IBBS Symposia

List of IBBS Symposia from 1968 to the present day

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

Latin American Biodeterioration Symposia (LABS)

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