2011 CAP Annual General Meeting
Hotel Chateau Laurier, Québec City, Québec,
August 30 2011

Present: Gail Chmura, Les Cwynar, Simon Du Fort, Konrad Gajewski, Simon Goring, Alexandre Lamarre, Elisabeth Levac, Ben O’Reilly, Florin Pendea, Matthew Peros (CAP President, Meeting Chair), and Jeannine St. Jacques (Recording Secretary). 11 members, quorum reached.

1. Welcome, Approval of agenda.
   Round table introductions, M. Peros welcomed attendees and reviewed the agenda. Agenda acceptance moved by Gail Chmura, seconded by E. Levac. Agenda approved as presented.

2. Review and acceptance of minutes from 2010 AGM.
   Minutes were reviewed by attendees. L. Cwynar moved to accept minutes, Florin Pendea seconded. Minutes accepted as presented.

3. President’s Report, Matthew Peros.
   M. Peros reviewed the CAP President’s Report. Simon Goring moved to accept report, G. Chmura seconded. Report accepted as presented. (See below for report)

4. Secretary-Treasurer’s Report, Mary Vetter
   Secretary-Treasurer’s Report, Mary Vetter (in absentia). Report was reviewed by attendees. Florin Pendea suggested making the CAP student award bigger. Les Cwynar moved to accept report, Gail Chmura seconded. Report accepted as presented. (See below for report)

5. Auditor’s Statement, Dennis Braman. (in absentia).
   Report was reviewed by attendees. Elizabeth Levac moved to accept report, Konrad Gajewski seconded. Report accepted as presented. (See below for statement)

6. Newsletter Editor’s Report, Terri La- course. (in absentia).
   Report was reviewed by attendees. Gail Chmura moved to accept report, J. St. Jacques seconded. Report accepted as presented. (See below for report)

7. Website Editor’s Report, Alwynne Beaudoin. (in absentia).
   Report was reviewed by attendees. Some happy discussion that Lycopodium tablets are available again. It was noted that they do not dissolve easily and that an HCl bath is needed. A bottle contains 250 tablets. Discussion that the spike in CAP website accesses in 2007/2008 was probably due to the website’s posting of Pierre Richard’s Pollen Atlas on-line. Florin Pendea moved to accept report, Elisabeth Levac seconded. Report accepted as presented. (See below for report)

8. Report on Student Awards, Matthew Peros.
   Florin Pendea moved to accept the report of the student award, J. St. Jacques seconded. Report accepted as presented. (See below for report and further discussion under item 11..

9. Election of CAP Executive.
   Mary Vetter (Secretary/Treasurer) and Alwynne Beaudoin (Website Editor), both CAP Executive members, have volunteered to serve another year in their respective positions. Gail Chmura moved that they be commended and thanked for this in the Minutes and the Newsletter, J. St. Jacques seconded this. Changes will occur as President, News- letter Editor and IFPS Councillor. Terri La- course is President-Elect and will take over as President. Florin Pendea volunteered to become Newsletter Editor (a position that is busy twice a year). Simon Goring volunteered to stand as IFPS Councillor. The latter two positions have to be nominated and confirmed by a nominating committee organized via e-mail. Simon Goring moved to continue to other business, Les Cwynar seconded.

10. Location for 2012 AGM.
    It was agreed to discuss this by e-mail as it remained unresolved. Possibilities are: GAC/ MAC, AMQUA, AAG, CAG and the AGU. Gail Chmura moved to continue to other business, J. St. Jacques seconded.

11. Priorities and goals for CAP in future.
    This item was merged with (12) below. General discussion concerning the CAP student award. J. St. Jacques suggested raising it to $300. Konrad Gajewski suggested two awards: one $200, a second $100. Gail Chmura and Les Cwynar suggested removal of requirement that the award be spent on research. Simon Goring suggested a student travel award. A majority present voted to increase the award to ~$300. Gail Chmura moved that the research requirement be removed or broadened, J. St. Jacques seconded this. The CAP student award should be advertized on the website and on various listservers such as paleoclimate. M. Peros indicated that no changes would be made to the award without approval of the Executive. Some discussion on CAP’s focus: Quaternary (3/4 membership) versus Pre-Quaternary (1/4 membership)? Gail Chmura, Les Cwynar, Florin Pendea, and J. St. Jacques all argued that the focus should stay broad and all members from all temporal periods are welcome.

