Fairfax, VA (March 20, 2023) – The Society for Industrial Microbiology and Biotechnology (SIMB) is excited to announce a new conference coming to San Diego, CA, on November 3–6, 2024: Connecting Microbiome Communities (CMiC)—the microbes and those who study them! Integrating insights across ecosystems and sectors, CMiC will be a place for those working on microbiomes in industry, academia, or government labs to explore common challenges, create shared solutions, and establish new collaborations.

Why Microbiomes?

Microbiomes are everywhere; they are in us, on us, around us, and can thrive under the most extreme conditions from the bottom of the oceans to the high atmosphere. Our understanding of which organisms make up these microbiomes improved significantly over the last decade, yet we are still learning how these microbes interact within each other and their environments, including complex interactions with hosts, and how we can harness them to benefit humankind.

As microbiomes constantly change and adapt to natural and human-driven processes, understanding these dynamics is critical to managing climate change, biogeochemical fluxes, agriculture, the bioeconomy, and human health.

Microbiomes hold the key to a healthy future for our planet.

Who is CMiC for?

Researchers from foundational research to application-driven science spanning academia, industry, and government labs will find much to love in the CMiC program. Chaired by Elisha M Wood-Charlson, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, and co-chaired by current SIMB President Nigel Mouncey, DOE Joint Genome Institute, topics under consideration by the program committee include:

• Biodiversity and Ecology
• Bioinformatics and Machine Learning
• Engineering Microbiomes for Human and Ecosystem Health
• Microbiomes and the Bioeconomy
• Microbiome Policy, Advocacy, and Regulation

With four days of traditional sessions intermixed with non-traditional sessions such as panels, flash talks, or community-led discussions, CMiC aims to create a welcoming environment that encourages open, honest dialogue and fosters intriguing new ideas for collaboration across systems.

Industry, academic, and government researchers as well as technology developers, bioinformaticians, policymakers, advocacy leaders, regulators, and others working on and interested in studying and manipulating the microbiome in industrial settings are all encouraged to sign up for email updates about CMiC here and stay tuned as we release new information and invite people to participate in the program.

What’s Next?

Many SIMB members are actively working on cutting-edge microbiome research and applications for agriculture, household care, personal care, human nutrition and health, animal health, built environments, and more, so we are very excited to hear how CMiC can help you connect with people in your field and keep you updated about the latest advances in the industry.

SIMB is also excited to see how CMiC can build greater public awareness of industrial microbiome researchers’ contributions to the world, encourage student entry into the industry, and generate support for new investments in microbiome research and collaborations.

Save the date, bookmark simbhq.org/cmic, and stay tuned for updates!

Connecting Microbiome Communities (CMiC)
San Diego, CA
November 3–6, 2024