EVOLUTION OF FORAMINIFERAL RESEARCH OVER THE PAST 70 YEARS (Invited Presentation)

The only things in common between foraminiferal micropaleontology of 1950 and 2020 is the study of forams and the use of a binocular microscope, although the latter is now far less frequent. The number of foram workers, university courses and research schools proliferated rapidly through the 1950s-1970s driven by the demand for accurate biostratigraphy for the booming hydrocarbon exploration industry and to a lesser extent for geological mapping. Since the 1980s the number of foram biostratigraphers and micropaleontologists has plummeted, but our discipline has survived as a result of diversification into a number of new research fields of societal significance: e.g. use of foraminifera as proxies in paleoceanography, paleoclimatology, paleo-sea-level studies, environmental monitoring, ocean acidification, earthquake displacements, tsunamis, storms and in chronostratigraphy.

Research output paralleled this boom and subsequent decline. The number of species described has more than doubled in 70 years, with an average 800 new species described per year in the first 35 years reducing to under 200 per year in the next 35. The number of foram publications rose from an average of 180 per year in the 1950s to a peak of 320 in the 1980s-1990s, declining to an average 250 per year since 2000. At the same time the number of single-authored papers declined from 80% in the 1950s to 10% in the 2010s, while papers with 3 or more authors increased from 2% to 75%. Collaboration has increased dramatically as a result of increased multidisciplinary projects, increased specialization of researchers and a blossoming of international projects such as DSDP, IGCP, CLIMAP, IODP, Planktic Foram Working Groups and FOBIMO.

Technological and other advances that have significantly impacted foram research in the past 70 years include: electric typewriters; xerox copiers; digital printing; publication of Loeblich and Tappan treatises, Ellis and Messina on-line, Mikrotax, WoRMS; web access to publications; SEMs; fibre optic lights; multifocal microphotography; computers - digital word processing, drafting and photo editing; emails; dropbox; multivariate and morphometric analyses; ocean floor drilling and hydraulic piston coring; stable isotope geochemistry, laser ablation, microprobes; laboratory culturing; DNA and eDNA analyses.