1968 1st International Biodeterioration Symposium, Southampton, UK, 9-14 Sept
1971 2nd International Biodeterioration Symposium, Lunteren, The Netherlands, 13-18 September
1975 3rd International Biodegradation Symposium, University of Rhode Island, Kingston, USA, 17-23 August.
The word biodegradation instead of biodeterioration was used by the US organisers, as it was more recognised by sponsors in the USA. There was no change in scientific emphasis.
This was the first international symposium to be held under the auspices of the BS.
1978 4th International Biodeterioration Symposium, Berlin, Germany, August-September
1981 5th International Biodeterioration Symposium, Aberdeen, Scotland, September
1984 6th International Biodeterioration Symposium, George Washington University, Washington DC, USA, August
1987 7th International Biodeterioration Symposium, Cambridge University, UK, 6-11 September
1990 8th International Biodeterioration and Biodegradation Symposium (IBBS), University of Windsor, Ontario, Canada. 26-31 August. Biodegradation is now introduced into the title in its true technical sense, i.e. biodeterioration of materials and biodegradation of wastes
1993 9th IBBS, University of Leeds, UK, 5-10 September
1996 10th IBBS, Hamburg, Germany
1999 11th IBBS, Virginia, USA
2002 12th IBBS, Prague, Czech Republic. 14-18 July
2005 13th IBBS, Madrid, Spain 4-9 September
2008 14th IBBS, Taormina, Sicily, Italy 6-11 October
2011 15th IBBS, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences (BOKU) Wien, Austria. Symposium 19-24 September
2014 16th IBBS, Łódź, Poland
2017 17th IBBS, Manchester Metropolitan University, Manchester UK
2021 18th IBBS, Online format
In the mid-1970s, in a move to widen the geographic spread of the Society and encourage local groups to become capable of hosting future symposia, HRMS were introduced. Little or no funding was available, and the internet did not exist, so it was little wonder that Regional Meetings Groups never really took off. There was some activity for a while in the USA, and nominally a group was mooted in India. The main development in “globalisation” came later, not directly from the BS but on the initiative of William Latorre, who co-opted Christine Gaylarde who had moved to Brazil. The series of Latin American Biodeterioration Symposia (LABS) initiated by William Latorre and Christine Gaylarde continues.
LABS 1 1992 Campos do Jordao, SP, Brazil. Organisers William Latorre and Chris Gaylarde
LABS 2 1995 Gramado, RS, Brazil. Organisers Chris Gaylarde and Robert Thomas
LABS 3 1998 Florianopolis, SC, Brazil. Organisers Tereza Barbosa and Chris Gaylarde
LABS 4 2001 Buenos Aires, Argentina. Organiser Blanca Rosales
LABS 5 2004 Campeche, Mexico. Organiser Otto Ortega-Morales
LABS 6 2007 Bogota, Colombia. Organiser Maria Mercedes Martinez
LABS 7 2009 Quito, Ecuador. Organiser Katty Coral
LABS 8 2013 Porto Alegre, Brazil. Organiser Fatima Bento
LABS 9 2016 Rio de Janiero, Brazil. Organiser Maria Lutterbach
International Biodeterioration and Biodegradation Society
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