2019 Events

IS GLOBAL WARMING CAUSING ANIMALS TO SHRINK? EVIDENCE, MECHANISMS AND MODELS

ORGANISED BY:

• Sjannie Lefevre ( University of Oslo , Norway) 

• Timothy Clark (Deakin University, Australia)
• Fredrik Jutfelt (Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Norway)
• David McKenzie (CNRS, France)

Warming of both aquatic and terrestrial systems due to climate change have been reported to cause shrinkage of some animal species, and appears to be accepted as an expected consequence of global warming. For ectotherms, the 'temperature-size rule’ has been documented across taxa, and the proposed temperature-related latitudinal differences in size (‘Bergmann’s rule’) is also a well-known principle, yet the underlying mechanisms remain enthusiastically debated. This meeting will focus on whether global warming is the causal mechanism for the observed reductions in size, and it is of great importance to assess the extent to which warming has already had a global impact on animal size, to determine the generality of the problem. Future projections must be based on valid assumptions about the underlying physiology and energetics of animal growth, and how these interact with temperature to affect animal size. There may be a universal physiological mechanism across all taxa but it is more likely that many mechanisms are at play. We hope that a cross-disciplinary discussion between experimental physiologists working on the individual level and ecologists and conservation biologists working at the population level may serve as inspiration for researchers from all interested disciplines.

MEETING  HIGHLIGHTS

• Global warming
• Temperature-size rule
• Bergmann’s rule
• Energetics and growth
• Physiological mechanisms
• Ecology and modelling  

 

ALGAL MODEL SYSTEMS ON THE RISE: UNDERSTANDING AND EXPLOITING THE ALGAE TO LAND PLANT TRANSITION

ORGANISED BY:

Henrik Buschmann (University of Osnabrück, Germany) & Andreas Holzinger (University of Innsbruck, Austria)

About 470 million years ago the first land plants arose. This meeting explores the evolutionary novelties that enabled the Charophyte algae to colonize land and change the world forever. While recent research has clarified the phylogeny of the 'algae to land plant transition', many questions concerning the evolution of the embryophytes remain unanswered: were the first land plants unicellular or were they complex multicellular algae, what adaptations were already present in algae that conquered land, how did the haploid-diploid life cycle evolve, how were the first multicellular tissues formed?
Even though the transition from algae to embryophytes remains enigmatic, much technological process has been made recently. This is the time to establish new algal model systems. Consequently, this meeting has the aim to foster experimental research on Charophyte algae. This meeting will feature talks from researchers in the following disciplines: Molecular Biology (CRISPR in Zygnematophyceae), Cell Biology (live cell fluorescence microscopy, transmission electron microscopy), Synthetic Biology (exploiting the algae-to-land plant transition for biotechnology ), Plant Physiology (adaptations to desiccation and freezing, cell wall biology), Phylogenomics (Chara genome and transcriptome) and EvoDevo (ancestral transcription factors).

MEETING HIGHLIGHTS:

• Molecular biology of charophyte algae
• Phylogenomics
• Cell biology and EvoDevo of algae
• CRISPR and transformation technology
• Synthetic biology of algae
• Terrestrialization and pre-adaptation

From 2 – 5 July 2019, turn the heat up on your scientific experiences at SEB’s Annual Meeting in Seville, Spain at the FIBES II Conference and Exhibition Centre.

INNOVATE YOUR IDEAS AT SEB’S 2019 ANNUAL MEETING

SEB inspires extraordinary connections in science and its Annual Meeting is a unique opportunity to share learning and experience, build contacts and foster experimentation amongst biologists from all over the world.

In July 2019, over 800 scientists from across the globe will come together in the hottest city in southern Europe - Seville. With the scent of orange trees, the blue of the sky, the joy of the city’s festivities and the singing, playing and dancing of flamenco, Seville will intrigue and captivate you.

One of the most prestigious venues in Spain, the FIBES II Conference and Exhibition Centre provides a perfect location for SEB’s Annual Meeting. Its facilities include state of the art auditoria, plenty of breakout rooms as well as large catering areas and restaurants. The luminous marble Dome Hall of FIBES I and the waterfalls surrounding the outdoor square add grandeur to an already modern and impressive venue.

The extraordinary range of Plant, Animal and Cell biology sessions will expand your mind and create bold leaps in thinking. And with SEB’s members in Spain organising a number of sessions there will be lots of local science on offer to satisfy your curiosity.
Situated halfway between the Mediterranean and Africa, you’ll find Seville well connected and easy to get to with its modern airport, major highways and high-speed railways.

PROGRAMME

Please see/download the day-by-day programme for Impact of chromatin domains on plant phenotypes:

seb_nucleus-impact_satellite-programme_nov19-digital.pdf