Abstracts from the 6th International Barcode of Life Conference, published online by Genome, are now available! Unedited streamed videos of the morning plenary sessions are available on Youtube, and edited versions (including some parallel sessions) will be available soon.

The Scientific Organizing Committee is pleased to announce that the 6th International Barcode of Life Conference was held from August 18 – 21, 2015 at the University of Guelph, one of Canada’s major life science universities. Guelph combines easy access to a major airport with the logistics of a small Canadian city, ensuring that conference participants were able to focus on science and networking.

Since 2003, DNA barcoding has become the largest research program in biodiversity science, one examining all eukaryote kingdoms and spanning many nations. Reflecting the scope of the program, numerous major international collaborative projects are underway. The 6th Conference sustained traditions established by the five earlier conferences; it showcased the latest scientific achievements and socio-economic implications of work conducted by the DNA barcode research community. The theme of the 6th Conference, Barcodes to Biomes, signalled the ongoing expansion of our community’s research agenda from studies on particular sets of species in particular places to work which is creating the capability to examine entire biotic assemblies at local and global scales.

The scientific program for the 6th Conference included 30 Keynote and Plenary presentations delivered by researchers whose past scientific contributions have been extremely influential. However, the scientific impact of the conference was greatly enhanced by discussions arising from the parallel sessions and poster presentations. Aside from these core elements of the conference program, pre-conference workshops provided a forum for detailed discussions of major topics.

We were honoured to welcome you to Guelph for the 6th International Barcode of Life Conference.

Plenary Speakers

Yves Basset Yves Basset
STRI
Panama
Louis Bernatchez Louis Bernatchez
U. Laval
Canada
Mark Blaxter Mark Blaxter
U. Edinburgh
UK
David Castle David Castle
U. Victoria
Canada
Melania Cristecu Melania Cristescu
McGill U.
Canada
Thibaud Deceans Thibaud Decaëns
U. Montpellier
France
Eduardo Eizirik Eduardo Eizirik
PUCRS
Brazil
Brock Fenton Brock Fenton
Western U.
Canada
Rosemary Gillespie Rosemary Gillespie
U. C. Berkley
USA
Charles Godfray Charles Godfray
U. Oxford
UK
Mehrdad Hajibabaei Mehrdad Hajibabaei
U. Guelph
Canada
Paul Hebert Paul Hebert
U. Guelph
Canada
David Hik David Hik
U. Alberta
Canada
Michael Hofreiter Michael Hofreiter
U. Potsdam
Germany
Pete Hollingsworth Pete Hollingsworth
Royal Botanic Garden
United Kingdom
Monte Hummel Monte Hummel
WWF Canada
Canada
Dan Janzen Dan Janzen
U. Penn
USA
Peter Kevan Peter Kevan
U. Guelph
Canada
Karl Kjer Karl Kjer
Rutgers U.
USA
Nancy Knowlton Nancy Knowlton
Smithsonian
USA
John Kress John Kress
Smithsonian
USA
John LaSalle John La Salle
CSIRO
Australia
Thomas Lovejoy Thomas E. Lovejoy
George Mason U.
USA
Laurence Packer Laurence Packer
York U.
Canada
Roderic Page Rod Page
U. Glasgow
UK
Naomi Pierce Naomi Pierce
Harvard U.
USA
Stuart Pimm Stuart Pimm
Duke U.
USA
David Posada David Posada
U. Vigo
Spain
Sujeevan Ratnasingham Sujeevan Ratnasingham
U. Guelph
Canada
Paul Snelgrove Paul Snelgrove
Memorial U.
Canada
Bridget Stutchbury Bridget Stutchbury
York U.
Canada
Derek Tittensor Derek Tittensor
Dalhousie U.
Canada
Jana Vamosi Jana Vamosi
U. Calgary
Canada
Wolfgang Waegele Wolfgang Wägele
U. Bonn
Germany
Tetsukazu Yahara Tetsukazu Yahara
Kyushu U.
Japan

Barcodes to Biomes