Adelaide Conference on Mathematical & Evolutionary Biology 09

Pt Elliot, South Australia 20th-24th April, 2009

This meeting follows the successful inaugural meeting held in Blanche Cave, Naracoorte in 2008. The ACMEB series aims to bridge the current gap between biologists and mathematicians in Australia, and overseas, by providing a relaxed, informal setting for the discussion of new results. The emphasis is on the development and application of advanced new analytical methods, and building trans-disciplinary collaborations. The conference is designed to allow maximum student and academic interaction, and the analysis of datasets during the meeting itself. Topics covered at the previous meeting include: Mathematical methods and Algorithms; Phylogenetics and Networks; Macroevolution; Evolutionary rates and dates; Genome analysis; Bioinformatics; Human evolution; Disease.

Phylogenetics Workshop

14th-17th April, University of Adelaide, North Terrace Campus, South Australia.

In a change to the 2008 conference format, The Austalian Centre for Ancient DNA, here at the University of Adelaide will run a phylogenetics workshop, 'Methods in Bioinformatics and Molecular Evolution'. The workshop will feature hands-on training from 4 international experts, in leading software packages for the analysis of genetic data:

Peter Lockhart, Massey University
Mark Pagel, University of Reading
Alexi Drummund, University of Auckland (BEAST)
Christian Anderson, University of San Diego (Serial SimCoal).

Program

9:30am Delegates prepare for 10am departure to Pt Elliot. Meet at War Memorial, cnr of Kintore Avenue and North Terrace, Adelaide City. Close to Uni Campus, see here for Map of Adelaide
ETA at Pt Elliot around 12pm. Lunch is provided followed by presentations.

Above: participants of the Conference during a break. Pt Elliot

Venue at Pt Elliot: Surf Life Saving Club, right on Horseshoe Bay, #8554 3155

List of talks in order of presentation during the week.

Mike Steel, Probability, trees and evolution
Peter Lockhart, A genetic view of New Zealand plant evolution
Mark Pagel, Phylogeneies, branch lengths and theories of speciation
Steve Cooper, Comparative phylogeography of crustacean stygofauna from calcrete aquifers of central Western Australia: are they climate relicts?
Jeremy Austin, Historical phylogeography reveals extensive loss of phylogenetic diversity within Eastern Bettong, Bettongia gaimardi
Mareike Fisher, Curious properties of Maximum Parsimony in estimation evolutionary trees and ancestral sequence states
Mike Steel, Mixed up trees: The geometry of phylogenetic mixtures
Alethea Rea, Improved neighborNet networks
Peter Lockhart, Heterotachy and aequence evolution: Problems for phylogenetics
Alan Cooper, Issues surrounding temporal dependency of molecular rates
Pancho Pinilla, Student Talk, title TBA

Idalina Williams, Amino acid experimental research supporting origin of living cells incubated between muscovite laminae
Alan Cooper, Reconstructing mammoth haemoglobin
Ellen Nisbet, The evolution of photosynthesis
Steffen Klaere, Inferring historic demographic changes from large SNP databases
Charles Pearce, New Zealand Maori Paleodemography
Klaus Schliep, Model-based clustering of gene trees - not presented.
Michael Woodhams, Likelihood on heterogeneous data
Peter Jarvis, Symmetry groups and the systematics of phylogenetic models
Nigel Bean, Adaptation of Coral Reef Ecosystems

Registration & payment

Full Conference registration AUD $250 (includes bus transfers Ade<-->Pt Elliot, lunches and BBQ)
Student Conference registration AUD $150 (includes bus transfers Ade<-->Pt Elliot, lunch and BBQ)
Phylogentics Workshop registration $250 (includes training manual and welcome breakfast)

No single day registration available.

Deadline date: your registration must reach our office no later than March 2, 2009 with full payment made by March 16, 2009. Late payment does not guarantee a placing.

Ph: +61 8 8303 3952 | Fax: +61 8 8303 4364 | or via email

Contacts:

Enquiries: Maria Lekis
School of Earth & Environmental Sciences
Ph: +61 8 8303 3952 Fax: +61 8 8303 4364
Abstracts: email to Kyle Armstrong +61 8 8303 8242

Important dates:

Registration closes 2 March, 2009
Full payment: 16 March, 2009
Abstracts due in by 16 March, 2009

Venues

Conference: Surf Life Saving Club (SLSC), Horseshoe Bay, Pt Elliot, South Australia. Pt Elliot is located 91km south of Adelaide and is a popular holiday destination.

Phylogenetics workshop: University of Adelaide, North Terrace Campus, Mawson Building Computer Suite Rm G30