The 8th international symposium of charr

The 8th INTERNATIONAL CHARR SYMPOSIUM will be held in Tromsø in June 2015. This is a conference aiming to gather scientists, students and management with a special interest in the Salvelinus genus (charr fishes). The charrs have played an important role i n the fields of ecology and evolution, and are also of great conservation interest as they are imperiled by climate change, biological invasions and habitat modifications. Charrs are also of commercial interest for sport fishing, tourism and aquaculture. Being the 8th conference in the series, we build on a long tradition of establishing and disseminating international research of high quality. These symposia have been regularly arranged throughout the northern hemisphere (Russia, Scotland, Iceland, Canad a, Japan, Norway) since 1981. The arrangement of CHARR-2015 represents a broad national cooperation between 6 Norwegian research institutions in Tromsø. The conference will be organized with theme sessions introduced by a lecture from an invited keynote s peaker, followed by research presentations selected through abstract submissions to a scientific board. All former symposia have had a focus to publish the presented results from the symposium through special editions of periodic journals in order to incr ease the awareness of the on-going research. An agreement for a special issue of a journal is already done for the CHARR-2015 (Hydrobiologia: impact factor 2.0). A key element of the symposium is to recruit and encourage young scientists, in particular fe males, into charr research and provide them with an opportunity to be invited speakers, give oral presentations, create new research collaborations and networks, exchange their knowledge and ideas, and to publish their results in a well-reputed journal. A substantial part of the applied financial support will be allocated to reduce the costs (accommodation and travelling expenses) of young and female scientists wanting to participate in CHARR-2015.