. AASP, Abstr. with Program, Nov. 1-2,1979: 10.

Artiiz, S. and A. Traverse, 1980. (Abstract) SEM and light-microscopy of single specimens of Namurian Turkish coal spores. 5th Int. Palynol. Conf. Abstracts, Cambridge, 1980: 20.

Robbins, E.I. and A. Traverse, 1980. Degraded palynomorphs from the Dan River (North Carolina)-Danville (Virginia) Basin. Carolina Geol. Soc. Field Triy Guidebook, Oct. 11-12, 1980: B-X-1 to B-X-11.

Traverse, A., 1981. Report of the Committee for Fossil Plants. Taxon 30: 473-5.

Choi, D.K., A. Traverse and L.J. Hickey, 1981. (Abstract) Preliminary report on the paleopalynology of the Eureka Sound Formation, Ellesmere and Axel Heiberg Islands, Canadian Arctic. Palynology 5: 233.

Delfel, D., A. Traverse and J.W. Fuchs-Parker, 1981. (Abstract) Palynostratigraphy of the late Cretaceous La Ventana Formation, New Mexico. Palynology 5: 214.

Strother, P.K. and A. Traverse, 1981. (Abstract) Early Silurian nonmarine palynoflorules from Poe Paddy, Pennsylvania. Palynology 5: 223.

Litwin, R.J., A. Traverse and S.R. Ash, 1981. (Abstract) Spores from compressed fern megafossils of the Chinle Formation - a preliminary report. Palynology 5: 239.

Litwin, R.J. and A. Traverse, 1982. (Abstract) In situ Triassic fern spores and their biostratigraphic implications. Bot. Soc. Am. Abstracts (1982): 60.

Traverse, A., 1982. Review of "Geobotany II," R.C. Romans (ed.). Science 216: 616. . XIII International Botanical Congress: about IBC. AASP Newsletter 15:1: 6-10.

________ Response of world vegetation to Neogene tectonic and climatic events. Alcheringa 6: 197-209.

Traverse, A. and J. Muller, 1982. Report of the Committee for Fossil Plants. Taxon 31:2: 317-18.

Ash, S., R.J. Litwin and A. Traverse, 1982. The Upper Triassic fern Phlebopteris smithii (Daugherty) Arnold and its spores. Palynology 6: 203-19.

Robbins, E.I. and A. Traverse, 1982. (Abstract) Processes of natural resource accumulaition in ancient lake sediments in the Newark Rift System (Eastern North America). CIMP-AASP meeting, Dublin, Abstracts: 21.

Traverse, A., 1982. Review of "Spores d' Hepatiques du Neogene tunisien et sedimentation sporale." The Bryologist 85:3: 358.

Traverse, A., 1983. (Abstract) Fundy Group palynoflorules on the northern margin of the Bay of Fundy, New Brunswick. Can. Geo. Soc. Am. 18th Ann. Mtg., Northeastern Sec., Abstracts with Programs 1983, p. 122.

Traverse, A., 1983. About those "100"000,000-year-old clues". Earth & Mineral Sciences 52:4:41-43.

Traverse, A. and H.J. Sullivan. 1983. The background, origins and early history of the American Association of Stratigraphic Palynologists. Palynology 7: 7-17.

Johnson, N.G., A. Traverse and P.K. Strother, 1983. (Abstract) Plant microfossils from the Lower Silurian Tuscarora Formation at Mill Hall, Pennsylvania. Am. J. Bot. 70:5:21: 72.

Strother, P.K., N.G. Johnson and A. Traverse, 1983. (Abstract) Morphology and phylogeny of Silurian spore tetrads. Am. J. Bot. 70:5:2: 79.

Litwin, R.J. and A. Traverse, 1984. (Abstract). Palynostratigraphic significance of palynoflora and spore-bearing organs of Triassic ferns of the Chinle Formation of Arizona and New Mexico. Geol. Soc. Am., Northeast Section Abstracts with Programs (1984):47.

Wilson, B.R., Traverse, A. and Williams, E.G., 1984. Palynological delineation of the Mississippian-Pennsylvanian unconformity in west-central Pennsylvania. In Biostratigraphy, P.K. Sutherland and W.L. Manger (eds.). 9th Int. Cong. on Carboniferous Stratigraphy A Geology (vol. 2): 337-344.

Johnson, N.G. and A. Traverse, 1985. (Abstract) Early Silurian plant microfossils of central Pennsylvania: biological and geological significance. Am. J. Bot. 72, June, 1985:888.

Johnson, N.G., P.K. Strother and A. Traverse, 1985. (Abstract) Indications of an algal affnity for some Early Silurian plant microfossils from central Pennsylvania. Am. J. Bot. 72, June, 1985: 895.

Traverse, A., 1985. (Abstract) Paleopalynological insights on dating of Newark Supergroup rocks and their correlation with European sections. AAPG Bull. 69:9:1450.

Traverse, A., J.S. Bridge, M.E. Bowers and A. Schuyler, 1985. (Abstract) Stratigraphic zonation and paleoecology of part of the late Devonian Catskill Magnafacies, south-central New York. Palynology 9:255.

Traverse, A., 1986. Palynology of the Deep River Basin, North Carolina. In: Depositiona1 Framework of a Triassic Rift Basin: the Durham and Sanford Sub-basins of the Deep River Basin, North Carolina, P.J.W. Gore (ed.). Soc. Economic Paleontol. R Mineralom. 3rd annual midyear meeting. Field Trip 43: 12-17.

Gore, P.J.W. and A. Traverse, 1986. Triassic Notostracans in the Newark Supergroup, Culpeper Basin, northern Virginia. J. Paleont. 60:5, 1086-96.

Moy, C. and A. Traverse, 1986. Palynostratigraphy of the subsurface Eagle Mills Formation (Triassic) from a well in east-central Texas. Palynology 10: 225-234.

Schamel, S., R. Ressetar, S. Gawarecki, G. Kendall Taylor, A. Traverse, H.F. Houghton and P. Letourneau, 1986. (Abstract) Early Mesozoic RiA Basins of eastern United States. A.A.P.G. Bull. 70:S, 644.

McNeill, J., Korf, R.P., Stirton, C.H., Traverse, A. and Chi-Sheng Wu, 1986. (313)-(316) Proposals on the provision for the use of English, as an alternative to Latin, for the valid publication of the names of new taxa. Taxon 35:4, 880-883.

Traverse, A., 1987. Pollen and spores date origin of rift basins from Texas to Nova Scotia as Early Late Triassic. Science 12 June 1987, vol. 236: 1469-1472.

________ J.S. Bridge and A. Schuyler, 1987. (Abstract) Palynostratigraphy and paleoecology of parts of the Catskill Magnafacies of New York and Pennsylvania. 2nd Int. Symposium on the Devonian System, Calgary, Alberta, Canada - August 17-20, 1987: Program and Abstracts: 229.

Robbins, E.I., B. Cornet and A. Traverse, 1987. (Abstract) Biostratigraphic control points and age of the Early Mesozoic strata in the eastern United States. Geology of the Early Mesozoic Basins of Eastern North America: Worksho May 11-14 1987: 31.

Traverse, A., 19S7. (Abstract) Closing the semicircle: palynofloras of the Eagle Mills Formation and South Georgia Basin date the initial rifting-precursors of the Gulf of Mexico and Atlantic Ocean. Palynol. 11: 254-255.

________ (Abstract) Plant evolution dances to a different beat. XIV International Botanical Congress, Berlin, Abstracts: 286.

Farley, M.B. and A. Traverse, 1987. Palynology of a carbonaceous levee/crevasse splay, Lower Eocene"Bighorn Basin (Wyoming). Palynology 11: 225-226.

Traverse, A., 1988. Paleopalynology [a textbook]. Unwin/Hyman Ltd., U.K., 600 pp.

________ (Abstract) Pollen in Trinity River and Bay, Texas, and its correlation with vegetation. Palynol. 12: 247.

________ (Abstract) Studies of pollen and spores in rivers and other bodies of water, in terms of source-vegetation and sedimentation. 7 International Palynological Congress Brisbane Abstracts: 165.

________ (Abstract) Spores/pollen support plant evolution harkening to a different drummer. 7 International Palynological Congress Brisbane Abstracts, 164.

Traverse, A.. 1988. Plant evolution dances to a different beat. Historical Biology 1: 277-301.

Arens, N.C. and A. Traverse, 1989. The effect of microwave oven-drying on the integrity of spore and pollen exines in herbarium specimens. Taxon 38(3): 394-403.

Litwin, R.J. and A. Traverse, 1989. 8. Basic guidelines for palynomorph extraction and preparation from sedimentary rocks. In R. M. Feldmann, R. E. Chapman & J. T. Hannibal (eds.), Paleotechniques. Paleontological Society Spec. Pub. 4: 87-98.

Traverse, A. and Schuyler, A. 1989. (Abstract) Fortschritte in der Palynostratigraphie der "Catskill magnafacies", im Suden des Bundesstaates New York, USA. Arbeitskreis fiir Paleobot. Palynol., 9-12 May, 1989 Krefeld, West Germany.

Traverse"A., 1990. The ravages of oxidation on pollen of Althaea rosea ("hollyhock"). Stuifmail 8:1, 12.

________ Anyone for Hittite? Taxon 39(2): 290.

________ Plant evolution in relation to world crises and the apparent resilience of Kingdom Plantae. Palaeogeog., Palaeoclimatol., Palaeoecol. (Global and planetary Change Section) 82: 203-211.

Farley, M.B. and A. Traverse, 1990. Usefulness of palynomorph concentrations in distinguishing Paleogene depositional environments in Wyoming (U.S.A.) Rev. Palaeobot. Palynol. 64: 325-329.

Schuyler, A. and Traverse. A., 1990. Sedimentology of miospores in the Middle to Upper Devonian Oneonta Formation, Catskill Magnafacies, New York. Rev. Palaeobot. Palynol. 64: 305-313.

Traverse, A., 1990. Studies of pollen and spores in rivers and other bodies of water, in terms of source-vegetation and sedimentation, with special reference to Trinity River and Bay, Texas. Rev. Palaeobot. Palynology 64: 297-303.

________ Review of Triassic and Earliest Jurassic Miospores from the Murihiku Supergroup, New Zealand by N.J. de Jersey & J.I. Raine (N.Z. Geol. Surv., Paleont. Bull. 62, 164 pp. + plates and figs.). Palynos 13:2: 6-7.

