Aber to host 50th Ecological Genetics Group conference

Friday 31 March, 2006
Aber to host 50th Ecological Genetics Group conference
The University of Wales, Aberystwyth is the host for this year's Ecological Genetics Group (EGG) Annual Conference which takes place from the 4th until the 7th of April. This year's conference marks the Group’s 50th anniversary (the first was also held in Aberystwyth in 1956), giving this year’s gathering added significance.

EGG is an informal group of scientists; academics, researchers and graduate students, whose interests include ecological genetics, population genetics, population biology, biosystematics, conservation, molecular ecology and phylogeography. The conference welcomes talks, discussion topics and posters from students giving their first presentation, as well as senior academics presenting completed work.

This year’s conference organiser, Dr John Warren, said:
“The Ecological Genetics Group, or EGG to its members, has established a tradition over 50 years of informality and friendliness. It is a forum, where researchers come and actually enjoy talking about their work. This is something which is increasingly rare in the modern high pressure academic world and something EGG is proud off. This friendly atmosphere is what attracts people back year after year. But EGG is not about old established scientists, it is primarily a venue for young PhD students to present their first papers. This focus on youth is important in keeping the ideas fresh and the debate lively.”

“I have been attending EGG for more than 20 years so hardly fall into the young scientist bracket, and still each year I look forward to learning about recent developments in Ecological Genetics. Welcoming EGG home to Aberystwyth for its 50th meeting seems more like organising a family party than an academic conference. We are looking forward to seeing several faces who have been retired for a number of years as well as a new cohort of first timers. The mix of young and old should ensure another successful meeting, as EGG moves into its second half century. Long may it continue to keep science fresh, exciting and fun”, he added.

The Ecological Genetics Group was established in 1956, following correspondence between J.W.Gregor, Director of the Scottish Plant Breeding Station, Pentlandfield, and K.Jones Head of Cytology at the then Welsh Plant Breeding Station, Aberystwyth).