This conference will continue with the tradition of a single session divided into thematic topics related to the exciting research being carried out globally in polar and alpine ecosystems.

The conference is organised by The International Centre for Terrestrial Antarctic Research (ICTAR) at the University of Waikato and the local organising committee.

The schedule will include four days of oral and poster presentations with a mid-week day off to participate in a number of organised day trips into the heart of New Zealand.

Following the conference, we intend to host a series of workshops presenting some of the latest methods and developments in the field.

We intend to hold the conference dinner (feast) at the famous Hobbiton so that all attendees can experience a small piece of Middle Earth.

International Conference Committee

Carsten Suhr Jacobsen

Department of Environmental Science, Aarhus University, Denmark

Andrew McMinn

Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies, University of Tasmania, Australia

Belinda Ferrari

School of Biotechnology and Bimolecular Sciences, UNSW Sydney, Australia

David Pearce

Faculty of Health and Life Sciences, University of Northumbria, United Kingdom

Max Haggblom

Department of Biochemistry and Microbiology, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, USA

Don Cowan

Centre for Microbial Ecology and Genomics, University of Pretoria, South Africa