THE PAST QUARTER CENTURY HAS WITNESSED AN EXPLOSIVE INCREASE IN THE USE OF MICROBES TO STUDY EVOLUTION IN THE LAB. EXPERIMENTAL MICROBIAL EVOLUTION IS A VIBRANT FIELD WHICH OVER THE LAST DECADE HAS ASSIMILATED AND IN MANY CASES PIONEERED GENOMIC TOOLS FOR HIGH-THROUGHPUT ANALYSIS OF CLONES AND POPULATIONS. EME IS BROADLY INTEGRATIVE AS CONNECTING GENOTYPE TO FITNESS REQUIRES DETAILEDUNDERSTANDING OF MOLECULAR BIOLOGY PHYSIOLOGY AND ECOLOGY. INDEED SOME OF THE MOST EXCITING WORK IN THIS BURGEONING FIELD IS BEING UNDERTAKEN BY A NEW GENERATION OF SYSTEMS BIOLOGISTS WHOSE GOAL IS TO DO THE HARD WORK OF CONNECTING GENOTYPE TO PHENOTYPE BY CAREFULLY READING OUT AND INTERPRETING -OMICS DATA UNDER A VARIETY OF EXPERIMENTAL CONDITIONS. AT PRESENT THERE ARE FEW VENUES WHERE EME RESEARCHERS CAN CONVENE AS A GROUP. ASM EME1 WAS A RESOUNDING SUCCESS BRINGING TOGETHER 160 PARTICIPANTS FROM 24 NATIONS. EXPECTED ATTENDANCE AT ASM EME2. THE 2ND ASM SMALL CONFERENCE ON EXPERIMENTAL MICROBIAL EVOLUTION WILL ATTRACT A DIVERSE AUDIENCE INCLUDING: (1) INDIVIDUALS WHO USE MICROBES AS TOOLS TO GAIN INSIGHT INTO THE STRUCTURE AND DYNAMIC PROPERTIES OF METABOLIC NETWORKS; (2) RESEARCHERS WHO USE MICROBES TO STUDY POPULATION GENETIC DYNAMICS; (3) INVESTIGATORS WHO USE EXPERIMENTAL EVOLUTIONAS A TOOL TO UNDERSTAND THE MOLECULAR MECHANISMS UNDERLYING ADAPTATION INCLUDING THE METABOLIC AND GENOMIC CONSTRAINTS ON THE ADAPTIVE PROCESS; (4) BIOLOGISTS WHO USE MICROBES TO GAIN MECHANISTIC UNDERSTANDING OF THE EVOLUTION OF SEX COOPERATION AND SENESCENCE HOW SPECIES ARISE AND BECOME EXTINCT AND HOW MULTICELLULARITY ARISES AND BECOMES FIXED; (5) INDUSTRIAL MICROBIOLOGISTS WHO USE EVOLUTIONARY PRINCIPLES TO DEVELOP AND OPTIMIZE ORGANISMS THAT HAVE NOVEL METABOLIC CAPABILITIES AND UNUSUAL PHYSIOLOGICALTOLERANCES; (6) MEDICAL MICROBIOLOGISTS WHO USE EVOLUTIONARY PRINCIPLES AND EXPERIMENTS TO BETTER UNDERSTAND THE EVOLUTION OF VIRULENCE AND DRUG RESISTANCE AS WELL AS PATTERNS OF DISEASE DYNAMICS INCLUDING HOST-PATHOGEN COEVOLUTION; (7) THEORETICAL BIOLOGISTS ESPECIALLY (A) SYSTEMS BIOLOGISTS WHO MODEL METABOLIC NETWORKS (B) RESEARCHERS WHO USE DIGITAL ORGANISMS TO TEST HYPOTHESES AND TO REFINE THE DESIGN OF LABORATORY EXPERIMENTS USING MICROBIAL SPECIES. RELEVANCE TO THE SCIENCE MISSION DIRECTORATE. SMD ACKNOWLEDGES THE NEED TO BRING TOGETHER MEMBERS OF SCIENTIFIC COMMUNITIESRELEVANT TO NASA IN ORDER TO INCREASE THE EFFICIENCY OF INVESTIGATORS THROUGH THE OPEN EXCHANGE OF IDEAS AS WELL AS THE NEED TO EXPOSE INVESTIGATORS TO NEW SUBJECT AREAS. THE INAUGURAL MEETING BROUGHT TOGETHER MANY MEMBERS OF THE TEAM WHO ARE NOW CO-IS OF THE MONTANA CAN-7 NAI NODE AS WELL AS INVESTIGATORS WHO HAVE SINCE COMPETED SUCCESSFULLY FOR EXO SIMONS AND TEMPLETON GRANTS RELATED TO THE ORIGIN AND EVOLUTION OF LIFE ON EARTH. EXOBIOLOGY&EVOLUTIONARY BIOLOGY SAW A 24% INCREASE IN 2015 PROPOSALS ASTATISTIC THAT MAY BE IN PART ATTRIBUTED TO THE HIGHER VISIBILITY OF NASA AS A FUNDING SOURCE FOR EXPERIMENTAL EVOLUTION RESEARCH. RELEVANCE TO THE NASA ASTROBIOLOGY STRATEGIC PLAN. THE GOAL OF EXPERIMENTAL EVOLUTION IS TO CARRY OUT REAL-TIME STUDIES THAT ILLUMINATE ANCIENT AND ONGOING PROCESSES RESPONSIBLE FOR THE DIVERSITY OF LIFE ON EARTH. EVERYONE IN EME SEEKS TO RELIVE THE HISTORY OF LIFE IN THE LAB. IN SO DOING THEY WORK TOWARD GOALS SET FORTH IN THE ASTROBIOLOGY STRATEGIC PLAN SPECIFICALLY THOSE UNDER THEME #3: EARLY LIFE AND INCREASING COMPLEXITY AND THEME #4: CO-EVOLUTION OF LIFE AND THE PHYSICAL ENVIRONMENT. IT WOULD BE FAIR TO SAY THAT EVERYONEATTENDING ASM EME2 IS MOTIVATED BY ASTROBIOLOGYS OVERARCHING QUESTION HOW DOES LIFE BEGIN AND EVOLVE?