Birmingham makes history as only the second UK city to host
the Society of Vertebrate Paleontology’s Annual Meeting.
The Society of Vertebrate Paleontology’s 85th
Annual Meeting will bring together 1,200 scientists, students, artists, writers
and scholars at the ICC Birmingham from 12-15 November, with University of
Birmingham palaeontologists acting as the local hosts.
Marcia White, senior manager of strategic Events, Meetings & Incentives
at MCI USA, said: “The Society of Vertebrate Paleontology is thrilled to
announce that its Annual Meeting will come to Birmingham in 2025.
“The largest gathering of palaeontology from around the
world will descend on the West Midlands in November 2025 with activities at the
University of Birmingham, the International Convention Centre, and the
surrounding English countryside. From dinosaurs to ice-age mammals and
everything before and after, we look forward to bringing the palaeontological
world to Birmingham in 2025.”
The conference will be made up of symposiums, technical
sessions, presentations, exhibitions and films on the history and evolution of
vertebrate animals and the discovery, conversation and protection of vertebrate
fossils and fossil sites.
The event is expected to be worth more than £1.5 million for
the West Midlands’ economy.
It was secured by the Birmingham and West Midlands
Convention Bureau – part of the West Midlands Growth Company – and The ICC,
Birmingham – part of the NEC Group – working with VisitBritain, MCI USA and
University of Birmingham.
Steve Knight, senior business tourism manager at the West
Midlands Growth Company, said: “It is a great start to 2025 for the West
Midlands’ business events community to be able to announce another major
international conference in our calendar. We look forward to welcoming 1,200
palaeontologists from around the globe to our region in November and hope
attendees enjoy both the ICC Birmingham’s fantastic facilities, as well as our
popular cultural and culinary offer during any downtime.
“Winning this event is a result of the Birmingham and West
Midlands Convention Bureau’s presence at IMEX America in 2023, so we thank
VisitBritain for their continued support as we spread the word about our region
to event organisers worldwide.”
The West Midlands boasts a £10.3bn full-service life
sciences economy. The region has 87,000 STEM students graduating each year from
its world-class universities. It also provides investors with a dynamic
alternative to the UK’s traditional life sciences “golden triangle” of Oxford,
Cambridge and London.
