Emily Kunselman Emily Kunselman Vanessa Minnis Vanessa Minnis Sho Kodera Sho Kodera Mary M Buschmann Mary M Buschmann Adam Jones Adam Jones Alexander Dehgan Alexander Dehgan Amber Hartman Scholz Amber Hartman Scholz Antje Boetius Antje Boetius Axel Hochkirch Axel Hochkirch Chris Dupont Chris Dupont Chris Walzer (Research Institute of Wildlife Ecology, Department of Interdisciplinary Life Sciences, Departments, University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna) Chris Walzer Colin Averill Colin Averill Drew Endy Drew Endy Fabrice Stephenson Fabrice Stephenson Fengping Wang Fengping Wang Gregory Mueller Gregory Mueller Janet K Jansson Janet K Jansson Jon Paul Rodríguez Jon Paul Rodríguez Karsten Zengler Karsten Zengler Kent H Redford Kent H Redford Louis-Patrick Haraoui Louis-Patrick Haraoui Maria Gloria Dominguez Bello Maria Gloria Dominguez Bello Miguel Lurgi Miguel Lurgi Nadine Lamberski Nadine Lamberski Neil Cox Neil Cox Raquel Peixoto Raquel Peixoto Rob Knight Rob Knight Robert Friedman Robert Friedman Ryan Phelan Ryan Phelan Sean M Gibbons Sean M Gibbons Suzanne Lynn Ishaq Suzanne Lynn Ishaq Thomas Brooks Thomas Brooks Valeria Souza Valeria Souza Jack Gilbert Jack Gilbert Sarah Michelle Allard Sarah Michelle Allard Oxford University Press 2025 In May 2025, the “Conservation in a Microbial World” conference was hosted at UC San Diego’s Scripps Institution of Oceanography to address the lack of microbial representation in international conservation frameworks (i.e. International Union for Conservation of Nature—IUCN). Organized by Drs. Redford, Gilbert, Friedman, and Rodríguez, the meeting explored the importance of the microbial world in conservation and what can be done to include microbes in global conservation. The meeting gathered together experts in fungi, bacteria, and viruses with backgrounds in climate science, genomics, terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems, and human health, spanning research, industry, conservation, and policy. Key themes included: how to communicate the importance of microbes, how to conserve microbes themselves, and how microbes could be integrated into existing conservation. The primary outcome was the launch of the IUCN Species Survival Commission—Microbial Conservation Specialist Group. This initiative marks a pivotal step toward incorporating microbial life into global biodiversity conservation policy and practice. PDFDocument eng 2026-10-20T09:03:38.202573796Z 2025 Bacteria Climate Ecosystem functioning Environmental microbiology Archaea 814686 b application/pdf http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/