Workshop 1. American Tropical Carbonates: Simon Mithcell. The workshop will examine the development of tropical carbonate ecosystems during the Cretaceous and Cenozoic during which time different organisms produced carbonate sedimentary rocks. The Cretaceous saw the rise in dominance of the rudist bivalves which produced extensive carbonate deposits in the Caribbean, Central America and southern parts of North America. The rudists showed rapid evolutionary development and the carbonate deposits that they produced now form reservoirs for hydrocarbons and aquifers for water supply. The Cenozoic saw the rise of the Larger Benthic Foraminifera (LBF) as major carbonate producers and limestones of this age are dominated by this group. LBF were not only sediment producers but can also be used for high-resolution biostratigraphy in carbonate platform deposits. The workshop will provide a documentary on the development of carbonate producers during the Cretaceous and Cenozoic, the sedimentary fabrics related to depositional environments, and the sequences produced. Practical components will allow participants to study specimens of rudists and LBF as well as to examine representative thin sections showing a variety of sedimentary fabrics.

Workshop 2 Exploring AI in Geoscience: Applications, Case Studies, and Live Demonstrations in Hydrogeology. Natalie Ferguson. Artificial Intelligence (AI) is rapidly emerging as a transformative tool in geoscience, offering new ways to analyze complex datasets, enhance geological interpretations, and optimize exploration strategies. While AI has demonstrated success in fields such as geological mapping, mineral exploration, and seismic analysis, its adoption in geoscience remains limited. This workshop aims to bridge that gap by introducing participants to the practical applications of AI through case studies and live demonstrations of accessible AI tools. The session will begin by outlining the objectives of integrating AI into geoscience, focusing on how machine learning and geospatial AI can support traditional geological workflows. Key methods discussed include remote sensing classification using Google Earth Engine (GEE), geochemical data clustering with Orange3, a no-code machine learning platform, and AI-driven field data collection and analysis using ChatGPT with KoboToolbox. Rather than a hands-on session, the workshop will feature live demonstrations, allowing participants to observe AI-driven geological interpretations and engage in discussions on potential applications in their own work. Case studies will illustrate AI’s effectiveness in identifying geological features from satellite imagery, automating mineral prospectivity mapping, improving seismic event detection, and enhancing field data collection workflows. Through these examples, the results of AI integration in geoscience will be critically examined, highlighting both its successes and limitations. The session will conclude with a discussion on the future of AI in geoscience, providing attendees with a roadmap for incorporating AI into their workflows. Key takeaways include an overview of free AI tools, best practices for data-driven geology, and practical resources for further exploration.

The conference will organize a series of pre-conference and post-conference field trips. There will be a series of one-day field trips as well as one two-day field trip. A provisional list of field trips is listed below. Space will be limited, and a place can only be guaranteed once payment has been received. 

Field Trip 1 (Pre-Conference). Leaders: Alan Hastie and Donovan Blissett.
The Wag Water Belt and the Newcastle Volcanics (Jamaican Type Adakites). This trip will briefly examine the geology of the Wag Water Belt. Field stops will include red-bed conglomerates of the Wag Water Formation, marine shales of the ‘Richmond’ facies of the Wag Water Formation, nodular limestones (with oysters and rare specimens of the foraminifer Ranikothalia) and the Newcastle Volcanics. This trip will allow extra time for participants to locket samples of the Newcastle Volcanics which have been set up as a distinctive igneous rock type now called Jamaican-Type Adakites (JTAs). The field trip will travel from Kingston along the Irish Town road to Catherines Peak, and there are excellent views over the city of Kingston.

Field Trip 2 (Pre-Conference). Leader: Simon Mitchell. Mid Maastrichtian-early Paleocene of the Central Inlier.
The Central Inlier exposes the second largest area of Cretaceous rocks in Jamaica with excellent exposures of the mid-Maastrichtian to early Paleocene Kellits Synthem. The Kellits Synthem is a major transgressive–regressive cycle that rests unconformably upon older Cretaceous rocks and is overlain unconformably by rocks of the Eocene Yellow Limestone Group. The field trip will examine exposures along the Rio Minho in the area surrounding the community of Frankfield in northern Clarendon. The succession begins with red bed conglomerates, passes up into estuarine (tidal) mudstones and then into rudist-bearing limestones. The limestones contain excellent examples of many late Cretaceous rudists including small radiolitids, larger radiolitids and the gigantic recumbent Titanosarcolites. The synthem is completed by a regressive succession as renewed volcanism supplied andesitic and dacitic detritus that rapidly filled the depositional basin. Active volcanism at this time is indicated by pumice and two thick ignimbrites.

Field Trip 3 (Pre-Conference). Leader: Simon Mitchell. 

Paleogene limestone blocks and belts of Jamaica. The Paleocene (particularly the Eocene) saw the development of a platform (shallow-water) and trough (deep-water) limestone stratigraphy in Jamaica related to a new stress regime as the Nicaragua Rise underwent extension. This is recorded in the successions seen in the Yellow Limestone and White Limestone groups, with changing patterns of shallow-water and deep-water marlstone and limestone accumulating over time. This field trip will explore areas in St Ann that show some of these successes and place them in their geotectonic settings. It will also examine recent sections exposed along the north-south Leg of Highway 2000. There will be opportunities to collect rock samples representing some of the distinctive facies (and their foraminifera) developed in the Yellow Limestone and White Limestone groups of Jamaica.

Field Trip 4 (Post-Conference). Leader: Matthew Rahamut.
Coastal geology of St Thomas. The rocks of the Coastal Group of St Thomas were deposited during the uplift of the island over the last 14 million years. This field trip will examine some of the distinctive clastic and carbonate rocks that were deposited including coral-rich limestone and deltaic deposits.