The New Zealand Molecular Ecology conference is held every year. It covers all aspects of molecular ecology with a strong participation from students. The format is usually a two day symposium in a remote location to foster discussion amongst the group. The conference is traditionally held in November or December and usually alternates between North and South Island.
In 2016, the conference was held at the Shakespear Regional Park YMCA, Auckland from December 2-4. As usual, it ran from the Friday evening (5pm arrival) until Sunday afternoon (2pm departure).
For the first time we also initiated a Pre-Conference Bioinformatics Workshop, MolEcolBio, that was run all-day Friday (10am – 4.30pm), featuring BEAST2. Topics covered included: Overview of the program, Bayesian theory, Estimating divergence times, Bayesian Skyline plots, Star Beast (Species Trees from Multilocus Data) etc.
Programme of the 2016
conference
Student prize
Congratulations to Felix Vault (@FelixVaux) and Victoria Twort (@Vtwort), respectively winner and runner up for the student award (sponsored by Biomatters).
Organising committee 2016:
Libby Liggins, Massey University, Auckland
Stéphane Boyer, Unitec Institute of Technology
Christine Lamont, Plant & Food Research
Fees 2016
Registration non-waged: $100; waged: $170
BEAST2 workshop: non-waged: $15; waged: $30
Outdoor activities: $25
Conference registration includes meals and accommodation. Workshop registration includes lunch.
A number of student travel grants, were offered to assist students with financial hardship to attend. These covered up to $300 towards travel costs, plus registration fees, and were particularly targeted at South Island students.
