36th Congress of the International Society of Limnology

Founded in 1922 by visionaries August Thienemann and Einar Naumann, the International Society of Limnology (SIL), established the science of inland waters, encompassing lakes and ponds, streams and rivers, surface and ground water, and wetlands. This comprehensive coverage embodies the founders’ broad perspective. What is more, the course was set to consolidate limnology as a systems science that draws on physics, chemistry, biology and increasingly the socioeconomic sciences, while recognizing the value of twinning curiosity-driven research and analyses of real-world problems. Perhaps most notable, however, SIL and its conferences stand out by being genuinely international in nature, aspiring to represent science and people from all continents, a hallmark of the society from its inception at the 1922 inaugural congress in Plön, Germany.

Today, we look upon a century of rich science and dedicated stewardship. That double foundational mission was as important then as it is now, with limnology having evolved from a peripheral discipline into a backbone of environmental science. This is engrained in its motto of the Centennial: The next 100 years – Sensing and Safeguarding Inland Waters.