Conference Meeting: International Symbiosis -July 22-28, 2012 in Krakow, Poland

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Symbiosis, intimate associations among different life forms in nature - is increasingly appreciated as a central biological phenomenon, with important effects on ecosystems, and the evolution of life on earth. Examples include ecologically important symbioses such as reef-building corals associated with symbiotic algae, and symbioses between land plants and fungi associated with plant roots. Human beings depend heavily on healthy symbiotic systems for productive crops and fisheries, insect controls, medicines, and ecosystem maintenance. This award will support participation by prominent American symbiosis researchers, as well as selected American pre-college teachers and graduate students in a unique international conference sponsored by the International Symbiosis Society, to be held July 22-28, 2012 at Jagiellonian University in Kraków, Poland. Hosting symbiosis researchers from over twenty-five countries, the meeting will stimulate new ideas and new research collaborations, and include discussion of economic, ecological, and societal implications of symbiotic associations. International, interdisciplinary exchanges will be fostered not only through formal presentations of cutting-edge research, but also through numerous opportunities for informal person-to-person discussions. The Polish venue of the conference will further enhance potential international collaboration by enabling exchanges with central and eastern European scientists who have had relatively few opportunities to attend international conferences. Focused themes at the Congress include the significance of partnership-building in evolution; how symbiotic systems may be applied in climate change adaptation; the role of fungal-plant associations in restoring toxic industrial waste sites; the human body as an ecosystem; and innovative ways to teach about symbiosis. Special plenary lectures include a tribute to renowned symbiosis pioneer and thinker Lynn Margulis; a visual journey of Antarctica from a woman symbiologist who has based her research there over many years; and, the key roles of viruses in the biosphere from the perspective of a medical doctor.