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During its November 2020 Council meeting, the Mineralogical Society decided to conduct a survey of its members and others to assess views on equality, diversity and inclusivity (EDI) in terms of the experience of individuals. Although many organizations, including Learned Societies, have developed policy on the basis of surveys, meetings at executive and other committee level, and through the holding of so-called ‘Town Hall’ meetings, Council members resolved that our Society should undertake a detailed survey to develop a viewthrough the lens of our members and others who are associated with our organization.The responses come from a largely ‘white’, British audience. This probably reflects the demographics in our subject and in our membership and is something that we acknowledgeneeds to change. In the report below, and in the appendices, we drill down into the data provided by these respondents. Here are some of the key points:• 36% of our respondents say that they have never experienced discrimination(section 1). The remaining 64% have experienced it to varying degrees with 12% ofthe overall number having >10 such experiences.• Women are more likely (88%) than men (48%) to have experienced discrimination.• 75% of people with a mental-health condition had experienced discrimination. 62%of people with no such condition had experienced discrimination.• 47% of men with mental-health challenges felt that their workplace was not inclusive(for women, the equivalent figure was 39%).• 75% of people with a physical-health condition had experienced discrimination.• 59% of respondents who consider themselves to be White British, Irish, Welsh or Scottish had experienced discrimination; this figure was 79% for those from otherethnic backgrounds.• Also confirmed is that a significant proportion (33%) of our respondents have found their place of work to not be “inclusive”.• Strong support was given for suggestions presented in the survey about how best to make our organization more EDI-conscious (section 2).• There was a significant proportion of respondents (5%) who reacted negatively to the survey, to the lines of questioning and even to the need for a survey. It is the view of some that “we do not have a problem”. Such responses are treatedrespectfully here, but the direction of travel will support the clear majority view which suggests that the Society should adjust its modus operandi in as many areas of activity as possible. (Such comments, reproduced in Appendix 3 under the heading ‘Rejection’, are not condoned by the Society or its EDI committee. We do hope to use these comments to help in our development of an EDI approach.)

The Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF) empowers its global network through capacity-building activities that promote and enable the efficient mobilization and use of information about biodiversity. These activities work across capacity development levels, targeting individuals, institutions, nations, and global regions. This work expands the communities of practice engaged with the collection and curation of biodiversity. GBIF efforts build partnerships that institutionalize new capacity within a growing network of data publishing institutions. Coordination and dissemination is supported through the development of Participant nodes and regional collaborations. The Biodiversity Information for Development (BID) and the Biodiversity Information Fund for Asia (BIFA) programmes illustrate how a standardized, open, and replicable training curriculum underpins the success of funding programmes. These programmes support the biodiversity community and increase the amount of data mobilized and shared openly for use in science and research. During this presentation, we will describe the role that the Biodiversity Data Mobilization course plays in GBIF’s approach to capacity enhancement. We will review successes and challenges and discuss the processes used to continually improve our approach to training and capacity development.

The extensive development of agriculture in urban and peri-urban wastelands polluted with several trace elements (TE) poses risks to human health through contaminated food products. The objective was to explore the accumulation of TE in the various parts of vegetable crop plants (tomato, French bean, radish, potato, spinach, and leek) intercropped with phytostabilizing plant species (ryegrass and white clover, respectively). Field studies were conducted in a multicontaminated French urban wasteland with Cd, Cu, Pb and Zn, and an alkaline soil pH. Analyses of the respective non-edible parts of monocultured vegetable crops showed accumulation of all TE, mostly Zn, then Pb and Cu, and finally Cd. The corresponding TE accumulation factors (soil to plant) were all below 0.25. In the edible parts, average concentrations for TE were above the limit values, according to European and Chinese standards. TE contents in the phytostabilizing species chosen were in the same orders of magnitude and the same ranking as described for vegetable crops and most accumulation was in the roots. Unexpectedly, the presence of the phytostabilizing plants had a very strong positive impact on the soil to plant accumulation factor. Moreover, the edible plant parts were poorly impacted by the co-cropping with phytostabilizing plants.

A multi-million-year decrease in global temperatures during the Eocene was accompanied by large reorganisations to ocean circulation, ocean chemistry and biological productivity. These changes culminated in the rapid growth of grounded ice on Antarctica during the Eocene–Oligocene climate transition (EOT), ∼34 million years ago. However, while it is likely that environmental perturbations of this magnitude altered the oceanic oxygen inventory, the sign and magnitude of the response is poorly constrained. We show that euxinic, hydrographically restricted conditions developed in the Austrian Molasse Basin during the EOT. The isotopic compositions of molybdenum and uranium captured by sediments accumulating in the Molasse Basin at this time reveal that the global extent of sulfidic conditions during the EOT was not appreciably different to that of the Early Eocene greenhouse world. Our results suggest that the early Cenozoic oceans were buffered against extreme long-term changes in oxygenation.

