The Laboratory of Palynology and Palaeoecology of C.N.R. – Institute of Environmental Geology and Geoengineering is located at the Dept. of Environmental and Earth Sciences (DISAT), University of Milano - Bicocca. The Laboratory was created in 1995 with the aim to use plants as stratigraphical, palaeoenvironmental and palaeoclimatic indicators. Part of the lab. facilities are located at the CNR Research Area 3 in Milano (www.area3.mi.cnr.it).
The Laboratory is mainly devoted to Quaternary studies:
- pollen analysis of long successions provided with a high degree of stratigraphic continuity (e.g. lacustrine and peat bog deposits) to reconstruct the history of vegetation and climate at regional scale in the alpine, lowland and mediterranean areas;
- reconstructing the biodiversity of continental ecosystems during the late Cenozoic (pollen, spores, plant macroremains);
- human impact on the natural landscape from prehistoric times.
Currently the people involved are: 2 researchers employed at the National Research Council of Italy (CNR), 1 PhD student, 1 scholarship holder, 1 research fellow, degree students and some professional collaborators.
Since 2003, a specific agreement regulates the co-operation between CNR-IGAG and the University of Milano- Bicocca.
Professional activity concerns the applications of palynology and palaeobotany to archeology, geology and geochronology, climatology, toxicology, the study of air masses circulation and the forensic investigation (see the specific section).
The Laboratory acknowledges several tuition activities developed by the course of Palynology (Master Degree in Natural Sciences at UNIMI) and by PhD courses at UNIMIB.
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