________ 1991. The yellowish scum of Big Moose Lake. Stuifmail 9:1:10.

Litwin, R.J., A. Traverse and S.R. Ash, 1991. Preliminary palynological zonation of the Chinle Formation, southwestern U.S.A., and its correlation to the Newark Supergroup (eastern U.S.A.). Rev. Palaeobot. Palynol. 68: 269-287.

Traverse, A., 1992. Giant ubisch bodies and other 'throwaway sporopollenin' as sources of information. Current Science (India), 61:9&10, 678-681.

Traverse, A., 1992. Organic fluvial sediment: palynomorphs and "palynodebris" in the Lower Trinity River, Texas. Ann. Missouri Bot. Gard. 79: 110-125.

________ 1993. Review of Evolution Plant Biology (A Birbal Sahni Birth Centen Tribute), B.S. Venkatachala, D.L. Dilcher & H.K. Maheshwari (eds.). Palynos 16:1 (1993): 8-9.

________ Manifestations of sporopollenin, chitin and other "non-degradable plastics" in the geologic record, as evidence for major biologic events. Geophytology 22: 65-71.

________ Professor W.G. Chaloner, F.R.S. A man for all subjects. Spec. Papers in Palaeontology 49: 13-16.

________ Report of the Committee for Fossil Plants: 1. In: Proposals to conserve or reject, ed. Dan H. Nicolson. Taxon 42 (1993): 869-72.

Traverse, A, ed., 1994. Sedimentation of Organic Particles. Cambridge: Cambridge Univ. Press, 544 pp.

Traverse, A., 1994. Sedimentation of land-derived palynomorphs in the Trinity-Galveston Bay area, Texas. in the above book, pp. 69-102.

________ Palynofioral geochronology of the Brandon Lignite of Vermont, USA. Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology 82: 265-297.

________ Nonmarine palynofloral "behavior" in the great die-offs. Trabajos de Palinologia Basica y Aplicada, X Simposio de Palinologia (A.P.L.E.), Valencia, 1994: 31- 53.

Traverse, A. and S.R. Ash, 1994. Well-preserved fungal spores from Jurassic rocks of Hells Canyon on the Idaho-Oregon border. Journal of Paleontology 68.3; 664-668.

Traverse, A. and A. Schuyler, 1994. Palynostratigraphy of the Catskill and part of the Chemung magnafacies, southern New York State, USA. Willi Ziegler Festschrift II. CFS-Courier 169 (Forschungsinstitut Senckenberg, Frankfurt, Germany): 261-274.

Tiffney, B.H. and A. Traverse, 1994. The Brandon Lignite (Vermont) is of Cenozoic, not Cretaceous, aget Northeastern Geolo 16.3&4: 215-20.

Fowell, S.J. and A. Traverse, 1995. Palynology and age of the upper Blomidon Formation, Fundy basin, Nova Scotia. Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology 86: 211-33.

Traverse, A. 1995. More about spore tablets. Palynos 18.1: 7.

Strother, P.K., S. Al-Hajri and A. Traverse, 1995. (Abstract) Middle Ordovician cryptospores from Saudi Arabia: new evidence for a transitional terrestrial fiora. Palynology 19: 24:9.

Strother, P.K., S. Al-Hajri and A. Traverse, 1996. New evidence for land plants from the lower Middle Ordovician of Saudi Arabia. Geology 24.1: 55-8.

Visscher, H., H. Brinkhuis, D.L. Dilcher, W.C. Elsik, Y. Eshet, C.V. Looy, M.R. Rampino, M.R. and A. Traverse, 1996. The terminal Paleozoic fungal event: Evidence of Terrestrial ecosystem destabilization and collapse. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 93: 2155-2158.

Traverse, A., 1996. Chapter 2. Nomenclature and taxonomy: systematics. A rose by any other name would be very confusing. Palynology: Principles and Applications, ed. J. Jansonius and D.C. McGregor. AASP Foundation, vol. 1: 11-28.

Fowell, S.J., A. Traverse, P.E. Olsen and D.V. Kent, 1996 (Abstract). Carnian and Norian palynofioras from the Newark Supergroup, Eastern United States and Canada. and the Argana Basin of Morocco; relationship to Triassic climate zones. CIMP Newsletter 51: 4.

Wade, J.A., D.E. Brown. A. Traverse and R.A. Fensome, 1996. The Triassic-Jurassic Fundy Basin, eastern Canada: regional setting, stratigraphy and hydrocarbon potential. Atlantic Geol. 32: 189-231.

Pazzaglia, F.J.. R.A.J. Robinson and A. Traverse, 1997. Palynology of the Bryn Mawr Formation (Miocene): insights on the age and genesis of Middle Atlantic margin fluvial deposits. Sedimentary Geology 108: 19-44.

Rue, D.J. and A. Traverse, 1997. Pollen analysis of the Hackensack, New Jersey meadowlands tidal marsh. Northeastern Geology and Environmental Sciences 19.3: 211-215.

Dunning, N., Rue, D.J., Beach, T., Covich, A. and Traverse, A., 1998. Human-environment interactions in a tropical wastershed: the paleoecology of Laguna Tamarindito, El Peten, Guatemala. Journal of Field Archeology 25: 139-151.

Webster, D., Rue, D.J. and Traverse, A., in prep. 1998. Late Holocene fire and agriculture in the Copan Valley, Honduras. Biotropica.

Traverse, A., 1998. (48-49) Two proposals to amend Art. 8 to provide for the typification of plant microfossil names by illustrations. Taxon 47: 757-759.

Chaloner, W.G., Greuter W., Nicolson, D.H. and Traverse, A., 1998. (97-100) proposals regarding the nomenclature of fossil plants. Taxon 47: 907-910.

________ 1999. 50. Palynology/ecology interfaces. In Jones, T.P and Rowe, N.P. (eds.) Fossil Plants and Spores; modern techniques. Geological Soc., London, 269-273.

Traverse, A. and S.R. Ash, 1999. Preliminary assessment of the age of the palynoflora of the Red Tanks Member, Madera Formation, Carrizo Arroyo, New Mexico. New Mexico Geological Society Guidebook, 50th Field Conference, Albuqueraue Geologv, 1999: 293- 296.

MEDAL OF EXCELLENCE IN EDUCATION The American Association of Stratigraphic Palynologists bestows upon ALFRED TRAVERSE its Medal of Excellence in Education in recognition of a man who never missed an opportunity to teach, or to be taught, and whose intellectual curiosity and genuine love for the enterprise of teaching have brought him international acclaim.

ALFRED TRAVERSE

PRESENTATIONS BY
MARTIN B. FARLEY, FREDERICK J. RICH AND PAUL K. STROTHER

In the following letter I would like to present the reasons why I think Dr. Alfred Traverse is highly qualified to receive the A.A.S.P. Medal of Excellence in Education.

The most important insight I got from Alfred Traverse was the importance of putting paleobotanical results in a geologic context. In great contrast to most paleobotanists until the 1980s who just peeled the fossils off the rocks and threw the rocks away, Traverse paid attention to the sediments in which the fossils occurred. I think it is now impossible to separate how much my interest in the geologic context of fossils derives from me and how much from him. I think, though, that concentrating on how Alfred Traverse affected me in my development as a scientist is missing the point of how important his effects have been.

The keystone to his approach has been the palynology course. This course has attracted biology and geology students, both undergraduate and graduate, in sufficient numbers to have been taught every year for more than 30 years. What makes this course unique is the “analysis of an unknown“ that is the centerpiece of the lab and indeed the entire course. This transformed the students from mere pupils into real palynologists who had to master the basic lab techniques to process the sample and then use the knowledge of palynomorphs through time that was the rest of the course to interpret a sample’s age (to the nearest stage). The investigative experience was only heightened by the fact that Traverse acquired “unknown“ samples from outside colleagues and often didn’t know details about the sample himself when the process started. The course was an antidote to the drudgery of learning established knowledge that is typical of many undergraduate geology courses (in paleontology, mineralogy, and so on). The rarity of experiences like this was brought home to me by an article in the New York Times, in which an NSF program director estimated that 60–70% of students studying science never do a real experiment. The “analysis of the unknown“ was not only a real experiment but one which may not have been conducted before. The active interest this engendered among the students is a main reason his course became such an effective recruiting tool for palynology and paleobotany.

This is reflected in the number of students who were first exposed to palynology as undergraduates and went on to graduate study in palynology and paleobotany at Penn State or elsewhere. I have even met an oil company sedimentologist who took Traverse’s palynology course at the University of Texas, and could describe how it had affected his scientific thinking even though more than 30 years had passed.

Alfred Traverse’s graduate students covered a broad swath of palynology from the earliest land plants to climate fluctuations and agricultural practices of the Recent. Although the majority of his students did not work on a subset of Traverse’s own work, I think that many of them did fit a continuing theme, namely “palynology of predominantly red-bedded sedimentary successions.“ This seems almost oxymoronic given that redbeds themselves don’t contain palynomorphs, but red-bedded successions nearly always contain some reduced zones and the palynology of these can be central contributors to solving their scientific puzzles. This theme includes the students who worked on the Newark Supergroup, the Triassic–Jurassic of the southwestern U.S., the Devonian Catskill Magnafacies, and the Paleogene of the Rocky Mountains.

His influence included his broader teaching including Historical Geology where he gave general students a broad understanding of Earth’s history (including the history of fossil plants, so often omitted from survey courses) as well as labored to convince Pennsylvania undergraduates that Labrador is not a country in Central America, despite what their responses to map quizzes might indicate.

Written and presented by Martin B. Farley

RESPONSE BY ALFRED TRAVERSE

upon receiving the AASP MEDAL OF EXCELLENCE IN EDUCATION

Thank you very much, Paul Strother, and Fred Rich, my former palynological students, for your kind and generous words, and thanks also to my old friend and colleague, Aureal Cross, for instigating the conferring of this award on me. I also want to express thanks to my sometime doctoral student, Martin Farley, for coming today expressly to join them in the encomia just showered upon me at this festive occasion. To Doug Nichols, my first doctoral student, and Tom Davies, who studied palynology with me, whom I noticed in the audience giving me body language signs of support during the ceremony, I would like to bow deeply, and I must also say thanks to some of my students and others who couldn’t be here, who contacted me with words of appreciation.

