SMBE Satellite Meeting on Evolutionary Rescue

Europe/Berlin
Description

This SMBE Satellite meeting on Evolutionary Rescue will be held September 11-14 both in-person at Kiel University, in Kiel, Germany, as well as online (for viewing only).

Important dates


Overview

We are currently living in the Anthropocene and thus an era shaped by human impact. The environmental conditions imposed by these human-driven rapid environmental changes exert selective pressure on natural systems and can result in an evolutionary mismatch between slowly evolving organisms and their new environment, and rapid adaptation of many short-lived species. Evolutionary rescue, which occurs when populations subjected to stress avoid extinction by adaptation through natural selection, is relevant to both consequences: it can help to overcome the evolutionary mismatch and is at the basis of rapid evolution of pathogens.

In this SMBE Satellite meeting we aim to focus on evolutionary rescue in three main fields: species conservation, agriculture, and medicine. These three main fields currently face unforetold challenges due to evolutionary processes invoked by the dramatic human-mediated changes of the Anthropocene, including:

  • Risk of species extinction and thus dramatic reductions in biodiversity due to an evolutionary mismatch caused by climate change, globalization, and pathogen evolution
  • Risk of dramatic yield reductions in food production due to an evolutionary mismatch caused by climate change, globalization, and pathogen evolution
  • Major threats to human health because of rapid pathogen evolution and increased pathogen spread due to globalization
  • Rapid evolution of pathogens, parasites, and pest species and especially fast evolution of resistance to chemotherapy and pesticides

By incorporating diverse perspective from multiple fields, we hope to identify knowledge gaps and putative novel research directions in the context of evolutionary rescue in the Anthropocene.


Registration

Registration is required with a regular conference fee of 150 EUR. Note that this cost includes three dinners. 


Student and postdoc fellowships

A total of 10 student fellowships will be awarded. Each fellowship will include a fee waiver as well as 1,000 EUR for travel and accomodation. There will also be a limited number of registration waivers awarded.

Applications for these fellowships are located in the registration form and require a 300 word justification.

Awards will be based on need and excellence.  

Registration
Registration for online participation (audience only)