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Molluscs 2009 acknowledges and thanks our Sponsors
DEWHA - ABRS: Silver Sponsor		BAAM - Welcome Function Sponsor

The 2009 Triennial Conference of the Malacological Society of Australasia
Molluscs 2009
was held at Emmanuel College at the University of Queensland, Brisbane,
from Tuesday 24 November (Welcome Function), with scientific symposia and sessions through Friday 27 November 2009

The Malacological Society of Australasia (MSA) promotes the study of molluscs in the Australasian region and nearby areas of Asia. Molluscs are the second largest phylum of animals and comprise a quarter of all described marine organisms. Our members include amateurs, students and scientists. One of the key ways the MSA works to improve our understanding of molluscs is through conferences held every three years. Previous, very successful, conferences have been held at Rottnest Island, Western Australia (1997), Sydney (2000), Perth (as part of the World Congress of Malacology, 2004) and Wollongong, New South Wales (2006).

Download Molluscs 2009 Program and Abstracts (3mb)

The Molluscs 2009 conference had five major symposia, each with three keynote speakers (brief biographies of each keynote are linked below in alphabetical order).

Invasive Species, Parasites and Diseases
Assoc. Prof. David Raftos | Dr Richard Willan | Dr Gary Barker

Physiology and Evolutionary Development
Prof. Leonid Moroz | Prof. Justin Marshall |Assoc. Prof. Andreas Wanninger

Phylogeny, Systematics & Biogeography
Prof. Hamish Spencer | Dr Frank Köhler |Dr Mark Norman

Fisheries, Aquaculture and Bioactives
Prof. David Adams | Dr Kirsten Benkendorff | Dr Robert Rose

Ecology, Conservation and Indicators of Environmental Change
Dr Rachel Przeslawski | Dr Sandie Degnan | Assoc. Prof. Stephen Smith

The meeting was highly interdisciplinary, with topics including phylogeny, chemistry, molecular biology, ecology, and applied science. Of the 100 delegates, one third were students and countries represented included Denmark, USA, Thailand, Botswana, Japan and Fiji and New Zealand. The 60 oral presentations included 15 keynote papers and 23 student presentations. The following awards, which included copies of the coveted Mollusca volumes (generously donated by ABRS), were presented at the closing session:

1st Place Oral Prize: Christopher Talbot (University of Queensland)
2nd Place Oral Prize: Alexandrea Kranz (University of Queensland)
3rd Place Oral Prize: Candace McBride (Macquarie University)
1st Place Poster Prize: Anders Hallan (University of Wollongong)
2nd Place Poster Prize: Patrick Laffy (Flinders University)

Click for link to a few photos at the closing session.

Two 2-day workshops were held at the Moreton Bay Research Station on Stradbroke Island on the weekend after the conference (28-29 November).

• Freshwater molluscs (Winston Ponder)
• Marine bivalves (John Healy)

Feedback has been excellent with most participants looking forward to participating in the next meeting in three years' time which will probably be held in Victoria.