Naturally I also want to thank David Pocknall, the AASP President, and Thomas Demchuk, AASP Secretary-Treasurer and local host, for this very successful annual meeting. They have done a splendid job in making this meeting a pleasant and educational experience for Betty and me. Which reminds me! This award is presumably at least partly to acknowledge the 30-year history of my courses, Geosciences/Biology 423 and 526 at Penn State. Elizabeth I. Traverse, Ph. D., must therefore be considered corecipient. Every student in the Penn State palynology courses, 1966–1996, was helped in the lab and otherwise by Betty, an unpaid assistant. She has up to now been acknowledged for this contribution only by some delightful pictures of her very capable hands in the methods section of Paleopalynology (Traverse, 1988).

Of course, I cannot fail to express thanks to Bill Spackman, who persuaded the Geosciences Department at Penn State to give me a chance to establish a program in palynology when Bill Chaloner—who was first choice for the job— decided that his primarily botanical interests would be better served at the University of London. Fred Rich’s marvelously complimentary statements [Rich, 2001] about my personal qualities are much appreciated, but I am enough of a realist to know that many people, including even folks whom I regard as close friends, have somewhat divergent opinions. My old friend, Ken Hsü, for example, writes [Hsü, 2000, p. 114]:

Alfred Traverse ...kam zu uns nach Shell Research als Superstar der amerikanischen Eliteuniversitäten. Er war der personifizierte Yankee-Eierkopf und fand unter den Texanern nicht viele Freunde.“

However, I really do think this award is deserved, whether I am a fair fellow well met or not. My many master’s and doctoral students, as well as a number of my undergraduate advisees who went on to graduate work elsewhere, have made many contributions to various aspects of palynology. I even have the feeling that their years in “Happy Valley“ were useful parts of their life experiences.

Furthermore, the palynology courses mentioned above are 90% of what appears in Paleopalynology. The basic course was heavily lab-oriented, and several hundred students learned from that course much of what they managed to absorb at Penn State about techniques for tackling a problem and how to plan one’s time. I have had many letters, and visits over the years from former students, often years after the fact, stressing this. One came recently [Salute, 2001] from such a student, who did not become a palynologist and whose later application of palynology to his work was rather serendipitous. I title this letter informally “You Never Know When Paleopalynology May Come in Handy.“ Some excerpts from a long letter: [see Appendix I]

Greetings from Mark Salute, B. S. Biology, 1976

March 01, 2001

Prof. Traverse,

“I hope you are enjoying good health, and the rewards of a long, successful career in education and research. I came by your web site somewhat by accident. Just for fun, I was searching for sites based on the keyword “palynology“–that this is, by my notion, €fun“ is one small testimonial to the interest I’ve held for this discipline since I took one of your courses in my (I think) senior year at Penn State....... In my mind, I credit that one single course in all of my undergraduate education as having been the key to my success in my field, because it was the most significant factor in getting me started in my career. The knowledge and experience gained from that one course made it possible for me to distinguish myself in my first year of work, which made all the difference between what should have been a temporary job and what turned out to be a twenty-four year career with the same firm. You may not think this is too unusual: you possibly have had other students write to you relating how they regarded your courses as instrumental in their careers, but I think the great majority of those students had gone on to careers in related fields....my story is different, because my field is software engineering and the business I have been in for the past twenty-four years has been defense and intelligence applications. The company I work for does analysis and design for reconnaissance, surveillance, and exploitation systems. And before I arrived, no one there had ever heard of palynology.

The experience of that one palynology course was the single most deciding factor of my career...I hold that one course in very high regard as a factor in my success. And I remember it as THE most fun class I took in my four years at Penn State......“

I remain hopeful that Paleopalynology, in a forthcoming second edition, will be useful to college teachers, with little or no previous experience in the field, in giving instruction in palynology. I know from “fan letters“ that this has already happened in various parts of the world with the first edition. Regardless of commercial applications, palynology is a fun subject, and it can be readily applied with perhaps the least expensive and extensive equipment and lab space of any lab-based discipline yielding so much information per sample processed.

It was, of course, a great disappointment to me that AASP did not select PSU for the location of the Center in Palynology. I remain convinced that ours was by far the best proposal, and the selection of Penn State would have saved for posterity a flourishing, well equipped, existing program with a a long history, as a basis for the future. It didn’t happen. I nevertheless wish John Wrenn, the LSU center, and AASP every success with the project.

When the AASP was founded, in 1967 [cf. Traverse and Sullivan, 1983], I worked hard as the first Secretary- Treasurer to assure its success. As twice chairman and for some years secretary-treasurer of the Paleobotanical Section of the Botanical Society of America in the 1950s, I had tried to get a palynological society going through that channel. When I heard about the new effort, mostly by oil company palynologists, in 1967, I was determined, as one of only three academic palynologists involved, that the attempt would bear fruit. It grieved me mildly that the name “Society of North American Palynologists“ [SNAP!], which some others and I preferred as more inclusive, (barely) lost to “American Association of Stratigraphic Palynologists.“ In view of the splendid accomplishments of our organization over the years, in many aspects of palynology, the name doesn’t seem to have been of critical importance! That’s hard for a nomenclaturalist to accept, but the proof of the pudding really is in the eating! I continue every year to give thanks for all that AASP has accomplished. The memory of this happy occasion will be a source of satisfaction to Betty and me for as long as we live, so thanks again, but don’t be too sure that this is a valedictory!

References

HSÜ, K.J.
2000 Klima macht Geschichte. Orell Füssli, Zürich, 334 pgs.

RICH, F.J.
2001 Letter of nomination of Dr. Alfred Traverse. A.A.S.P. Newsletter 34: 2: 5–6.

SALUTE, M.
2001 Personal letter to A. Traverse.

TRAVERSE, A.
1988 Paleopalynology. Unwin-Hyman, London, 600 pgs.

TRAVERSE, A., and SULLIVAN, H.J.
1983 The background, origins and early history of the American Association of Stratigraphic Palynologists. Palynology 7: 7–17.

Palynological students include Martin B. Farley, Douglas Nichols, Frederick J. Rich and Paul K. Strother.

ANNOTATED LIST OF SOME OF THE PERSONS WHO STUDIED PALYNOLOGY WITH ALFRED TRAVERSE, 1965-1996

[Compiled by Alfred Traverse 1999-2001]

Introduction.

In early 1999 Owen Davis asked me to compile a list of persons who had studied palynology with me. I agreed but soon realized that this was not an easy task. To be sure, I could fairly easily assemble a list of the titles of dissertations and theses prepared under my direction, but that is only part of the story. There have been many undergraduates who took only my palynology courses, or perhaps only one of them, and yet have told me that palynology was a bright spot in their Penn State memories, or important to them in one way or another. Quite a few of these individuals worked as assistants in our lab, sometimes for a year or more. There have been people who were not PSU students who came here just to take the courses. There have been persons whose advanced degrees were awarded by other institutions but whose palynology was learned primarily at Penn State. There have been many persons who were graduate students at PSU in other departments than Geoscience, or who studied primarily with other professors in the Department of Geosciences, who have made serious efforts to incorporate palynological data and or methods into their research work.

So, I decided to put together an annotated list of all people I could think of who took at least one course with me and who have in one way or another led me to believe that palynology with AT at PSU was important for them.

This has been difficult for several reasons. First of all, when I had to vacate what had been for many years the palynological premises in the Deike Building, the event occurred with very little warning and therefore not much time available for accomplishing the task. Two of my grandsons, and my wife helped me. Thousands of samples and much of my filed material had to be discarded or destroyed, as there was just no place to store the stuff Included were all of the files about the palynology/paleobotany courses I taught, course list and grade books, all of it. Because much of such materia1 is personally confidential and sensitive in nature" I hauled it all home in a truck and burned it up in burn barrels behind my barn. So, I have had to depend very heavily on my memory and on the Penn State Alumni Records, which are unfortunately only as good as the input from the alumni concerned. For many of the people whom I remember very well, as having been in the courses, or having done a special project, there is not a jot or tittle of information in the alumni files. In some cases other professors have been able to help. My correspondence files, which still are in existence. have provided much information. But perusers of the list will doubtless find errors and note omissions, or possibly unwarranted inclusions, about which I would like to hear, with the idea of revising and improving the compilation. I feel especia11y sorry that I can't remember the names of literally dozens of people who have phoned or left messages taped to my door, telling me that a former palynology student had dropped by. At least some of such persons should be on this list!

So, here is the list, errors of omission and commission and all:

I. Persons who did graduate work at PSU with A. Traverse or in a few cases, as noted, jointly with him and another professor, leading to a degree

Said Al-Hajri MS, 1991
Systematios and Biostratigraphy of the Middle Ordovician to Lower Silurian Chitinozoans of the Tabuk and Qasim Areas of the Arabian Peninsula.

Said has maintained a strong interest in Paleozoic palynology, and his publications in this field continue to be important [e. g. Al-Hajri, S., & B. Owens, Eds., 2000, Stratigraphic Palynology of the Palaeozoic of Saudi Arabia, Gulf PetroLink, 231 pp.] He is employed by Aramco in his native Saudi Arabia as a supervisor in the Exploration Department. I have always had profound regret that Said was not permitted by the conditions of his employment to continue at PSU as a doctoral candidate. He was probably as talented a student as I ever had. We co-authored with Paul K. Strother [q. v., p. 17] a paper on Ordovician palynomorphs of Saudi Arabia: Strother, P. K., Al-Hajri, S. & A. Traverse, New evidence for land plants from the lower Middle Ordovician of Saudi Arabia. Geology 24:55-58, 1996.

John W. Bebout PhD, 1977
Palynology of the Paleocene-Eocene Golden Valley Formation of Western North Dakota.

John worked for some years after leaving PSU as a palynologist, but later he functioned as an administrator in the Bureau of Land Management. It was a big disappointment to me that John never prepared his dissertation for publication. We got out an abstract [Palynology 2:213-214, 1978], but that was all.

Dale C. Beeson PhD, 1992
High Resolution Palynostratigraphy Across a Marine Cretaceous-Tertiary Boundary Interval Falls County Texas.

Dale's very memorable interest in computer-based palynological research carried over into his employment with Chevron in New Orleans. As of IV-01, I am not sure of Dale's whereabouts or activities.

Lynn Alvin Brant EdD, 1980
A palynological investigation of postglacial sediments at two locations along the continental divide near Helena, Montana.

Lynn has been employed since leaving PSU as a teacher of geology. He has been for many years at the University of Northern Iowa as professor in the Department of Earth Sciences. He remains keenly interested in fossil palynomorphs and in fossil diatoms.

Duck Kuen Choi PhD, 1983
Paleopalynology of the Upper Cretaceous-Paleogene Eureka Sound Formation of Ellesmere and Axel Heiberg Islands, Canadian Arctic Archipelago.