12. Any other business.

13. Adjournment.
    Konrad Gajewski moved to adjourn, Florin Pendea seconded.

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CAP President’s Report 2011

It is my pleasure to be able to report on CAP’s activities since the last AGM. I am now near the end of my tenure as President of CAP, and it has been a privilege to serve. I would like to start by welcoming all of the new members who have recently joined our organization. And I especially want to thank the Executive - Mary Vetter, Alwynne Beaudoin, Terri Lacourse and Jean Nicolas Haas - for their valuable time and effort. Thanks also go to Dennis Braman for serving as ..uditor.

This year’s Annual General Meeting is taking place on August 30th in historic Québec City, during the GeoHydro2011 Conference - the joint meeting of CANQUA, the Canadian Chapter of the International Association of Hydrogeologists, and l’Association d'hydrogéophysique du Québec. I would like to thank the conference organizers, especially Christine Rivard of the Geological Survey of Canada, for allowing us to hold our AGM during this event and for covering the cost of room rental.

As you will see from the following executive reports, CAP is in a good position in terms of both finances and membership. We currently have close to 70 members in good standing, and our funds are the highest they have been in some time, due in part to the generosity of the organizers of last year’s Joint Meeting of the AASP, CAP, and CPC, who returned the profits made through the conference registration to the organizations whose members participated in the event. This situation will allow us to continue to support our annual student award, among other activities.

Our current membership remains strong, but we are always looking for new members, especially among students. We hope that having a presence at meetings such as this will act as a vehicle for recruitment. We are also continually looking for submissions to the CAP newsletter, which is an excellent way to disseminate the activities of CAP members. I also invite our members to read the website editor’s report as many new items have been added to the CAP web page over the past year or two. We welcome suggestions and CAP-related contributions (please go to: http://www.scirpus.ca/cap/cap.shtml).

I sincerely hope that you enjoy the conference.

Respectfully submitted,
Matthew Peros
CAP President 2010-2011
August 26, 2011

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2011 CAP Secretary-Treasurer’s Report

Membership Report

As of 1 August 2011, CAP has 66 members in good standing who have paid dues for 2011. This is comparable to the 66 members we had in 2009 and 64 in 2010. The recovery of our membership from the low point in 2005 appears stable.

Year	Members
2002	53
2003	54
2004	43
2005	36
2006	47
2007	51
2008	58
2009	66
2010	64
2011	66

I would like to extend a special welcome to our new members:

Dr. Linah Ababneh, White Mountain Research Station, Bishop, CA
Miranda Brintnell, University of Victoria, Victoria, BC
Calvin Chan, Geology Department, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON
Russ Harms, Global Geolab Ltd., Medicine Hat, AB
Dr. Kam-biu Liu, Department of Oceanography and Coastal Sciences, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, LA
Charlie Turton, Department of Natural History, Royal Ontario Museum, Toronto, ON

Financial Report

For the period ending 1 August 2011, the balance in the CAP account is $6,628.78 (compared to $5,146.64 at the 2010 AGM).

Of this amount, $530 represents pre-paid memberships for future years.

CAP had contributed $400 to a coffee break at the Nova Scotia 2010: Joint Meeting of AASP-CPC-CAP. The meeting concluded with a small positive balance, and so CAP was refunded the cost of the coffee break and also received a proportionate share ($1,172.14) of the positive balance; a total therefore of $1,572.14 was received. This represents essentially the growth in our bank balance over the past year.

In general, membership receipts during the year balance expenditures.

The following item is yet to clear our account: IFPS dues for 2011: Dues are $1.50 USD per member, so the amount owed at the present time is $99.00 USD (approximately $99 CAD). The cheque has been mailed but has not yet cleared the bank account.

Recommendations

Paying the outstanding commitment will still leave a healthy balance in our account. Our regular annual charges are IFPS dues ($1.50 USD per member), the annual corporation renewal fee ($25 + GST), and the CAP student award ($200). CAP is in a good financial position to continue to support outreach initiatives at conferences (e.g. coffee breaks) and sponsor sessions as desired.

Respectfully submitted,
Mary Vetter
CAP Secretary/Treasurer
August 1, 2011

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Statement by Appointed Auditor

I have reviewed the financial statements for CAP and it is my opinion that the financial statement represents a full and fair account of the financial affairs of the Canadian Association of Palynologists for the period September 25, 2010 to August 1, 2011.

Dennis R. Braman
August 3, 2011

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Financial Statement for
25 September 2010 to 1 August 2011

Opening Balance		$5146.64
Revenue	membership dues	$646.33
	interest earned	$0.50
	Nova Scotia 2010 reimbursement	$1572.14
Expenses	Nova Scotia 2010 Student Award	-$309.30
	2009 and 2010 IFPS membership dues	-$199.50
	CAP annual registration fee	-$28.03
	2011 CAP Student Award	-$200.00
Closing Balance		$6628.78

The closing balance includes 53 prepaid annual memberships in the amount of $530.00 for the years 2011-2016. This will affect the income from this source for the years indicated. The cheque for 2011 IFPS dues ($99 USD) has not yet cleared the account.

