Only 12 more days

Only 12 more days to go before we welcome the world to the 6th International Barcode of Life Conference. The level of excitement, anticipation, anxiety and stress here at the institute is increasing by the day. Everyone is working hard to make this a memorable and enjoyable experience for all our guests. 

The Scientific Organizing Committee has put together a densely packed program with invited plenary presentations, contributed sessions, discussion panels, and social events. The conference will start with a full day of pre-conference workshops on August 17, with BOLD and next-generation sequencing workshops held in the morning. Tours to BIO are also offered throughout the day. The afternoon will be devoted to presentations and discussions for forming the International Society for the Barcode of Life. The day ends with a welcoming reception.

Each day of the main conference (August 18-21) will start with plenary presentations in the mornings, ensuring that a component of the conference experience is shared by all delegates. Afternoons will be comprised of parallel sessions, and a dedicated poster session will be held on the afternoon of August 19. Opportunity for dialogue and refreshment will be provided through shared breakfasts, lunches, and coffee breaks each day.

Here a draft schedule of the parallel sessions (please note that some of the sessions can still be moved around): 

The conference program will be augmented by special plenary presentations and a discussion on the State of Biodiversity on the evening of August 19, to be held at the River Run Centre in downtown Guelph. A Gala Reception will be August 20 at the historic and scenic Cambridge Mill.

We will be tweeting, facebooking, and blogging from the conference and during the time leading up to it. We are also looking into options to stream and record sessions of the conference using Periscope. Stay tuned.