Duck has been for many years a professor in the School of Earth and Environmental Sciences" Seoul National University, Seoul, Korea. He continues a strong interest in paleopalynology, but the paucity of suitably preserved palynomorphs in Korean sediments has caused him to work in Korea mostly with trilobites, EIT and I spent a delightful week all over South Korea as guests of Duck and his wife, Hyo-Sook, in 1996.

Bruce Cornet PhD, 1977
The Palynostratigraphy and Age of the Newark Supergroup.

Bruce's doctoral dissertation is still cited at PSU as one of the very best in the history of the Deparment of Geoscienoes. He practiced paleopalynology for years following PSU, with various oil companies, as a private operator, and for Lamont Doherty Observatory. He now lives in Red Bank, New Jersey. We have co-authored several papers, e. g.: Cornet, B. and Traverse, A., Palynological contributions to the chronology and stratigraphy of the Hartford Basin in Connecticut and Massachusetts. Geosc. and Man 11:1-33, 1975.

Deborah Delfel MS, 1979 [Now Deborah D. Resley]

Palynostratigraphy and Paleoeoology of the La Ventana Formation Cretaceous(Maestrichtian) San Juan Basin New Mexico. Deborah came to PSU after the graduate program of Fritz Cramer at Florida State shut down. After her work at PSU she married a fellow PSU geosciences graduate student and worked for several petroleum-related industrial firms in the USA and UK. She now is an E &P consultant for DR k Associates, Houston, TX. I can't think of Deborah without recalling that she was the best known graduate student I ever had. If I walked down College Ave. with her there would be a half- dozen '%i, Deb" greetings per block. Among many other things, she performed as a singer, accompanied by her own guitar, in several places in town.

Robert K. Dunay PhD, 1972
The Palynology of the Triassic Dockum Group of Texas and Its Application to Stratigraphic Problems of the Dockum Group.

Following his PSU days, Bob has been a petroleum-based palynologist, mostly for Mobil, especially in Europe. I remember a pleasant contact with him in Gottingen and Celle, Germany, many years ago. I last saw him, for a frustratingly short time, at the AASP meeting, Savannah, GA, 1999. We co-authored a paper long ago, based on his dissertation work: Dunay, R. E. and Traverse, A., Preliminary report on Triassic spores and pollen of the Dockum Group, Texas Panhandle, Geoscience A Man 3: 65-68, 1971.

Volkan S. Kdiger PhD, 1986
Paleopalynological Biostratigraphy Organic Matter Deposition and Basin Analysis of the Triassic-(?) Jurassic Richmond Rift Basin Virginia U.S.A.

After his years at PSU, Volkan was employed for many years as palynologist/geologist by Turkish Petroleum Co., in Ankara. He is now an advisor on energy matters to the President of Turkey. His wife, Elcin, is a dentist specializing in children's dentistry.

Martin B. Farley PhD, 1987
Sedimentologic and paleoecologic importance of palynomorphs in Paleogene nonmarine depositional environments, central Bighorn Basin (Wyoming).

After many years post-PSU with Exxon, in Houston, TX, Martin is now teaching geology at the University of North Carolina at Pembroke. Martin is still remembered by faculty members at PSU as the most mathematically talented graduate student not working in geophysics or geochemistry during their tenure here. Martin and I co-authored a paper: Farley"M. B. and Traverse, A., Usefulness of palynomorph concentrations in distinguishing Paleogene depositional environments in Wyoming (U. S. A.), Rev. Palaeobot. Palynol. 64: 325-329, 1990.

Sarah J. Fowell PhD, 1994 [Columbia University]
Palynology of Triassic/Jurassic boundary sections from the Newark Supergroup of eastern North America: Implications for catastrophic extinction scenarios.

Sarah took all of the palynology/paleobotany courses at PSU, and did the laboratory and much of the microscopic work for her dissertation under the direction of AT, although her formal advisor for her doctorate was Paul Olsen, Columbia University. Dr. Fowell also spent several semesters at PSU aAer getting her degree, and during that period once took over the palynology course during an extended absence of AT. She is now on the faculty of the Department of Geoogy and Geophysics, University of Alaska, Fairbanks. Sarah and I have co-authored a paper on the Triassic palynology of Nova Scotia: Fowell, S. J. and Traverse, A., Palynology and age of the upper Blomidon Formation, Fundy Basin, Nova Scotia, Rev. Palaeobot. Palynol. 86:211-233, 1995.

Norma G. Johnson MS, 1984
Early Silurian palynomorphs from the Tuscarora Formation in central Pennsylvania and their paleobotanical and geological significance.

Following her master's work with me, Norma did a Ph. D. at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, with Pat Gensel. She taught for some years in the Biology Department at UNC following her studies there. She still lives in the Chapel Hill area with her psychiatrist husband and an eleven year old daughter.

Ronald J. Litwin MS, 1983
Fertile Organs and In Situ Spores of Ferns from the Late Triassic Chinle Formation of the Colorado Plateau (Arizona and New Mexico).
PhD, 1986
The Palynostratigraphy and Age of the Chinle and Moenave Formations Southwestern USA.

Ron did all three of his PSU degrees with me, as he was an undergraduate advisee as well as a graduate student. He could have majored in music or art in college, as both are among his major talents. He joined the USGS in Reston, VA, as a palynologist on leaving PSU and has been there ever since. He is, of course, well known from his publications. His skill as an artist led to his producing several of the line-drawing illustrations in Paleopalynology. He and I have co-authored papers, e. g.: Litwin, R. J., Traverse, A., and Ash, S. R., 1991, Preliminary palynological zonation of the Chinle Formation, southwestern U. S. A., and its correlation to the Newark Supergroup (eastern U. S. A.), Rev. Palaeobot. Palynol. 68:269-287, 1991.

Fred K. May MS, 1972
Palynology of the Dakota Sandstone (Middle Cretaceous) Near Bryce Canyon National Park Southern Utah. After PSU, Fred did a Ph. D. with Dewey McLean at VPI. He then worked for USGS and SOHIO, before joining the Department of Geology, Idaho State Univ., Pocatello, Idaho. Fred and I co-authored a paper on his PSU work: May, F. E. and Traverse, A., Palynology of the Dakota Sandstone (middle Cretaceous) near Bryce Canyon National Park, southern Utah, Geosc. and Man 7:57-64, 1973.

D. J. Nichols PhD, 1970
Palynology in Relation to Depositional Environment of Lignite in the Wilcox Group (Early Tertiary) in Texas.

After completing his Ph. D. work at Penn State, Doug was employed as a teacher at the Geneseo Campus of the SUNY system. There he did an outstanding job, but in what I still think of as one of the worst miscarriages of justice in my experience, despite being voted best teacher, and getting a good bit of research published in a short time. He was denied tenure and therefore had to leave only because a ruling had been made to grant nobody tenure. He then worked in the oil industry for a time, before joining USGS in Denver as palynologist many years ago. At PSU we still recall a very severe HF accident of which Doug was a victim. First aid in the lab, followed by prompt treatment in the local hospital saved his eyesight. The damage to a large area of the ceiling above the lab bench where the explosion occurred was left untouched intentionally for about 20 years and was the center piece of my lecture to palynology laboratory classes about the dangers of HF very effective. Doug and I co-authored a paper on his PSU work, e.g.: Nichols, D. J. and Traverse, A., Palynology, petrology and depostional environment of some Early Tertiry lignites in Texas, Geosc. and Man 3: 37-48, 1971. He was one of the authors of a chapter in my Sedimentation of Organic Particles (1994).

Eleanora I. Robbins PhD, 1982
Fossil Lake Danville: The Paleoecology of a Late Triassic Ecosystem on the North Carolina-Virginia Border.

Ph. D. students in my opinion more often than not take too long to complete the requirements for the degree and hence lose too much of their potential most productive time as young scientists. Norrie completed the requirements for the degree in absolutely minimum time. She arrived in State College at the beginning of a fall semester, completed the language exams then required, and candidacy and comprehensive exams in the minimum time allowed by statute, returned to the USGS in Reston at the end of the following spring semester only r6ne months after registering as a graduate student. She completed the rest of the required "residence" by being enrolled for research, although actually residing in VA, completed her dissertation in short order, in absentia, and defended promptly. Very workmanlike. Her joust with a very prominent, male chauvinistic member of her committee at the comprehensive exam is still the subject of cocktail party tales at PSU. Since PSU Norrie has continued her distinguished career with the USGS. She and I co- authored a summary of her dissertation work: Robbins, E. I. and Traverse; A., Degraded palynomorphs from the Dan River (North Carolina) - Danville (Virginia) Basin, Carolina Geol. Soc. Field Trip Guidebook, Oct. 11-12, 1980: B-X-1 to B-X-11.

David Jason Rue PhD, 1986
A palynological analysis of pre-hispanic human impact in the Copan Valley, Honduras

Dave was officially a doctoral candidate of PSU's Department of Anthropology and Archaeology. I was on his committee. In fact, most of his work was palynological and was done in the Palynology Laboratories of the Department of Geosciences, and I regard Dave as just as much one of my doctoral students as those who were officially so listed. Since getting his doctorate, Dave has worked for archeological consulting firms. For some years he has been archeologist for Archeological and Historical Consultants, Centre Hall, PA. Dave and have published several papers together, e. g: Pollen analysis of the Hackensack, New Jersey Meadowlands tidal marsh, Northeastern Geology and Environmental Scienes 19:3:211-215, 1997.

Schuyler, Andrew MS, 1987
Sedimentology and paleoecology of miospores from the Middle to Upper Devonian Oneonta Formation: part of the Catskill Magnafacies, New York State.

Andy first appeared at PSU as a non-degree student, because his girlfriend was a graduate student in geochemistry here. It was fairly quickly obvious to me in the palynology course that he was a very talented and very personable young man. I got him admitted to the graduate program in palynology, and he did a splendid job on his MS thesis. Later he was we11 along in producing his doctoral dissertation when he developed an eye problem that made further microscopy at the intense level required in palynology impossible. He then took his great laboratory skills and imagination to Restek Corp., a local technological manufacturing company making chromatographic and other scientific equipment. AAer years of success work at the management level at Restek, Andy has founded his own company in Bellefonte, PA, to produce other sorts of chemical supplies and equipment. Andy and I have co-authored several publications on the Devonian studies on which he spent so much e6ort at PSU, e. g.: Traverse, A. and Schuyler, A., Palynostratigraphy of the Catskill and part of the Chemung Magnafacies, southern New York State, USA, CFS-Courier 169: 261-274, 1994.

