We cordially invite you to attend the 7th International Conference on Serpentine Ecology that will take place in Coimbra, Portugal, from 12-16 June 2011. The conference is organized by the Centre for Functional Ecology (http://cfe.uc.pt) and hosted by the Department of Life Sciences of the University of Coimbra (http://www.uc.pt). The conference provides an opportunity for the gathering of researchers from around the world, to share and discuss their findings regarding the broad and inter-disciplinary field of serpentine ecology, including the fascinating relationships that exist between extreme geology and life, from organisms to communities and ecosystems. Participants in former conferences included geologists, soil scientists, plant chemists and biochemists, microbiologists, astrobiologists, botanists and geobotanists, zoologists, ecologists, ecophysiologists, restoration ecologists, evolutionary geneticists and conservation biologists. To highlight the commitment of our scientific community to the conservation of serpentine habitats worldwide, the motto of the ICSE 2011 will be: “Promoting awareness of serpentine biodiversity”.