David J. Batten

David J. Batten (1943–2019) was a British palynologist. He is best known for his work in Mesozoic terrestrial palynology and palynofacies analysis. His specific contributions include work on the Normapolles group of pollen in the Late Cretaceous and Early Tertiary, Mesozoic and Tertiary megaspores from around the world, palynofacies analysis to interpret past environments, and the palynology of the Wealden Group (Early Cretaceous, Valanginian–Barremian) of southern England. and supervised eight MSc and 14 PhD students. He was also editor-in-chief of the journal Cretaceous Research (1988-2007 & 2011–2012) as well as editor-in-chief for the publications of the Palaeontological Association (1999–2008). His awards include the T.M. Harris Medal of the Birbal Sahni Institute of Palaeobotany, India, the Jongmans Medal of the Royal Geological and Mining Society of the Netherlands (2006), an honorary life membership of The Palaeontological Association, London (2011) and the Medal for Scientific Excellence of AASP–The Palynological Society (2018).