Conference:Funding to support graduate students and post docs to attend Halophile 2016, the international congress on halophilic microorganisms; May, 2016; San Juan, Puerto Rico

University Of Connecticut, Storrs CT

Investigators

Abstract

Hypersaline environments such as the Great Salt Lake or the Dead Sea are ecosystems where salt concentrations are five to ten times higher than seawater. Despite these extreme conditions, the waters are teaming with salt loving microorganisms, "halophiles", which are adapted to these exceedingly briny habitats. Halophiles in all three domains of life (Bacteria, Archaea and Eukarya) and their viruses are the focus of "Halophiles 2016: The 11th International Congress on Halophilic Microorganisms May 22-27th, San Juan, Puerto Rico" (Conference website: http://www.halophiles2016.org/), which is a multidisciplinary and international conference for researchers working in this field. The mission of the Congress, which has met triennially since 1978, is to explore all aspects of microbiology in salt-enriched environments and to draw on expertise from numerous disciplines in order to facilitate quantum advances in understanding life in high salt ecosystems. The objective of NSF support for the Congress is to help provide students and early career researchers with access to this unique scientific gathering, especially those who are members of groups underrepresented in Science/Technology/Engineering/Mathematics (STEM) fields. The Halophiles conference series is the primary meeting that discusses halophilic microorganisms, and highlights halophile adaptations, ecology, geographic distributions, physiology, evolution, taxonomy, biochemistry, genetics, genomics, metagenomics, biotechnology, metabolic engineering, and bioremediation. Attendees will be immersed for six days in this intellectual atmosphere, attending lectures given by highly respected and published researchers, and gaining a wide range of knowledge regarding the current, emerging and broad state of the halophile field. Though the application process will be open to all, priority will go to qualifying undergraduate/graduate students and post-docs who are from groups underrepresented in STEM fields. The International Halophile Congress has a long history of broadening participation in science.