Major Events in NZMS History
1954 A preliminary meeting was held at Auckland University College
1956 The 1st Annual Conference was held at Victoria University College, Wellington
1957 The DSIR, the employer of most of the Society members at this time, added the Society to the list of organisations approved for supported attendance by appropriate staff members
1959 The Society applied for membership of the International Association of Microbiological Societies. (IAMS)
1960 IAMS delegates were appointed.
1964 J.O.C. Neill, the first president of the Society, was elected the first honorary member.
1967 The Society affiliated with the Royal Society of New Zealand (RSNZ)
1972 A proposal was submitted to the RSNZ to hold an International Microbial Ecology Symposium in New Zealand between 1975 and 1977.
1973 Financial support for student attendance at the Annual Conferences was approved. A brief newsletter containing information on overseas meetings, visitors, and other items of interest was produced and distributed by the Secretary-Treasurer. A committee was established to investigate standardising methods for assessing coliform organisms.
1974 A committee was established to investigate the methods available for testing sanitisers and detergents used in the dairy industry.
1975 The constitution was amended to allow corporate membership. A committee was established to investigate the increase and causes of transferable drug resistance factors among organisms in the environment.
1976 The Executive Committee was empowered to invite and fund overseas scientists to speak at the Annual Conference. A proposal to hold a joint meeting in New Zealand with the Australian Society for Microbiology (ASM) was approved. The Coliform subcommittee published its report in the New Zealand Journal of Science 1976.
1977 The 1 st International Symposium on Microbial Ecology was held in Dunedin. The NZMS Postgraduate Prize to be awarded to the best paper presented at the Annual Conference by a postgraduate student was established.
1978 The sanitisers and detergents committee concluded its investigation and submitted its results to the Standards Association.
1979 The Society affiliated with the Federation for Medical and Veterinary Mycology (FMVM). The International Society for Human and Animal Mycology (ISHAM) was supported in its application to the RSNZ for funding to hold the VIIIth Congress at Massey University.
1980 The Annual Conference in Dunedin was the first combined meeting with the ASM. Medical microbiology and Molecular biology subgroups were formed.
Ongoing membership of the National Committee for Biological Science.
1981 The Executive Committee was extended to include a newsletter editor and a member to handle relationships with commercial firms (Corporate members). The RSNZ was requested to establish a National Committee for Microbiology. The Society affiliated with the New Zealand Committee for Water Pollution Research and Control.
A leptospirosis subgroup was formed.
1982 The VIIIth ISHAM Congress was held at Massey University. The Society became incorporated. The National Committee for Microbiological Activities was established by the RSNZ. An Environmental microbiology sub-group was formed.
1984 The Federation of Biological Sciences was established within the RSNZ. The Society resolved to establish a subcommittee to review development of microbiology and biotechnology in New Zealand appropriate to the Science Plan and to make recommendations annually to the RSNZ and NRAC.
1987 Parke-Davis donated $5,000 to establish a trust fund to support the attendance of Pacific Islanders at the annual scientific meetings. The Society established the NZMS PhD student prize to be competed for by students who had reached their second year of PhD study.
1988 The RSNZ convened the Science in Schools Committee .
1989 NZMS recommended the appointment of a NZRS lobbyist
1990 The Federation of Scientific and Technological Societies (FOSTS) was formed by the RSNZ with NZMS representation. The NZMS Media Fellowship was established with the intention of creating a greater awareness and understanding of the media within the scientific community.
1992 Affiliation was established with the New Zealand Nurses Association National Division of Infection Control Nurses.
1994 The executive position of immediate past president was established.
1996 NZMS Special Interest Groups (SIGS) were formalised.
1997 The NZMS Website was created.
1998 The Society was represented at the inaugural meeting of the Federation of Asia and Pacific Microbiological Societies (FAPMS).
1999 A sub-committee was formed to make submissions and propose amendments to the Hazardous Substances and New Organisms (HSNO) act; particularly on the issues of importation of new organisms and the development of genetically modified organisms. The Fiji Society for Microbiology became affiliated with the Society. The XIVth Lancefield Streptococcal meeting in Auckland was granted $1000 support.
2000 Mike Baxter bequeathed $5,000 to form a trust to assist secondary students to attend NZMS meetings.
2002 The first electronic version of New Zealand Microbiology was posted on the website. The NZMS Post Graduate Prize was divided into two categories, oral presentation and poster presentation.
2004 The Society transferred its publication to New Zealand Bioscience , a journal that it now shares with the New Zealand Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology.
2005 The Society celebrated its 50th anniversary in conjunction with the 50th annual meeting held at the University of Otago, Duendin. The new version of the website was launched and hosting was moved to the RSNZ server, offering members a considerably improved browsing experience.
2006 A constitutional change was approved by the membership, changing the maximum term of tenure for the president from two to three years.
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