ISMOS-3: Third International Symposium on Applied Microbiology and Molecular Biology in Oil Systems – Preface to special issue

The Third International Symposium on Applied Microbiology and Molecular Biology in Oil Systems (ISMOS-3) was held at the University of Calgary, Alberta, Canada, on June 13–15, 2011. Topics addressed included biodesulfurization, biodeterioration, biofuels, challenges in oil sands development, downstream microbiology, metagenomics, microbially enhanced oil recovery, molecular and other microbiological methods, microbiologically influenced corrosion, and reservoir souring. From among the 32 oral presentations and 91 posters, 16 papers were selected for publication in this special issue of International Biodeterioration & Biodegradation. This preface provides an overview of ISMOS-3.