8th International Symposium on Testate Amoebae

Resumo

Testate (shelled) amoebae are some of the most conspicuous soil and freshwater protists. The second half of the twentieth century saw a strong development of ecology with the use of testate amoebae as bioindicators for different environmental pollutants and other man-made perturbations. Dedicated meetings (ISTA) were intermittent, and 23 years passed between ISTA-3 (1983, Aachen, Germany) and ISTA-4 (2006, Antwerpen, Belgium). Since then, a new generation of young researchers brought new impulse to testate amoebae research, which regained considerable popularity the past ten years. ISTAR, the international society for testate amoebae research founded in 2009 (http://istar.wikidot.com/start) has currently 74 members and is still active and growing; currently being affiliated with ISoP. Because of their popularity, ISTA meetings now occur every two years, and the last edition (ISTA-7, Poznán, Poland) welcomed ~80 scientists from 21 countries and 4 continents. The next ISTA will happen in Ilhabela, Brazil. This will be a 3 day conference in the days of 12-14 September 2016. (AU)