Meeting Goals
The primary goals of the 12th Midwest Geobiology Symposium are
- to facilitate scientific communication and networking among early-career (undergraduate, graduate, and postdoctoral) researchers at the intersection of the biological and Earth sciences,
- to strengthen collaboration in geobiological research across disciplines, departments, and institutions throughout the Midwest, and
- to foster an open, collegial environment where participants may practice communicating their research while engaging with, and learning from, other interdisciplinary researchers.
Similar to previous Geobiology symposiums, this meeting serves to promote engagement and collaboration between institutions across the Midwest while minimizing personal expenditures for participants. There are no abstract submission fees, and a sizable portion of funding is traditionally allocated to reimburse traveling expenses for students and trainees.
History
The first Midwest Geobiology (MWGB) symposium was organized and held at Washington University in St. Louis, MO on September 22, 2012 with 28 submitted abstracts, serving as a regional platform for cross-institutional collaboration and science communication. Over the ensuing decade, MWGB has grown substantially, with roughly 45-50 abstracts accepted per year on average. This number has continued to grow – the most recent MWGB meeting, which took place on September 23, 2023 in the Twin Cities, MN, published 56 total abstracts, 16 of which were for oral presentations. Since 2012, the meeting has facilitated regional collaboration and communication between research groups that would seldom establish contact at a larger, national conference. In particular, the meeting has provided a collegial, supportive environment for graduate students, postdocs, and many undergraduates to practice sharing their biological and Earth science research while learning from their colleagues. This early-career focus is also helpful to the meeting organizers themselves, who thereby gain valuable experience in organizing and hosting scientific meetings, in addition to providing incentives for career networking across the Midwest. This year’s MWGB meeting will be the first to be held in the state of Iowa, providing a central location accessible to participants from across the Midwest and especially from the Great Plains region.