Respectfully submitted,
Mary Vetter
CAP Secretary/Treasurer
August 1, 2011

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CAP Newsletter Editor’s Report 2011

Since my last report, two issues of the CAP Newsletter have been produced. The December 2010 Newsletter (Vol. 33, No. 2) was distributed to CAP members on December 9, 2010 and consisted of 22 pages. This volume featured an article on the recipient of the 2010 CAP Student Research Award, Matt Batina at the University of Southern Mississippi. As per CAP Bylaws, this issue also included minutes of the 2010 CAP Annual General Meeting.

The May 2011 Newsletter (Vol. 34, No. 1) was distributed to members on May 15, 2011. It consisted of 13 pages and included an article on the 2011 CAP Student Research Award winner, Laura May at the University of Victoria. This volume also included a call for new CAP Executive Directors and a book review of Microcosmos by Alwynne Beaudoin.

Although the Newsletter is distributed electronically to our members, I continue to send hard copies to four libraries that accession the Newsletter. Past Newsletters are available on the CAP website. Contributions for the next issue of the Newsletter will be accepted until November 15, 2011. The December 2011 Newsletter will be the last Newsletter for which I serve as Editor, as I will become CAP President effective January 1, 2012.

Respectfully submitted,
Terri Lacourse
CAP Newsletter Editor
August 1, 2011

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CAP Website Editor’s Report 2011

I have continued as editor for the CAP website since the last AGM. The presentation is located at http://www.scirpus.ca/cap/cap.shtml, under my own domain (www.scirpus.ca). There are no costs to CAP associated with this hosting. Accesses to the presentation have declined in the last few years, but remain around 550 to 800 each month.

The presentation provides various resources and information about CAP to the palynological community. I continue to update time-sensitive sections, such as the conference listing and various announcements. Information about the CAP Student Research Award and the application process, as well as a year-to-year record of the Award recipients, is also included. Back issues of recent CAP Newsletters (though not the latest issue) are archived, making them available to members over the long-term. I have maintained the author listing and index to past CAP Newsletter issues. I have also recently updated some other sections. For example, the Equipment and Laboratory Supplies page now contains information about the latest batch of Lycopodium tablets. When I come across them, I have been adding DOIs to the publications lists in the Library section.

The main change during the last year has been the "munging" of e-mail addresses and the removal of active links for e-mail contact information in the on-line CAP Directory and most other parts of the presentation. This has been done in response to some discussion around the issue of "harvesting" of e-mail addresses by web page crawlers and their subsequent use for spam. Munging addresses does not eliminate this prospect; a program that is intelligent enough to recognize bluebulrush@gmail.com as an e-mail address will probably also recognize the munged version, bluebulrush[at]gmail[dot]com. Nevertheless, munging should minimize more casual harvesting. Unfortunately, any open on-line web directory is prone to harvesting. People who ask for their details to be included in the CAP Directory want to make their co-ordinates known to the palynological community. The downside to this is that these details are then known to anyone (or any crawler) who looks at that page. To monitor this, I’d appreciate being informed if CAP members are experiencing any problems with the Directory listing or any other components of the website.

As always, I am keen to include more CAP- related material in the web presentation. I would be pleased to receive suggestions or content for new components to broaden its appeal. If CAP members agree, I am prepared to serve as the Association’s Website Editor for another year.

Respectfully submitted,
Alwynne B. Beaudoin
CAP Website Editor
August 13.. 2011

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CAP Student Research Awards

In the period following the 2010 AGM, CAP sponsored two student awards: the first was our now-regular annual student award; and the second was a one-time poster award made in conjunction with AASP-The Palynological Society during the Halifax meeting when the AGM was held (the poster evaluations were undertaken immediately after the 2010 AGM).

For our annual student award, the CAP award committee unanimously selected Laura May of the University of Victoria as the winner, for her work on the morphology of Alnus pollen.

For the poster award at the Halifax meeting, the judges decided that first place would be split between Laura May of the University of Victoria and Robby Marrotte of McGill University. Both students prepared excellent posters highlighting important methodological advances for the taxonomic identification of palynomorphs.

Respectfully submitted,
Matthew Peros
CAP President
August 26, 2011

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This summary originally appeared in CAP Newsletter 34(2):8-13, 2011.