During this year of celebrating Darwin, it seems appropriate to examine how SIM and the field of environmental microbiology have evolved over the last 60 years. In the early years while SIM was under the umbrella of AIBS there was no specified source for the publication of papers at the Annual Meeting. Starting with the 1959 meeting, Developments in Industrial Microbiology began publication and continued until 1989. Though there were numerous symposia on environmental microbiology there was no specific section or designation for this field. Today, it is a core area for our annual meeting and journal. In 1959 environmental symposia were concerned with the microbiology of space travel and the environment inside enclosed space capsules and the biodeterioration of wood. In 1960, symposia and papers began to appear on microbial degradation of oil, fuels, and biogeoprospecting for oil. Also during the early 1960's there was considerable interest in algae and bacteria as food sources, especially when grown on petroleum products. In 1998, SIM held a special symposium on bioremediation building on the almost 40 years of papers on biodeterioration of petroleum products and almost annually we have had symposia on biodegradation which has been expanded to include pesticides, dyes, explosives, etc.  A logical outgrowth of the early symposia on aeromicrobiology is the current symposium on bioterrorism. This presentation will expand on these concepts and demonstrate how our approaches and our areas of environmental concern have evolved as SIM has also evolved into an independent society with over 1000 members.