Welcome to Gainesville, Florida for the 40th MPC Paleobotanical Colloquium
April 21-23, 2023
The venue for 2023 will be the Florida Museum of Natural History at the University of Florida. MPC (Mid-Continent Paleobotanical Colloquium) is held each spring by different institutional hosts. We encourage a diverse set of students, faculty, and others interested in fossil plants to attend this relaxed and informal meeting. We encourage attendance from across the continent and beyond, and our presented research topics aspire to span a similar breadth. Presentations by students and postdocs will be prioritized.
FRIDAY There will be an open house in the Paleobotany Laboratory at the Florida Museum (Dickinson Hall) on Friday afternoon and a reception and barbecue dinner (with suitable vegetarian options) at Bivens Lake clubhouse Friday evening.
SATURDAY Contributed talks and posters will proceed on Saturday, followed by our banquet. Dr. Kelly Matsunaga, University of Kansas, will be our keynote speaker Saturday evening.
SUNDAY Morning schedule will be flexible, including local nature walks for botanizing, and visits to the Exhibition Center of the Florida Museum of Natural History at Powell Hall.
Registration Fees: No charge for students and post docs. $100 for professional participants. Fees will be collected in cash or check on arrival.
Lodging. Several hotels are located on 13th Street within 15 minutes walking distance of our main venue (listed below). Car- and vanpooling will be arranged as needed. Free lodging (i.e., sofa and/or floor camping—bring your own sleeping bag) available for students on request.
Nearby hotels with price estimates, incl. taxes:
EconoLodge University. ………………………….. $80 per night
Quality Inn University. …………………………… $115 per night
Home 2 Suites …………………………………… $160 per night
Hotel Eleo [very new, fancy, close to our venue]. ….$200 per night
Travel. We recommend flying into Gainesville (GNV) airport which hosts flights in the Delta and American airlines systems. We will arrange ground transport to and from the Gainesville (GNV) airport. Due to time constraints, we may be unable to assist with your transport from other airports.
Jacksonville (JAX) is a larger hub 1.5 hr by car from Gainesville. Possibly more economical if rental car with multiple participants is an option for you. (Note that the minimum age to rent a car in Florida is 25). No bus service to Gainesville is available.
Orlando (MCO) [winter home of Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck] is a larger hub 2.3 hr by car from Gainesville. Bus service offered by Red Coach runs from Orlando to the Gainesville UF campus but needs to be booked well in advance
Tampa (TPA), less busy than Orlando, also about 2.3 hr by car from Gainesville.
Preregistration. Please let us know by email (steven@ufl.edu) before February 15 if you would like to join us in person. This is non-binding but will allow us to estimate venue sizes for our events and will ensure that you receive updates. We will follow up with more details as we learn the number of potential participants.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can the conference be attended remotely? Speakers and poster presenters should plan to be in-person. Face masks remain optional currently, but may be required depending on conditions in April. We will do our best to set up for remote participants to attend via zoom (hybrid style) and post questions.
Can I receive a lift from Jacksonville/Orlando/Tampa? We cannot guarantee that. We will provide local rides between GNV and the Gainesville venues. Due to time constraints, we may be unable to assist with your transport from other airports.
Parking (coming soon)
Organizing committee:
Julian Correa, Min Deng, Terry Lott, MacKenzie Smith, Ashley Hamersma, Indah B. Huegele, Steven Manchester, Hongshan Wang.