The Laboratory of Palynology and Palaeoecology of C.N.R. – IDPA is located at the Dipartimento di Scienze dell’Ambiente e del Territorio (DISAT), Università degli Studi di Milano - Bicocca. The Laboratory was created in 1995 with the aim to use plants as stratigraphical, palaeoenvironmental and palaeoclimatic indicators.

 

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.

 

The Laboratory also deals with older geological time spans (Pliocene).

 

Currently the people involved are: 1 researcher employed at the National Research Council of Italy (C.N.R.), 1 research collaborator, 1 PhD student, 3 professional collaborators, 4 degree students.

 

Since 2003, a specific agreement regulates the co-operation between C.N.R. – IDPA 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 courses of Palynology and Plant Palaeontology - Archaeobotany (Università degli Studi di Milano).