Marine Biofouling Topical Conference (MB):  Adhesion and adsorption of biological components, both as organisms and their products, to marine equipment in ocean environments, termed “biofouling,” is a serious unsolved problem costing billions of dollars annually world-wide. As marine waters comprise the vast preponderance of the Earth’s surface, enterprising humans engaged in marine transportation, industry, and science have long sought to understand biofouling as a unique environmental surface science problem. The number and diversity of fouling organisms in the marine environment is enormous and fouling populations vary with location. Recently, a number of groups around the globe have implemented the fundamental paradigm of surface science, that of studying well-defined and well-characterized interfaces, in efforts to understand and manage marine biofouling. Premier, coordinated research efforts in the area of fundamental study of marine biofouling include the Office of Naval Research’s Coating Program and the European Union’s Advanced Nanostructured Surfaces for the Control of Biofouling (AMBIO) program. The Marine Biofouling Topical Conference program collects biologists, chemists, physicists, material scientists, and surface engineers to discuss new approaches that emphasize defining and controlling interfacial parameters that drive and inhibit colonization, adhesion and maturation of biofouling.

MB1   Biological Interactions at the Marine Interface

J. Callow, University of Birmingham, UK

A. Clare, University of Newcastle Upon Tyne, UK

A. Rosenhahn, Universität Heidelberg, Germany

C. Werner, Institute of Polymer Research Dresden, Germany

MB2   Control of Marine Bioadhesion

A. Brennan, University of Florida, “Biosettlement Inhibition by Engineered Topographies”

Z. Chen, University of Michigan

J. Genzer, North Carolina State University

G. Walker, University of Toronto, Canada, "Mechanics of Barnacle Glue Surfaces and Relation to Foul Release"

K. Wooley, Washington University, "Nanoscopically-resolved Amphiphilic Surface Features as Non-toxic, Treacherous Terrain to Inhibit Marine Biofouling"

MB3   Marine Biofouling Poster Session