The 2013 Gordon Conference on Marine Molecular Ecology

Marine molecular ecology is a vast and rapidly developing field that focuses on the study of the interactions and evolution of marine organisms at the molecular level. It broadly encompasses population genetics, dispersal and site recognition, prey-predator interactions, parasitism, symbiosis, and many other interactions among all kinds of marine organisms ranging from the microbes to the vertebrates. The molecules being studied include nucleic acids, protein and chemical signals, not only for their functions in the marine organisms, but also their interactions with the physical environment. Traditionally, disciplines in marine ecology are defined based on the size of the organisms being investigated, such as microbiology, invertebrate zoology, fish biology and fishery, and marine mammals. However, such boundary hinders the understanding the marine ecosystem as a continuum of interactions across all types of organisms. This conference aims at promoting exchange and networking among investigators of the vastly different disciplines in the field.