John Stolar EdD, 1978
Megaspores and the Devonian-Mississippian boundary along Route 322, Centre County, Pennsylvania.

John did a fine job with his DED thesis, and I always hoped that he would be able to continue research after leaving PSU, but he had too much interest in academic administration for that to be a realistic expectation. He rose through the ranks at Cheyney State to the top levels of administration, and for some years has been at West Chester State as Professor of Geology and Astronomy.

Jamison B. Warg MS, 1972
A Palynological Study of Shales and Coals of a Devonian-Mississippian Transition Zone Central Pennsylvania.

Jim took undergraduate courses with me, including historical geology, and then joined me in study of Upper Devonian and Lower Mississippian rocks exposed in the construction of Interstate 80, a few miles northwest of State College. Since leaving PSU, Jim has been employed as a geologist by several companies, all in central PA, and mostly coal-related. We published a joint paper on our work with the I-80 material: Warg, J. B. and Traverse, A., A palynological study of shales and "coals" of a Devonian-Mississippian transition zone, central Pennsylvania, Geosci. and Man 7: 39-46.

Harvey S. Xeiss MS, 1976
Dinoflagellate Cyst Zonation of Some Upper Jurassic and Lower Cretaceous Strata

Penetrated by the Sun KR Panarctic Skybattle Bay Well Sverdrup Basin Arctic Archipelago Canada, Following graduation from PSU, Harvey has had a variety of geological positions, for example with Shell Oil Co., Houston, as Minerals Geologist.

II. Persons who studied palynology with A. Traverse, and applied this knowledge and laboratory techniques to their thesis, dissertation, or other graduate research work at Penn State, although students of other professors in different disciplines.

Sharon D. Allshouse MS, 1984
Petrographic Variation Due to Depositional Setting of the Lower Kittanning Seam, Western Pennsylvania.

Took the basic palynology course in 1979, performing with memorable distinction. Later, she married Fred Rich see p 14 in this list and she now lives with Fred and their children in Statesboro, Georgia, where she is a much respected faculty spouse.

Mohammed N. Al-Mugheiry MS, 1995
Depositional Environments and Stratigraphic Framework of the Late Devonian Elk Reservoir Sands in Central Pennsylvania.

This man, from Oman, after distinguished performance in the palynology courses, did some really excellent work with me on the palynology of the central PA "Catskill" Devonian, in connection with his thesis work. Unfortunately, PSU and I have lost contact him since he left the university.

Steven Austin PhD, 1979
Depositional Environment of the Kentucky No. 12 Coal Bed (Middle Pennsylvanian) of Western Kentucky with Special Reference to the Origin of Coal Lithotypes.

Steve has been best known for his fundamentalist Christian opposition to the tenets of scientific evolutionary thought. At PSU he performed with distinction in our courses, including palynology, despite the evolutionary basis of much of the subject. He was well funded during his time at PSU. For example, his palynological study of samples for his project was, as far as I know, the only one ever based on slides produced by a consulting firm to which the samples had been sent for processing. The most recent information I have is that Steve now works and lives in San Diego, CA.

Arthur D. Cohen PhD, 1968
The Petrology of Some Peats of Southern Florida (with Special References to the Origin of Coal). Vol 1 Part I: General Introduction Petrography and Modern Environments; Vol. 2 Part II: Alteration of Plant Materials.

Art made extensive use of palynology in his thesis work and later, up to the present. He even made a critical contribution to revisions of my own dissertation work on the Brandon lignite, published in Rev. Palaeobotany and Palynology in 1994 by pointing out that a pollen form I had been unable to identify is the pollen of Itea. I am also frequently reminded of Art because I still have at home some large color posters that used to hang in the hallways of the Deike Bldg. at PSU, with Art's huge photomicrographs of thin sections of Florida peat. The sections were made by Elizabeth I. Traverse and were used in Art's petrographic studies. Art also holds the distinction of being the only person I ever (unwisely? ha! ) permitted to take my palynology course without the laboratory work.]

Thomas Daniel Davies PhD, 1980
Peat formation in Florida Bay and its significance in interpreting the recent vegetational and geological history of the Bay area.

Tom took basic palynology with me and has been active in palynology ever since his Ph. D. work. Most of his professional career has been spent with Exxon in Houston, Texas.

Peter John Fawcett PhD, 1994
Simulation of Climate-Sedimentary Evolution: A Comparison of climate Model Results to the Geologio Record for India and Australia.

Peter was a keen and very interested student in my course. He used the techniques learned as part of his background information in his disseretation. He was employed by the Geology Department at the University of Toronto when I last heard.

Linda A. Flueckinger PhD. 1970
Stratigraphy, petrography, and origin of tertiary sediments ofF the front of the Beartooth Mountains, Montana-Wyoming.

Linda was an excellent student in palynology and did apply her palynological knowledge in interpretation of thesis and dissertation problems. She was in one of my first palynology classes PSU and had the misfortune to have some accidents in the use of the palynological lab that became part of our learning experience about how to teach techniques to prevent such accidents. Fortunately, she was not seriously injured. She later married one of our professors in the Coal Research Section, Russ Dutcher, and moved with him to Carbondale, IL, where she has been employed by a coal company.

Shirley S. Fonda PhD, 1976
Cheilostome Bryozoans in Modern Bermuda Reefs Systematics and Ecology.

Shirley was an outstanding student in my palynology classes, and could easily have become a professional palynologist, had she not decided to work on bryozoans instead. Shirley is a modern polymath, an accomplished professional musician, from whom at least one of my children took lessons, a well-known rescuer of injured animals and she also has become a vertebrate paleontologist. All of this Shirley has accomplished as a State College homemaker with practically no funding for her scientific endeavors.

Patrick J. Gleason PhD, 1972
The Origin Sedimentation and Stratigraphy of a Calcitic Mud Located in the Southern Fresh-Water Everglades.

Pat had a serious interest in palynology both while at PSU and later. AAer his PSU days he was employed in the Miami area, and he helped me greatly with my efforts to learn more about palm pollen by collecting palyniferous materia1 from many species of palms in south Florida, especially from the palm collections at Fairchild Tropical Garden. The last I heard Pat was resident in Lake Worth, employed by Camp, Dresser A McKee, Inc.

David C. Glick MS, 1984
Variability in the Inorganic Content of United States' Coals - A Multivariate Statistical Study.

Dave was an excellent student in palynology, and kept up with the subject somewhat after completion of his graduate work. He worked in the Coal Research Section of the Department of Geosciences, and is still employed by the successor organization to the CRS.

Jeffrey J. Gryta PhD, 1987
Sediment Budgets on Reclaimed Coal Surface Mines in Central Pennsylvania.

Jeff did good work in the palynology courses and has from time to time contacted me about palynological research in connection with his projects at Edinboro University, PA.

Robert Q. Gutzler PhD, 1979
Petrology and Depositional Environments of Alabama Territory Lignites.

Bob displayed enviable talent in all aspects of palynological studies and used the concepts and techniques learned in his dissertation work. One thing I cannot help but remember is that he began the basic palynology course a whole month late and still finished at the top of the class.

David Samuel Hoover PhD, 1980
The development and evaluation of an automated reflectance microscope system for the petrographic characterization of bituminous coals.

Dave was a good, very interested student in the palynology class. Since leaving PSU he has been involved in technology management. He lived in New Tripoli, PA, when I last heard.

James Clyde Hower PhD, 1978
Anisotropy of vitrinite reflectance in relation to coal metamorphism for selected United States coals.

Jim was interested in palynological techniques as they applied to coal, even when he took my course. Since then he has become well known in coa1 research. When I last heard he was employed by the University of Kentucky, Lexington, in the Applied Energy Department.

John L. Jobling PhD, 1974
Stratigraphy Petrography and Structure of the Laramide (Paleocene) Sediments Marginal to the Beartooth Mountains Montana.

John was a bright, interested member of my classes, and made use of palynological insights in his dissertation work. Both PSU and I have lost contact with John.

Constantine S. Karytsas PhD, 1992
Variation in the Petrological Mineralogical and Palynological Characteristics of Some Upper Pennsylvanian Coals from the Northern Appalachian Basin.

Costa was an enthusiastic and hard-working member of my palynology classes, and he made much use of palynology in his dissertation work, as is evident from the title. He returned to Greece after completing his degree and was employed at a university there when I last heard.

Eddy Kruijs MS, 1989
Predicting the Locations of Mid-Cretaceous Wind Driven Upwelling and Productivity: A Critical Eyalgation,

Eddy was a very interesting gentleman to have in the class. He was as an undergrad a baseball scholarship student at the University of Miami (FL). When he told me this it was the first I knew that secondary school and even professional baseball exists in the Netherlands. In the palynology classes he was a keen and intrepid worker, who would spend countless hours interpreting the morphology of a sometimes not very well preserved fossil palynomorph. After graduation he was employed by Shell Offshore, Inc.

Deborah W. Kuehn PhD, 1983
Characterization of the Organic Structure of the Lower Kittanning Coal Seam Using Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy and Optical Properties.

I first knew this interesting person as Deborah Wilbur. She was a very bright presence in my palynology classes, and she continued to apply her palynological knowledge in her dissertation and later research. She was living in Bowling Green, KY, when I last heard. She married Kenneth W. Kuehn, who is listed just below.

Kenneth W. Kuehn PhD, 1982
The petrographic characterization of coals by automated reflectance microscopy and its application to the prediction of yields in coal liquefaction.

Ken, as Deborah q.v. was a keen student and very interested in palynological applications to coal research.

Michelle Lamberson MS, 1987
Aspects of Petrography Palynology and Inorganic Constituents of Subbituminous Coals from Canyon Creek Alaska: A High Latitude Tertiary Coal Field.

I have fond memories of Michelle, who spent much time in our lab, doing palynology for her thesis. She was always cheerful and humorous. I often think of encountering her processing samples one late evening, and she quippped, "Yup....here I am centrifuging away my life." After her PSU days both the university and I lost touch with Michelle. She was at the University of British Columbia when I last heard.

Rui Lin PhD, 1988
The Chemistry of Coal Maceral Fluorescence: With Special Reference to the Huminite/Vitrinite Group.

Rui is a very talented man, who could have been one of the top palynologists anywhere, had he selected our field for specialization. His work in the palynological classes was top notch. The last information I had on Rui is that he was working for Unocal in petroleum exploration in Texas and in Thailand.