The Paleocene Eocene Thermal Maximum (PETM) represents a major carbon cycle and climate perturbation that was associated with ocean de-oxygenation, in a qualitatively similar manner to the more extensive Mesozoic Oceanic Anoxic Events. Although indicators of ocean de-oxygenation are common for the PETM, and linked to biotic turnover, the global extent and temporal progression of de-oxygenation is poorly constrained. Here we present carbonate associated uranium isotope data for the PETM. A lack of resolvable perturbation to the U-cycle during the event suggests a limited expansion of seafloor anoxia on a global scale. We use this result, in conjunction with a biogeochemical model, to set an upper limit on the extent of global seafloor de-oxygenation. The model suggests that the new U isotope data, whilst also being consistent with plausible carbon emission scenarios and observations of carbon cycle recovery, permit a maximum ~10-fold expansion of anoxia, covering, Nature Communications, 12 (1), ISSN:2041-1723

Belatedly attached to France, Lorraine is a successful example of integration from one territory to another. The definitive incorporation of the Duchy of Lorraine into the Kingdom of France upon the death of Stanislas in 1766 completes a long process of political convergence that began in the 17th century. The analysis of the government of Lorraine under the reigns of the last three dukes, Leopold I, François III and Stanislas I, allows us to trigger and implement this process and the role of the Duke of Lorraine. This integration is cultural, the edict of September 27, 1748 makes French the administrative language of the duchies; it is also diplomatic and military, the Lorraine defenses were neutralized as soon as Leopold returned; it is finally legal through institutional mimicry.Based on this Lorraine example, we created an instrument to measure the integration of one territory into another. because if the historical and geographical context varies, most of the elements of this process are found systematically., Tardivement rattachée à la France, la Lorraine constitue un exemple réussi d’intégration d’un territoire à un autre. L’incorporation définitive du duché de Lorraine au royaume de France à la mort de Stanislas en 1766 achève un long processus de convergence politique entamé dès le XVIIème siècle. L’analyse du gouvernement lorrain sous les règnes des trois derniers ducs, Léopold Ier, François III et Stanislas Ier, permet de mettre en perspective ce processus et le rôle du duc de Lorraine.Cette intégration est culturelle, l’édit du 27 septembre 1748 fait du français la langue administrative des duchés ; elle est aussi diplomatique et militaire, les défenses lorraines ont été neutralisées dès le retour de Léopold ; elle est enfin juridique par un mimétisme institutionnel.A partir de cet exemple lorrain, nous avons créé un instrument afin de mesurer l’intégration d’un territoire à un autre, car si le contexte historique et géographique varie, la plupart des éléments de ce processus se retrouvent systématiquement.

Assessing photosynthesis rates with remote sensing is important for tracking the physiological state of plants. The photochemical reflectance index (PRI) is a good estimator of short-term light-use efficiency (LUE) at the leaf scale but its responses to environmental factors are poorly understood. In this study, we assessed changes in the responses of the PRI to ozone exposure and to an increase in atmospheric drought (separately and combined) in oak (Quercus robur) and holm oak (Quercus ilex) that were planted in climatic cells under controlled conditions. The aim was to evaluate the ability of the PRI as a relevant indicator to assess the impact of abiotic factors on photosynthesis. Leaf-scale measurements of biochemical, physiological and spectral properties, including the PRI in dim light on dark-adapted leaves (PRI0), kinetics of PRI responses to PAR variations (photosynthetically active radiation), and leaf chlorophyll fluorescence parameters were performed. The results show that PRI0 is a good proxy of the leaf chlorophyll content, and is correlated to chlorophyll fluorescence parameters on dark adapted leaves (Fo, Fm). The correction of the PRI from the leaf chlorophyll content variations (PRIc) significantly improves correlations between the PRI and NPQ (non-photochemical quenching). The variability of PARsat (estimated PAR value at PRI saturation using PRI vs. PAR relationships) depends on ozone exposure and on the increase in atmospheric vapor pressure deficit. For Quercus robur, results highlight that PARsat is linked to abiotic stress indicating that the PRI may be used as a relevant indicator of abiotic factors limiting the photosynthesis. Quercus ilex did not show significant variability in PRI0 and PARsat, which suggest that it is a more drought resistant species than Q. robur.

Metallic trace elements (MTEs) soil pollution has become a worldwide concern, particularly regarding its impact on earthworms. Earthworms, which constitute the dominant taxon of soil macrofauna in temperate regions and are crucial ecosystem engineers, are in direct contact with MTEs. The impacts of MTE exposure on earthworms, however, vary by species, with some able to cope with high levels of contamination. We combined different approaches to study the effects of MTEs at different levels of biological organisation of an earthworm community, in a contaminated urban wasteland. Our work is based on field collection of soil and earthworm samples, with a total of 891 adult earthworms from 8 species collected, over 87 quadrats across the study plot. We found that MTE concentrations are highly structured at the plot scale and that some elements, such as Pb, Zn, and Cu, are highly correlated. Comparing species assemblage to MTE concentrations, we found that the juvenile and adult abundances, and community composition, were significantly affected by pollution. Along the pollution gradient, as species richness decreased, Lumbricus castaneus became more dominant. We thus investigated the physiological response of this species to a set of specific elements (Pb, Zn, Cu, and Cd) and studied the impacts of MTE concentrations at the plot scale on its population genetic. These analyses revealed that L. castaneus is able to bioaccumulate high quantities of Cd and Zn, but not of Cu and Pb. The population genetic analysis, based on the genotyping of 175 individuals using 8 microsatellite markers, provided no evidence of the role of the heterogeneity in MTE concentrations as a barrier to gene flow. The multidisciplinary approach we used enabled us to reveal the comparatively high tolerance of L. castaneus to MTE concentrations, suggesting that this is a promising model to study the molecular bases of MTE tolerance.