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2011 Meeting

The next meeting will start with dinner on Monday 5 September 2011 and finish immediately after breakfast on Friday 9 September 2011.

As with previous meetings this meeting will be held at Losehill Hall - a wonderful venue in the heart of the Derbyshire Peak District National Park.

The piece below is part of an interview with Geoff Parker featured in Current Biology Vol 17 No 4

Q Do you have a favourite conference?
A Yes, the `Biology of Spermatozoa´ conference organized by Tim Birkhead and Harry Moore: this is a relatively small meeting attended by just a few (50-60) people, with a delightful atmosphere and setting.

Biology of Spermatozoa: a biennial meeting 2009

The aim of these meetings is to bring together biologists interested in different aspects of reproductive biology. In the past participants have included behavioural ecologists, reproductive physiologists, evolutionary biologists, theoreticians and those interested in IVF. The aim is to provide a forum in which researchers working in different areas of reproductive biology can exchange ideas. To this end meetings are limited to 50-60 individuals to maximize informality and the exchange of ideas.

The programme usually comprises a combination of a long (35 min) and several shorter (15 min) talks. The emphasis is on structured, informal discussion and those giving talks or posters are asked to present results or ideas from on-going research, rather than finished and polished pieces of work. Postgraduate students are especially welcome. The name 'Biology of Spermatozoa' was coined early on, and I realise it is no longer appropriate because much of what is discussed at the more recent meetings concerns ova and the interactions between ova and sperm, but for better or worse the name of the meeting has stuck.

The meetings are organised by Tim Birkhead and Harry Moore (who is in the Department of Molecular Biology & Biotechnology, University of Sheffield).

Previous meetings have been held in 1992, 1993, 1995, 1997, 1999, 2001, 2003, 2005, 2007 and 2009 some of these are described in the following publications:

Weddle, N. 2009 The glory of sperm: 10th Biology of Spermatozoa Meeting

View publication

Ramm, S. 2007. A "tail" of two sperm, and other stories 9th Biology of Spermatozoa Meeting. Genetics Society News. 58: 24-25.

View publication

Long, T.A. 2003 Seminal advances in sexual selection. BioMedNet.com. 28 October 2003.

View publication

Harris, W.E. 2003. Sperm Tales: Biology of Spermatozoa International Conference. International Society for Behavioural Ecology Newsletter 15(2): 14-18.

View publication

Tregenza, T. 2000 Evolutionary Dynamic Sperm. Trends Ecol. Evol. 15, 85-86.

View publication

Hosken, D. J. & Stockley, P. 1998 Sperm Counts. Trends Ecol. Evol. 13, 91-92.

View publication

Pitnick, S. & Karr, T. L. 1996 Sperm Caucus. Trends Ecol. Evol. 11, 148--151.

View publication

Photos from 2009 Meeting

2007 BoS9 - Plenary Speakers and Topics

Matthew Cobb (Faculty of Life Sciences, Uni of Manchester)
Plenary: Sperm in history

Rhonda Snook (Dept of Animal & Plant Sciences,University of Sheffield)
Plenary: The tail(s) of two sperm: the evolutionary significance of sperm heteromorphism

Victor Vacquier (Marine Biology Research Division, San Diego State University)
Plenary: Evolution of gamete recognition proteins in marine invertebrates

Joachim Wistuba (Institute of Reproductive Medicine, University Münster, Germany)
Plenary: Testicular organization and the regulation of spermatogenesis: comparative insights

Mariana Wolfner (Dept of Molecular Biology and Genetics, Cornell Univeristy, USA)
Plenary: Interplay between seminal proteins and female Drosophila: implications for sperm, proteins and female physiology

Photos from 2007 Meeting

2005 BoS8 - Plenary Speakers and Topics

Thomas Hildebrandt (Institute for Zoo Biology and Wildlife Research, Germany)
Plenary: Aspects of reproductive function in elephant bulls and their impact on sperm parameters

David Woolley (University of Bristol, UK)
Plenary: On the oscillatory behaviour of the sperm flagellum

Romano Dallai (Universita di Siena, Italy)
Plenary: Sperm winding in Collembola: functions and consequences

Leigh Simmons (University of Western Australia, Australia)
Plenary: Models of postcopulatory sexual selection: lessons from the dung heap

Roger Short (Royal Women's Hospital, Australia)
After dinner talk about Geoff Parker's career

Geoff Parker (University of Liverpool, UK)
Plenary: Golden flies and sunlit meadows

BoS.8 in September awarded Geoff Parker the Spallanzani Medal for his outstanding contributions to the field of sperm competition.

Photos from 2005 Meeting

Losehill Hall Website

View 2003 BOS meeting webpage

View previous BOS meetings webpage

Return to Professor Birkhead's staff page

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