Jean-Pierre Loule MS, 1987
Shallow Marine Sedimentary Processes Along the Late Devonian Catskill Shoreline in Pennsylvania: Storm Versus Tidal Influence.

Jean-Pierre used palynology extensively in his thesis research, and his work and that of Al- Mugheiry (see above) are still part of the basis of my concepts of the Devonian of central PA. Jean-Pierre was employed by the National Hydrocarbon Corporation of his native Cameroon, when I last heard from him several years ago.

Jennifer M. Mangan MS, 1996
Global Vegetation Patterns Past and Present as Predicted by the Genesis Climate Model.

Jennifer was a very interested student in the palynology classes and had many discussions about floral distributions with me. After PSU she went to the University of Colorado to begin Ph. D. work

Patricia Klaine Miller PhD, 1993
Prehistoric settlement patterns in the Bald Eagle Creek drainage of central Pennsylvania.

Pat's Ph. D. was earned in PSU's Anthropology/Archeology Department, but her dissertation work involved some pollen analysis from her field sites, and much research in the palynological and ethnobotanical literature. I was on her committee, and she took the palynology courses, in which her performance was marvelous. I remember trying to convince her to switch to palynology. After PSU she worked for some years with Archeological and Historical Consultants, Inc., in Centre Hall, PA. She now is with KCI Technologies, Mechanicsburg. In both jobs she has been engaged in archeological salvage work.

Gareth D. Mitchell MS, 1977
A petrographic classification of solid residues for the evaluation of coal performance during the hydrogenation of bituminous coals.

Gary was a very careful and thorough worker in the palynology classes and has continued throughout his career to apply his palynological knowledge to understanding the origin and structure of coal. He is employed at PSU in the successor organization to the Coal Research Section of the Department of Geosciences.

Carmen Moy (Tavera ) PhD, 1982 [Biology Dept., PSU]
Light and electron microscope studies of spore structure in selected tropical ferns.

Carmen's dissertation was done in PSU's biology department under C. J. Hillson. Carmen took the palynology courses with me, however, and I invited her, with the department's blessing, to be an unpaid research associate with our palynological group, where her presence was stimulating. I encouraged her to get her dissertation published, which she did, and she and I published one joint paper: Moy, C. and Traverse, A. Palynostratigraphy of the subsurface Eagle Mills Formation (Triassic) from a well in east-central Texas, Palynology 10:225-234, 1986. She occasionally substituted for me in giving lectures to the basic palynology course.

Frank J. Pazzaglia PhD, 1993
Tectonic Geomorphology and Late Cenozoic Geology of the Middle U.S. Atlantic Passive Margin.

Frank was a very stimulating member of the palynology classes and used palynology to great advantage in his dissertation work. He has been a faculty member for some time at the University of New Mexico, Albuquerque. Recently he has accepted a position at Lehigh University, Bethlehem, PA. Frank and I, along with Ruth Robinson (q. v., p. 14) have published a paper together: Pazzlaglia, F. J., Robinson, R. A. J., and Traverse, A., Palynology of the Bryn Mawr Formation (Miocene): Insights on the age and genesis of Middle Atlantic margin fluvial deposits, Sedimentary Geology 108: 19-44, 1997.

Melvin H. Podwysocki MS, 1968
A Petrographic and Chemical Study of Coal Dikes Intruding Lamprophyre Sills in the Purgatoire River Valley of Colorado.

Mel took the palynology course in one of my first classes at PSU. I remember him as having a very good general understanding of the whole subject. He is now with the the U. S. Geological Survey in Reston, VA.

Fredrick J. Rich PhD, 1979
The Origin and Development of Tree Islands in the Okefenokee Swamp as Determined by Peat Petrography and Pollen Stratigraphy.

Fred is an exceptionally clear picture in my recollections of the palynology classes. He was an outstanding student. I only recently learned that he was something of a "ringer" he had already had training in palynology at another university when he showed up in my class! He used palynology extensively in his dissertation work. After PSU he married Sherry Allshouse (q. v., p. 8), who was also a memorable member of the introductory palynology course. Fred has continued to be very active in palynology. He is now employed by Georgia State University in Statesboro, where he is chairman of his department. He is an ex-President of AASP and was host to the 1999 AASP convention in Savannah, Georgia.

Susan M. Rimmer PhD, 1985
Lateral and Vertical Variability in Petrography and Mineralogy of the Lower Kittanning Seam Western Pennsylvania and Eastern Ohio.

Sue's beautifully organized and meticulous work in the palynology course is still a treasured memory. I would have loved to have been able to convert her to a career in palynology. She has had a distinguished career in teaching, research, and administration, at the University of Kentucky, Lexington, where she is now Professor Geology. Ruth A.J. Robinson PhD, 1997 The origin and significance of grain-size trends in ancient fluvial deposits. Ruth did an excellent job in my courses at PSU and continued to be a source of valuable input in our lab long after, as she used palynology extensively in her dissertation and other research at PSU. I recall that Ruth used palynology to prove that some of her sediments were Miocene, not Cretaceous, as had been alleged. She and I were both co-authors with Frank Pazzaglia of a paper in Sedimentary Geology in 1997. Since her time at PSU Ruth has had a teaching position in her native Scotland.

Robert T. Ryder PhD, 1968
The Beaverhead Formation: A Late Cretaceous-Paleocene Syntectonic Deposit in Southwestern Montana and East-Central Idaho.

Bob took the palynology course, I think the first time I taught it at Penn State. I recall that his work in all aspects of the course was very good, and that he applied his palynological knowledge in various ways in his dissertation research for example in determining by palynomorph content the source of transported rock. When I last heard, he was employed by the U. S. Geological Survey in Reston, VA.

Lisa C. Sloan PhD, 1990
Determination of Critical Factors in the Simulation of Eocene Global Climate with Special Reference to North America.

Lisa took the basic palynology course in 1988 and also did a research project connected with her computer mode11ing of Eocene climates. In both courses she was stimulatingly original, raising many interesting points in informal discussions. Since PSU she has had a distinguished career in science, and is now on the faculty at the University of California at Santa Cruz.

Scott A. Stout PhD, 1988
Tracing the Microscopical and Chemical Origin of Huminitic Macerals in Coal. Scott did a fine job in the palynology courses and continued a keen interest in fossil palynomorphs afterwards. When I last saw him, at the Rose Bowl game between Penn State and Oregon, 1 Jan., 1995, he was working for Unocal in California.

Tavera, Carmen M.: see Moy, p. 13

Francis T. Ting PhD, 1967
The Petrology of the Lower Kittanning Coal in Western Pennsylvania. Francis was one of the first palynology students at PSU after I arrived in 1966. He continued a strong interest in palynology after leaving PSU. He was for many years professor in the geology department, University of North Dakota, Grand Forks, and I once spent several days with him there, giving several lectures on palynological topics. Francis died unexpectedly as a result of a visit to his homeland in China, very young, many years ago.

Karl Raymond Verbeek PhD, 1975
Structural evolution of the Somport area, West-Central Pyrenees, France and Spain.

Earl, I believe, didn't take the palynology basic course for credit, but he apparently unlike most "auditors," completed all the requirements of the course as evidenced by slides and samples that I still have. This attentiveness may well have derived from the fact that his "significant other" at the time was Karen Wenrich, see the next entry. Earl continued an interest in palynology after finishing at PSU. My next contact with him, however, came years later, in connection with a house I owned in Houston, TX. It was very seriously damaged by movement along a subsidence "fault," the "Long Point Fault." By coincidence Earl was the USGS geologist investigating that very fault and other related structures. Earl presented a seminar at PSU in which his maps and photographs illustrated my very house. Earl's publication and the illustrations were critical in a dispute between me and IRS, which I won largely because of Earl's work, which proved that the movement on the LPF was indeed catastrophic, qualifying me for utilizing "forced conversion" aspects of the tax law. Earl is now semi-retired from USGS, living in New Jersey, where he teaches in a secondary school. I recently had phone and e-mail contact with him, in which he expressed interest in doing more palynology.

Karen Jane Wenrich (Verbeek) PhD, 1975
Trace and major element chemistry and the petrogenesis of lavas from the upper portion of San Francisco Mountain, Arizona.

Karen took my course and displayed considerable interest in possible applications of palynology to her geological research. She is now known as Karen J. Wenrich, and lives and works in Golden, CO. She apparently has her own consulting firm.

Timothy S. White Ph.D., 1998
A Sequence Stratigraphic and Geochemical Investigation of Lower to Middle Turonian (Cretaceous) Strata of the Western Interior Seaway, Utah, Colorado, and Western Kansas.

Tim took the basic course, as well as several units of my problem course, with the plan to use palynostratigraphic methods as part of his dissertation. As of mid-2001 he is doing research with the Earth System Science Center at Penn State and also is associated with the U. S. Geological Survey.

Bob R. Wilson
Studied jointly with A. Traverse and E. G. Williams. Did very creditable work in both the basic palynology course, and the problems course. Although no degree or thesis/dissertation was completed, a paper on the work was published: Wilson B. R., Traverse, A. &Williams, E. G., 1984. Palynological delineation of the Mississippian-Pennsylvanian unconformity in west-central Pennsylvania: 9 Int. Congress of Stratigraphy and Geology of the Carboniferous, Compte Rendu, Vol. 2:337-344. PSU and I have both unfortunately lost contact with Bob.

Paul D. Zell
Paul was an undergraduate advisee, 1970-74. He took the palynology course and was especially interested in Paleozoic palynomorphs. Paul has been an avid collector of central PA lower Paleozoic fossils since childhood and possesses what is undoubtedly the finest collection of them ever assembled. After getting his B. S. degree at PSU, he was a graduate student at the University of Pittsburgh, where he got an MS. He now teaches geology at Penn State, Altoona Campus, and has a Ph. D. thesis almost complete on his Cambrian Silurian fossils, and their significance.

Laurie S. Zimmerman MS. 1985
Paleoecology of Permian Bryozoan Bioherms in the Glass Mountains West Texas.

Laurie was a very adept and enthusiastic student in the palynology class, and following graduation decided to do graduate work at Texas A k M with Vaughn Bryant, in palynology. Ultimately, however, she switched to vertebrate paleontology for her Ph. D. She now has a family and teaches at a college in Houston, Texas.

III. Persons who were undergraduate advisees of A. Traverse at Penn State or studied palynology and or paleobotany with him there as undergraduates, who, often on his recommendation, did graduate work elsewhere in paleobotany/palynology, or related fields, or were employed as palynologists/paleobotanists on the strength of their PSU undergraduate training..

