At the Biodiversity Synthesis Center (BioSynC), we host and fund synthesis meetings on a wide range of topics in biodiversity, evolution and conservation relevant to the EOL.
We host 10-12 meetings annually and encourage meeting planners to develop groups with a variety of professional perspectives (student to faculty), to foster gender and ethnic diversity, and to involve international participants.
Meetings usually range from 6 to 30 participants and can take place in the Center in Chicago, at other institutions in the U.S. or internationally.
The Biodiversity Synthesis Center began accepting synthesis meeting proposals in November 2007.
As of February 2009, synthesis meeting proposals include:
To date, we have received 27 synthesis meeting proposals. Proposals often are collaborative and have multiple authors. Our submissions come from 46 individuals at 30 institutions in 11 countries (Australia, Austria, Canada, China, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Italy, Singapore, Taiwan, United Kingdom, and United States). The current female to male ratio of authors is 12:34.
We have had 169 participants in our 11 completed or approved synthesis meetings. Our participants come from 85 institutions in 30 countries (Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Burundi, Canada, China, Colombia, Costa Rica, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, India, Italy, Japan, Mexico, New Zealand, Nigeria, Norway, Poland, Russia, Singapore, South Africa, South Korea, Taiwan, Tanzania, United Kingdom, and United States). The participant female to male ratio is 50:119.
Ninety-four of our participants self-identify as faculty, professors, or curators. Twenty-nine of our participants have been students (high school, undergraduate, and graduate), while 46 self-identify as other (typically programmers, coders, educators, or collections managers).
BioSynC facilities in Chicago are used for a range of events that relate to biodiversity, evolution, and science education. BioSynC has hosted several meetings with outside sponsorship, including:
If you are interested in having BioSynC host your scientific meeting or workshop, please contact us to discuss arrangements and scheduling.
