In addition to the exciting program of speakers, on topics at the frontiers of our subject (see http://www.grc.org/programs.aspx?year=2010&program=metbasis ), we are delighted to announce that there will be an additional workshop mid-way during the week, which is open to conference attendees, and supported by the Santa Fe Institute, on “Metabolism as a Central Theme in the Emergence of Biological Order”.  An outline of this workshop is given at the end of this email.

Please know that anyone (including grad students and post-docs) can apply to attend the conference. Because the number of slots is limited, and the conference is now rapidly filling up, we urge anyone who is interested in attending to apply by submitting an online application on the Metabolic Basis of Ecology website.  

Here are the GRC websites for the meeting program as well as how to apply to attend the meeting

Metabolic Basis of Ecology Program - http://www.grc.org/programs.aspx?year=2010&program=metbasis  

 GRC Application website (scroll down to Metabolic Basis of Ecology) - http://www.grc.org/application.aspx

 I have attached a GRC poster that can be put up on office doors, labs, and department halls. Please feel free to forward this email to colleagues whom you think may be interested in this conference.

The announcement of this conference is being posted on the meetings calendars advertised by relevant learned societies in the US and UK (e.g. ESA, BES). If you know of other listings from other countries, please feel free to contact me with details of who I should contact to add our conference to their listings, thereby ensuring that, throughout the world, as many interested people as possible are informed about the meeting.

Summary of the GRC Conference: Metabolic Basis of Ecology

The Gordon Conference on “Metabolic Basis of Ecology” is set to explore the consequences of metabolism upon the structure and functioning of life at different levels of organization, from cells to organisms to communities to ecosystems. Each year we make an effort to bring together an interdisciplinary group of distinguished scientists from a diverse but complementary set of disciplines who are working at the forefront of metabolic approaches in ecology or whose research provide new paths for integration and understanding. This diversity in speakers’ interests is intended to ensure dynamic exploration of metabolism by the conference participants, with a primary goal of identifying key future areas for research that link metabolism, ecology and evolution. The ultimate goal of this meeting is to foster new collaborative interactions that will help us to move towards a more complete understanding of the metabolic laws that govern the structure and function of living organisms, and the communities and ecosystems in which they reside. 

This conference should be of great interest to anyone working in scaling, body size, stoichiometry, community ecology, nutrient cycling, theoretical ecology, ecosystem dynamics, physiological ecology, thermal biology, regulation and resilience in biological systems etc. The meeting site (Univ of New England) is spectacular -  on the coast of Maine with opportunities for sea kayaking, swimming, deep-sea fishing, etc etc.  It is also pretty easy to reach via Boston.

 Description of the mid-conference workshop:

 “Metabolism as a Central Theme in the Emergence of Biological Order”

This workshop will bring together an interdisciplinary and international group of distinguished scientists and theoreticians to explore the role of metabolism in shaping the emergence of biological order at different levels of organization, from cells to organisms to ecosystems to the earth system.