Nan Crystal Arens, undergraduate advisee, 1983-1987, took the palynologylpaleobotany courses with me. From her project in the advanced palynology problems course came the publication: Arens, N. C. &A. Traverse, 1989. The effect of microwave oven-drying on the integrity of spore and pollen exines in herbarium specimens: Taxon 38:394-403. Later, Arens went to Harvard and did a Ph. D. with Andrew H. Knoll in Paleobotany. She now is a faculty member in the Department of Integrative Biology, University of California, Berkeley, doing very innovative research in both palynology and paleobotany.

Robert K. Booth, informal undergraduate advisee, took palynology and paleobotany courses with me, 1992-1995, and also did independent research projects in our lab, and was a research assistant for about a year. He then went to Georgia Southern to do master's work under Fredrick Rich [q. v., p. 14]. AAer completing his master's degree he became a doctoral candidate at the University of Wyoming, Laramie, where he now studies with Stephen T. Jackson. Bob is already we11 known in his own right, for example from winning the best paper award at the AASP Savannah convention in 1999. [Bob and I did considerable work in the Dcvonian of central PA, none of which has as yet been published. He is also a very skilled artist, and an impressionistic oil painting of his graces our living room.]

Cynthia L. Kramer, undergraduate advisee, later did graduate work in palynology at the University of Toronto and at City University of New York. She is also a graduate of Cornell Law School. Ms. Kramer was one of the most naturally intellectually talented individuals I have ever known. This sort of talent can be for many people difficult to manage. Cynthia is now very busy lecturing on various subjects, mostly environmentally related, to various groups, teaching classes for students who are preparing for law school admission, working with a zoning board. She is pursuing a doctorate in environmental science at CUNY in her spare time.

Sharon M. Locke, undergraduate advisee, 1981-84, took palynology courses with me, doing a superb job. After PSU she went to University of Minnesota for her Ph. D. Since then she has taught at Union and Bates, and is now a research scientist at the Univ. of Southern Maine, in Portland. She is married to James E. Crick. [For many years at PSU we had an annual "Mini- Convention," a half-day session at which the students in the problems course presented papers. Betty still remembers that a very young Sharon had stage fright so bad just before her presentation that she had to be comforted energetically to keep her from fleeing the premises.]

Paul K. Strother, undergraduate advisee, 1971-75. Took palynology courses with me. From his project in the problems in palynology course came the paper, Strother, P. K. A. A. Travserse, Plant Microfossils from Llandoverian and Wenlockian rocks of Pennsylvania, Palynology 3: 1-21. Later, Strother went to Harvard and did a Ph. D. with Elso S. Barghoorn He and his wife, Cecilia Lenk, were ESB's last students, as Bill Spackman and I were the first two. Paul has taught at Boston University and is now a research scientist at Boston College. He continues to be one of the most important investigators of early Paleozoic plant-derived palynomorphs.

Debra Ann Willard, undergraduate advisee, 1978-1982, took paleobotany and palynology courses with me, and also did independent undergraduate research on Black Sea dinoflagellate cysts with me. Later she earned a doctorate in paleobotany at University of Illinois. Now a geologist with U. S. Geological Survey, Reston, VA, she has worked on a wide variety of palynological and paleobotanical problems.

Marc A. Worona, undergraduate advisee, 1986-1990, took paleobotany and palynology courses with me, later did graduate work with Dr. Cathy Whitlock at the University of Oregon, leading to a master's degree in Pleistocene palynology. At that point Marc returned to Pennsylvania and has been employed ever since as a master brewer at one of PA's top breweries. He and family live in Adamstown, PA. All I can say is that palynology lost a potential top scientist to beer, but not in the usual way. I can honestly say I saw this coming. When Marc was an undergraduate he once gave me several bottles of his homebrew. It was the only such I ever had that I would rate "very good." As a grad student in Oregon he won blue ribbons at the state fair for some of his beers.

Pierre A. Zippi, took palynology courses with me, 1977-78. Later he did a Ph. D. in palynology with Geoffrey Norris at the University of Toronto: Dissertation title: Palynology of the mid-Cretaceous Mattagumi Formation and correlative sediments of Ontario. I was external examiner on Pierre's dissertation defense. He is now with Arco in Plano. Texas.

IV. Persons who took palynology and/or paleobotany with AT at PSU and went on to graduate work in other fields.

Maggie M. Finkelstein took palynology courses with me 1991-92. She was an outstanding palynology prospect but on graduation she worked for a time as a microbiologist for a biotech firm and then opted for law school. She was first in her class in law school and when I last heard she was working for a law firm in Pennsylvania.

Janice Jenkins, took palynology courses with me in 1979-80, and also worked in our lab as a research assistant for a semester. She was one of the very best palynological talents I ever saw at PSU. Later she did a Ph. D. in foraminifera at the Unviersity of South Carolina. She is married to the former head of the Department of Geosciences at PSU, Mike Arthur. They live near State College, PA.

Sharon Waltman, took palynology courses with me, 1981-82. In the problems course she did studies of putative prairie grass paleosols from central PA. She used phytoliths for this work, and worked up the techniques from the literature. The whole project was very educational for us both.

V. Persons who took palynology and/or paleobotany with me at PSU and either did research projects in palynology at PSU, were employed as assistants in my lab, or worked in fields where they were able to apply their palynological or paleobotanical knowledge. [ N. B.: this is the least satisfactory part of this whole list. Here I am depending entirely on memory, in the total absence of class records. I know very well that there are least ten or so more people who over the years have let me know by phone, mail or brief visits to the lab or office that the courses have been important to them, but in the absence of records I cannot list them here.]

Mark K. Bowers took the palynology courses in 1982-1983. His reseach project on Upper Devonian spores of central PA and southern New York actually provided the jumping off point for the extensive research of Andrew Schuyler [q. v., p. 6] on Devonian spores. After PSU Mark became a Christian missionary and has travelled over much of the world in this capacity. When I last heard he was Director of International Relations, Association of International Mission Services, Virginia Beach, VA.

Nathaniel J. "Nate" Benesi took the palynology and paleobotany courses 1994-96. After graduation he began to work for various horticultural enterprises both on campus at PSU and elsewhere, and he eventually became a graduate student in California in environmental management. I have lost contact with Nate in recent years. He always credited my palynology and paleobotany courses with stimulating his interest in plants per se.

Charles M. Boyer did a very credible job in my palynology class about 1973. He also did a research project on Lower Silurian Tuscarora shales from Centre Co., PA. This work was the first indication I had that such rocks are palyniferous. Later Boyer had a successful career as a geologist, including for Schlumberger.

Lawrence Fearn took the palynology courses about 1975-77. He was a most interesting person to have in the classes. He was very resourceful and had an inquiring mind. At one point when he apparently needed more funding he acquired a used pickup truck and a few tools and went into the odd job business. Following PSU he had more palynological training and worked for Mobil in Texas for many years.

Paul Hastings took the palynology course with me about 1978. I recall that he did a credible but not particularly memorable job in the class. After graduation he joined the Peace Corps and was posted to Thailand. Eventually he married a Thai woman and decided to stay there. When the Thai government advertised for a palynologist, he got the job, solely on the basis of his one PSU palynology course, in which he was scarcely the star pupil! In the 80s I heard from him a number of times, we exchanged pollen slides, and he was doing a lot of palynological research. Later I lost contact with Paul, and neither PSU alumni records nor I seem to know where he now is.

Karen M. Kraszewski took the palynology courses about 1990and displayed excellent lab skills which led us to employ her for several semesters as a lab assistant. After she leA PSU in 1991 I lost touch with Karen, and PSU alumni records seem to have no current information either.

William A. McHale and Ann L. Williams took the palynology course in the middle 1970s. They were so closely associated that their lab work tended to merge, approaching asymptotically to identity. After PSU, on my recommendation, they went to Houston, Texas, and both found employment as palynological lab workers, on the basis of their one PSU course and a recommendation from me. They married and Bill later formed a scientific equipment sales and service company in Houston, but Ann continued working in palynology for years. I recall that she and I took Bill Evitt's dino course at Stanford together in 1981. I visited them several times in Houston, in connection with my study of palynomorphs in the water of the lower Trinity River. Ann and Bill were of inestimable help to me with that project (published in Ann. Missouri Bot. Gard. 79:110-125, 1992. Ann eventually left palynology to attend denta1 school. She now has a practice in the Philadelphia area, and Bill is employed in that area in a technological capacity.

Alan D. Petravich took my palynology and paleobotany courses about 1990. I have never had an undergrad student who displayed more interest in the plants behind the spores and pollen of palynology than Alan. Alan was very interested in theatrical matters at PSU. After a brief flirtation with the idea of a career in theater he returned to PSU for an MS in horticulture. During that period I used to visit him from time to time in the greenhouses and learned a great deal about how ornamental herbaceous plants are raised. Later he was a lead grower for a nursery in central PA, and now he occupies a similar position at Longwood Gardens in Philadelphia.

Deb Salabsky took the basic palynology course, 1983. She now works for Restek Corp. in Bellefonte, PA. She is representative of many "423" students who have told me that the lab techniques they learned in the course have been useful to them in their professions.

Mark Salute, B. S. in Biology from PSU, 1976. Took basic palynology course and credits it with [accidentally?] turning his life around [see Appendix I].

Keith W. Saroka, B. S. in Earth Sciences and Secondary Education, 1993. Took the palynology courses abaout 1992-1993. Keith also did a research project, and later worked with distinction in our lab as a teehvical assistant. He now has an MS from West Chester Univ. and teaches science in Tinicum School, Essington, PA. He continues an interest in palynology and has kept in touch over the years.

Renee Tornatore took the palynology courses about 1990. She was a very talented lab worker, and excellent student, and we employed her for several semesters as a lab assistant. I recall being fascinated that she had worked as a paperhanger for years. That's how she paid for PSU. After PSU she attended a school of chiropractic medicine in St. Louis, and I recall talking with her by phone once when I was in St. Louis on personal business. After that I have lost touch with her, and PSU alumni records also have nothing on her.

Ann Louise Williams, see McHale

VI. Persons who took palynology and/or paleobotany with AT at PSU as special students or visitors and later applied these studies to their work.

