Symposium 2009: 6th International Conference on Stickleback Behaviour and Evolution, Leicester University UK, 13-17 July

2009 is the 200th anniversary of the birth of Charles Darwin and the 150th anniversary of the publication of The Origin of Species. This coincidence has inspired the organising group of the conference to focus the meeting on the role that stickleback studies have had in developing Darwin's big idea. Although small and apparently insignificant little fishes, research on them has been instrumental in advancing our understanding of diverse aspects of living systems. Keynote speakers have been asked to present an overview of their field in a way which shows how stickleback research is contributing, or could contribute, to our understanding of how natural selection has produced the systems they study. We hope that others who are contributing papers will also bear this overarching theme in mind, especially as the conference will also double up as the annual conference of the Fisheries Society of the British Isles, and we would hope to attract more than just ardent fans of sticklebacks.

Invited Speakers

Jack Jones Memorial Lecture:

Bob Wootton (Aberystwyth University, UK) History of stickleback studies

Keynote Speakers:

Andrew Hendry (McGill University, Canada) Adaptation and phylogeny
Felicity Huntingford (University of Glasgow, UK) Behaviour
David Kingsley (Stanford University, USA) Evolution and development
Ulrika Candolin (Helsinki University, Finland) Responses to anthropogenic disturbance
Mike Bell (SUNY Stony Brook, USA) Paleobiology
Bill Bradshaw (University of Oregon, USA) Photoperiodism