Conference: Ninth Conference on Beneficial Microbes

Scientists increasingly recognize that macro-organisms harbor complex communities of microbes that deeply influence their biology. The Ninth Conference on Beneficial Microbes will provide a forum for the exchange of the latest conceptual and technological developments in the field of host-microbe interactions. The conference will promote inclusion of early career scientists, especially those that have been historically excluded from science. Networking events and interactive poster sessions will be designed with the specific goal of facilitating networking opportunities for early career scientists. Biologists increasingly recognize that macro-organisms (animals, plants and macro-fungi) are multi-organismal. These associations with microorganisms can have profound implications, such that the phenotype and fitness of animal/plant/fungal hosts can only be understood fully in the context of the microbiome. The study of beneficial microbes is a rapidly advancing field requiring exchange of ideas and methods among scientists working across diverse fields. The Ninth Conference on Beneficial Microbes meeting will provide an overview of the current state of research and future directions of inquiry in the field of host-microbe interactions. The meeting will bring together US and international researchers from multiple disciplines, including microbiology, evolutionary biology, ecology, genomics, developmental biology, immunology, engineering, nutrition and systems biology, who study host-microbe associations across a diversity of systems. The structure and venue of the meeting facilitates networking across scientists and trainee levels, which will spur new ideas and collaborations. Results of the meeting will be disseminated through social media and a published report. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.