Kmily Giffin [later Dr. Emily G. Buchholtz] PhD, 1974, George Washington University. Phylogeny of the Artiodactyla: a study of gross cerebral characteristics

Emily Giffin was Curator of Paleontology at the William Penn Museum in Harrisburg in the 1970s. She enrolled in the palynology course and commuted from Harrisburg to State College for an entire semester in 1975 to attend lectures and lab. She was a really outstanding student in every way and could have become a professional palynologist with little more training. Later she was employed by the geology and biology departments of Wellesley College, where she is now professor. She does research in the locomotive processes of ancient vertebrate animals. A representative article on such work by her was published in the J. Vertebrate Paleontol 21:61-73, 2001.

Park, Suk Whan Suk W. Park was at PSU in the late 1970s as visiting scientist from South Korea.. He enrolled in the basic palynology course in 1977and did an outstanding job, working incredibly long hours at the microscope. He is one of only two persons in the history of the course who made detailed drawings of all fifty pollen types in the "Top-50" exercise [only a few types were required]. Ever since returning to Korea in 1978 he has conducted coal research at the Korea Institute of Geosciences and Mineral Resources (formerly Geological Survey of Korea).

Traverse, Klizabeth Insley PhD, 1995, PSU Peasants, seasons and Werltsiieze: cyclicity in Neidhart's songs reexamined. This is a tough one to classify, but I would think she belongs in this section. Betty and I met in the Biological Laboratories at Harvard in 1949. I was using a lab available on the floor where my office was situated to process palynological samples, and Betty was working on a plant cancer project as a tissue culture specialist in the same lab. Years later, after we had moved to Penn State, and the four children were essentially grown, she worked as an [mostly] unpaid assistant for me, processing thousands of samples, keeping track of our correspondence and files, doing bags of photographic work in the darkroom, and many other things. She also gave demonstrations for the palynological course laboratory sessions, and helped hundreds of students when they couldn't make samples centrifuge correctly or they didn't know how to dilute acids properly or how to make up Schulze's solution. Can you believe this, many of my colleagues resented the fact that I had a marvelously skilled, unpaid assistant, and they actually complained that it was "unfair." Sometime early in my stay at PSU Betty took the palynology course. Well actually, she technically speaking audited it, but I have never had such an auditor. She attended every lecture, did every snippet of lab work, took all the tests. It was a tour de force A+ performance. I taught her palynology. So, clearly, she belongs in this list. In her 60s she returned to school as a graduate student in German at Penn State, and in order to be admitted to graduate school, completed all the requirements for a bachelor's degree in that language, though she was not required to do the phys. ed. things and so forth to take an additional bachelor's degree. She had one in botany from Wellesley. She got a master's degree first, then a doctorate, with a project in Mittelhochdeutsch, title of dissertation listed above. She still keeps a close, critical eye on my palynological efforts, and is always willing to help when she is absolutely needed, but she is too active these days in medieval studies to have much time for zinc bromide separations, making up the latest batch of glycerin jelly, and all that.

VII. Persons who came in contact with AT during the period he was teaching a palynology/paleobotany course at the University of Texas, Austin, Sept. 1965- June 66, and with whom AT did a piece of subsequently published paleobotanical or palynological research.

Roger W. Kolvoord (graduate student at UT during AT's sojourn there)

Kolvoord was doing research in Utah, where he collected samples of jet, which was the subject of the cooperative paper: A. Traverse &R. W. Kolvoord, 1968: Utah jet: a vitrinite with aberrant properties: Science 159:302-305.

James F. Quinlan (graduate student at UT during AT's time there) Quinlan was doing research on Mammoth Cave, Kentucky, where he collected organic matter, the source of which was the subject of the joint paper: J. F. Quinlan &A. Traverse, 1967: Humic acid and humate deposits in Salts Cave and Mammoth Cave, Kentucky: a preliminary report: Bull. National Speleological Society 29:3:98- 99.

Excerpt from Canright (1995)

Alfred Traverse

Another of Elso S. Barghoorn's former students who has gained prominence is Alfred Traverse (Ph. D. Harvard, 1951). His description of the pollen from the Tertiary Brandon Lignite of Vermont (1955) is believed to be the first paleopalynological Ph.D. dissertation in the United States. After a 5-year stint at the Bureau of Mines Lignite Laboratory in the wilds of North Dakota, he was pleased to get an appointment at the Shell Development Company in Houston. Since 1966 he has been a professor of Geology and Botany at the Pennsylvania State University, where he has "turned out" a significant number of graduate students. Traverse was the President of the International Commission for Palynology (ICP) from 1977- 1980; concurrently, James Canright founded and edited the ICP Newsletter. At present Traverse is the Archivist of the International Federation of Palynological Societies (IFPS), the umbrella group that succeeded the ICP in 1984 (Canright, 1984). He was one of the authors, including G.O.W. Kremp, of the well known "Catalogue of Fossil Spores and Pollen," which was initiated in 1957 and now includes about 43 volumes. His recent textbook entitled "Paleopalynology" (1988) is one of a kind.

REFERENCES

Canright, J. E. 1953.
The comparative morphology and relationships of the Magnoliaceae II. Significance of the pollen. Phytomorphology, Delhi, 3:355-365

________ 1984.
What's in a name? Palynos 7(2):1-2.

Appendix I:

You Never Know When Paleopalynology May Come in Handy A Recent "Tribute"
From Mark Salute
To: traverse@ems.psu.edu
Subject: Greetings from Mark Salute, B.S. Biology, 1976

March 01, 2001

Prof. Traverse,

I hope you are enjoying good health, and the rewards of a long, successful career in education and research I came by your web site somewhat by accident. Just for fun, I was searching for sites based on the keyword "palynology" that this is, by my notion, "fun" is one small testimonial to the interest I've held for this discipline since I took one of your courses in my (I think) senior year at Penn. State. I saw a link to Penn State in the search results, and it made me curious to find out if I could recognize the name of my Palynology instructor. I found the page where the department lists the names of faculty and graduate students, and under the category "emeritus" I immediately recognized your name, and on your personal page, your picture The recognition prompted me to have the notion that you might enjoy reading my account of the impact on my career of that one Palynology course back in 1976.

In my mind, I credit that one single course in all of my undergraduate education as having been the key to success in my fieid, because it was the most significant factor in getting me started in my career. The knowledge and experience gained from that one course made it possible for me to distinguish myself in m first year of work, which made all the difference between what should have been a temporary job and what turned out to be a twenty-four year career with the same firm. You may not think this is too unusual: you possibly have had other students write to you relating how they regarded your courses as instrumental in their careers, but I think the great majority of those students had gone on to careers in related fields, possibly fields where the skills and experience gained from those courses could be directly applied to their work on an ongoing basis. My story is different, because my field is software engineering and the business I have been in for the past twenty-four years has been defense and intelligence applications. The company I work for does analysis and design for reconnaissance, surveillance, and exploitation systems. And before I arrived one there had ever heard of palynology.

I graduated in 1976 with a B.S. in Biology. Shortly after graduating I moved to California because my parents had lived there while I was in college, and they were telling me that the job market was good there. I was finding it difficult to get a job at that time, and as with any young person, I was getting anxious after a few months. I did not have a specialized skill that was in general demand, so I moved to Califomia and starte job hunting. Things were pretty dry in bioscience at that time, and as the weeks went by I felt compelled tc take ANYTHING that would provide a paycheck. One such opportunity turned up with a company that needed someone for a short-term assignment doing simple programming. I had taken one programming course in my undergraduate studies, which I think I took because it was required for a statistics class. I viewed this job as strictly temporary, because I wanted very much to be working in a bioscience-related field. Well, from here my story would take many twists &turns, all of which is interesting to me, but I will t to make my point with brevity. In another department of the company was a group of scientists, mathematicians, and electrical engineers working on hardware and software for a proprietary image processing system. I will not mention the name of the system nor of the company, as associating it with the type of work done is something I don't want to do in an email message. Well it turns out that there is a tremendous cross-over and cross-invention of both technology and methods between the fields of intelligence and commercial business, and this digital image processing system was seen as useful for bioscience and medical applications. Through a contact in this lab I heard about this initiative. I got excited to do some literature research (no internet back then!), and I reported some suggestions for areas that might be candidates for application: flow cytofluorometry, computer-aided cytophotometry, image understanding techniques, analyzing gel electrophoresis, quantitative cell morphology. This kept me in the conversation, and eventually I learned that they had a small service bureau contract with an oil company to do studies of ESM slides of pollen samples. Because I had a connection to this knowledge area, I became of interest to this group. It tumed out that the competition in the medical image processing market was too intense for thi company, but in the application of digital image processing techniques to problems in oil exploration the company could be effective and highly competitive. I was the only individual in the company who could spell "palynology" and could pronounce "HymenozonoTriletes Lepidiphytus-Kedo" (although after such a long time I can't correctly spell the name, and my notebook from your class is buried out in my shed along with (Tschudy & Scott?) "Aspects of Palynology" and of course my screw-cap India-ink slide marking pen!).

Well I was given a unique opportunity to take a low-level research assistant assignment with this group. I learned about digital image processing and began to see possibilities like automated feature extraction and classification of microclimates based on pollen reticulations .... well, as you might imagine, it seemed to me be a real awakening of all the interests that led me to major in biology in the first place. But, as happens in business, it takes more than energy and a clever notion to make a profit, and it was not too long after the research reports were completed that the company determined that seismic data analysis was the only game to be in for our company in regard to the oil companies, and even that would fade after a few years. The Cold War was big business for our company, and the "core competencies" of the staff became focused in that direction. I had a foothold in this group but I was out of place in terms of my skills. However, some people liked my reports and enthusiasm and because of my programming skill I was retained to work on digital image processing software for projects in the defense and intelligence area.

The experience of that one Palynology class was the single most deciding factor of my career: if at that moment I had not been able to make a connection, with unique though limited knowledge, at a time when it was in brief demand, I believe that I would not have been retained. The knowledge gave me a small amount of prestige with the group, much more than I deserved. The programming skill was not significant enough by itself. For some reason I had a tremendous affinity for this type of work, and it became very rewarding. Although I had to abandon my earlier goals of working in a bioscience field, I didn't feel much of a loss because I enjoyed the scientific and technical aspects of defense and intelligence work. All the interesting aspects of my work are "classified" so I'm sorry that I can't share at length all the reasons I enjoy my work. My career with this same company is now just over twenty-four years. So with the exception of a brief year or two at the very beginning of my career, I have never worked directly in the field I had majored in, but I hold that one course in very high regard as a factor in my success. And I remember it as THE most fun class I took in my four years at Penn. State.

regards,

Mark Salute
msalute@attglobal.net