International Union for Quaternary Research

Abbreviation| INQUA
Formation| 1928; 98 years ago (1928)
Type| INGO

Region served

| Worldwide

Official language

| English

President

| Thijs Van Kolfschoten (Netherlands)

Secretary-General

| Eniko Magyari (Hungary)

Parent organization

| International Science Council
Website| INQUA Official website

The International Union for Quaternary Research (INQUA) was founded in 1928. It has members from a number of scientific disciplines who study the environmental changes that occurred during the glacial ages, the last 2.6 million years.[1][2] One goal of these investigators is to document the timing and patterns in past climatic changes to help understand the causes of changing climates.

INQUA is a member of the International Science Council (ISC).[2] INQUA holds an international congress normally every four years. The congresses serve as an educational forum as well as the opportunity for the various commissions, committees, and working groups to conduct business in person. Past congresses have been held in Copenhagen (1928), Leningrad (Saint Petersburg) (1932), Vienna (1936), Rome (1953), Madrid (1957), Warsaw (1961), Boulder (1965), Paris (1969), Christchurch (1973), Birmingham (1977), Moscow (1982), Ottawa (1987), Beijing (1991),[3] Berlin (1995),[4] Durban (1999), Reno (2003), Cairns (2007), Bern (2011) and Nagoya (2015).[5]

The most recent INQUA Congress (XIX) was held in Dublin, Ireland, in July 2019.[6] In 2023 the next INQUA Congress (XXI) will take place in Rome, Italy.[7]

## Contents

* 1 Climate change
* 2 INQUA Congress
* 3 INQUA Medals
* 3.1 Sir Nicholas Shackleton Medal
* 3.2 Liu Tungsheng Distinguished Career Medal
* 4 See also
* 5 References
* 6 External links

## Climate change

In 2007, the union issued a statement on climate change in which it reiterated the conclusions of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), and urged all nations to take prompt action in line with the UNFCCC principles:[8]

> Human activities are now causing atmospheric concentrations of greenhouse gases - including carbon dioxide, methane, tropospheric ozone, and nitrous oxide \- to rise well above pre-industrial levels….Increases in greenhouse gasses are causing temperatures to rise…The scientific understanding of climate change is now sufficiently clear to justify nations taking prompt action….Minimizing the amount of this carbon dioxide reaching the atmosphere presents a huge challenge but must be a global priority.

## INQUA Congress

INQUA Congress & Presidents[9] Nr. | Year | Congress | Term | President | Secretary-General

|
|
|
|
|

21. | 2023 | Rome |  Italy |  |  |  |  |
20. | 2019 | Dublin |  Ireland | 2019-2023 | Thijs Van Kolfschoten |  Netherlands | Eniko Magyari |  Hungary
19. | 2015 | Nagoya |  Japan | 2015-2019 | Allan Ashworth |  United States | Brian M Chase |  France
18. | 2011 | Bern |  Switzerland | 2011-2015 | Margaret Avery |  South Africa | Julius Lejju |  Uganda
17. | 2007 | Cairns |  Australia |  |  |  |  |
16. | 2003 | Reno, Nevada |  United States |  |  |
15. | 1999 | Durban |  South Africa |  |  |
14. | 1995 | Berlin |  Germany |  |  |
13. | 1991 | Beijing |  China |  |  |
12. | 1987 | Ottawa |  Canada |  |  |
11. | 1982 | Moscow |  Soviet Union |  | Boris Sokolov |  Soviet Union
10. | 1977 | Birmingham |  United Kingdom |  |  |
9. | 1973 | Christchurch |  New Zealand |  |  |
8. | 1969 | Paris |  France |  |  |
7. | 1965 | Boulder, Colorado |  United States |  |  |
6. | 1961 | Warsaw |  Poland |  |  |
5. | 1957 | Madrid |  Spain |  |  |
4. | 1953 | Rome |  Italy |  | Gian Alberto Blanc |  Italy
3. | 1936 | Vienna |  Austria |  | Gustav Götzinger |  Austria
2. | 1932 | Leningrad |  Soviet Union |  | Ivan Gubkin |  Soviet Union
1. | 1928 | Copenhagen |  Denmark |  | Dmitry Mushketov |  Soviet Union

## INQUA Medals

### Sir Nicholas Shackleton Medal

Since 2007 INQUA has awarded biannually the Sir Nicholas Shackleton Medal to an "outstanding young [early-career] Quaternary scientist ... working in any branch of Quaternary science".[10]

Sir Nicholas Shackleton Medal recipients[10]

* 2007 Chris Turney
* 2009 Zenobia Jacobs
* 2011 Yuki Sawai
* 2013 Not awarded
* 2015 Robert E. Kopp
* 2017 Amaelle Landais
* 2019 Qiuzhen Yin
* 2021 Julie Loisel
* 2023 Qiaomei Fu

### Liu Tungsheng Distinguished Career Medal

Since 2011 INQUA has awarded quadrennially the Liu Tungsheng Distinguished Career Medal, awarded to "a senior Quaternary scientist who has made significant and distinguished contributions that have advanced Quaternary science through dedicated service to the international community".[10]

Liu Tungsheng Distinguished Career Medal recipients[10]

* 2011: Stephen C. Porter
* 2015: Ann G. Wintle
* 2019: Nicolas Lancaste
* 2023: Denis-Didier Rousseau

INQUA Distinguished Service Medal recipients [10]

* 2015: Nathaniel W. Rutter
* 2019: Marie-France Loutre
* 2023: Norm Catto

## See also

* Quaternary science

## References

1. ↑ "U.S. National Committee for INQUA". National Academy of Sciences (United States). http://sites.nationalacademies.org/PGA/biso/INQUA/PGA_068141.
2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 "INQUA, INternational Union for QUAternary Research". International Council for Science (ICSU). http://www.icsu.org/publicdb/frmDisplayMember?docid=2ef89cdef4926b61da23e7fd0324a0cc.
3. ↑ James, L. Allen (1992). "International Union for Quaternary Research". The Professional Geographer 44 (1): 99-99. doi:10.1111/j.0033-0124.1992.00099.x.
4. ↑ Chairman of the Organizing Committee (XIVINQUA) (1994). "International union for Quaternary research". GeoJournal 34 (1): 121-127. doi:10.1007/BF00813975.
5. ↑ "About INQUA". INQUA. http://www.inqua.org/about.html.
6. ↑ "XIX INQUA 2019 Congress". http://inqua2019.org/.
7. ↑ "INQUA 2023". http://www.inquaroma2023.it/.
8. ↑ "INQUA Statement On Climate Change". INQUA. http://www.inqua.tcd.ie/documents/iscc.pdf.
9. ↑ INQUA Executive. Retrieved 6 June 2015.
10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 10.2 10.3 10.4 Our organisation > Medals INQUA. Retrieved 31 August 2025.

## External links

* "International Union for Quaternary Research — official website". http://www.inqua.org/.
* Smalley, I.J. 2011. Notes for a history of INQUA- The International Union for Quaternary Research (Association pour l'etude du Quaternaire, Internationale Quartarvereiningung, etc.) Loess Letter no.65, 22pp. (on line at Loess Letters of Dr. Ian Smalley MSU see also Scribd.com upload)

* v
* t
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Quaternary Period

| Pleistocene Epoch| Holocene Epoch

|

* Early
* Middle
* Late

* Meghalayan
* Northgrippian
* Greenlandian
* Preboreal
* Boreal
* Atlantic
* Subboreal
* Subatlantic

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