Preface: Crossing disciplinary borders in rotifer research

Abstract

In August of 1974 at the 19th Congress of the Societas Internationalis Limnologiae (Winnipeg, Canada), a small group of aquatic scientists led by Dr. Agnes Ruttner-Kolisko proposed an innovative concept: a special symposium dedicated solely to rotifer research should be held. Two years later, in late September, Agnes hosted the first International Rotifer Symposium (IRS) at the research station located on Lunzer Untersee (Lunz am See, Austria). Every 3 years since that inaugural meeting, the ''rotifer family'' has convened somewhere in the world to share research on all topics related to rotifer biology. Accordingly, the IRS comprises scientists who devote most, if not all, of their time to research on the biology, ecology, systematics, and evolution of rotifers, or who find rotifers to be useful model systems to explore other interesting lines of inquiry. Yet these meetings do more than just share research, they inspire others to pursue a deeper appreciation of these remarkable small metazoans. The 15th IRS was held on the campus of The University of Texas at El Paso, Texas (UTEP) from the 3rd to 9th of June 2018. Attendees included just over 100 participants and accompanying persons from 17 countries (Fig. 1), with the highest representation from the USA (38), Mexico (26), and Europe (15).