A Brief History of the Society

The Society was founded in Ann Arbor, Michigan, on May 8, 1985. The Articles of Incorporation of the Society were filed in the State of California on April 8, 1986. The Society drafted bylaws at the same time. The bylaws have been amended numerous times by a vote of the membership since they were first drafted. Volume 1 No. 1 of our journal printed May 1987.

The 25 papers included in Volume 1 Issue #1 resulted from a conference held at the University of Michigan in May 1985. A meeting of the Board of Governors was held in Washington DC on March 20, 1986. David Ehrenfeld was the editor of the journal Conservation Biology. The first Board of Governors included Michael E. Soule (President) and Peter F. Brussard (Secretary-Treasurer). The first annual meeting of the Society was scheduled at Montana State University, Bozeman from June 23 - 26, 1987.

For more about the history of Conservation Biology, read “A Mission-Driven Discipline’’: the Growth ofConservation Biology (351kb pdf) by Curt Meine, Michael Soule, and Reed Noss.