A glimpse of BIOTA's past...

To promote the Science of Biology in all its branches, this was the aim of the biology teachers and biologists who gathered together in February 1966 at then Science Pavilion on Herran Street in Manila. This group of biology teachers met to discuss ways of improving introductory college courses. Thus, the Biology Teachers Association of the Philippines, Inc. was born and its first set of officers elected.

Three months later, the first BIOTA national conference was held at the University of the Philippines in Los Baños, wherein lecture-demonstrations were conducted and the organization’s constitution and by-laws were drawn up and ratified. With a view to expansion, regional groups were organized under a regional officer whose main task was to recruit new members.

Since then, a national BIOTA convention has been held once a year. The annual three-day convention had varying themes each year, responsive to current and relevant national issues. In chronological order, the annual conferences had the following themes and convention sites:

YEAR	VENUE	CONVENTION THEME
1966	University of the Philippines-Los Baños
1967	Philippine Women's University
1968	Centro Escolar University
1969	University of Sto. Tomas	Conservation
1970	Far Eastern University	Molecular Biology
1971	University of the Philippines, Diliman	Maintaining Environmental Integrity
1972	St. Louis University, Baguio City	Biology Teaching Techniques
1973	University of the East	Focus: Biology Teachers
1974	San Carlos University, Cebu City	Marine Ecosystems
1975	Ateneo de Manila University	The Biologist in Community Development
1976	University of Nueva Caceres	The Biologist in Regional Development
1977	Philippine Science High School	The Biologist in a Changing Society
1978	M. Marcos Memorial University	Sharing Ideas on Food Resources
1979	UPSEC-Asian Institute of Tourism	Challenges in Biology Education Today
1980	Siliman University	Ecological Areas of Concern
1981	De La Salle University	Research Management
1982	Mindanao State University	Technology Transfer Through Biology Education
1983	University of the Philippines, Diliman	Contemporary Issues in Biology and Biology Education
1984	University of the Philippines, Visayas	Utilization of and Contemporary Issues on Aquatic Resources
1985	Adamson University, Manila	The Biology Teacher and the Changing Curriculum
1986	Don Mariano Marcos Memorial State University	Biology Teachers and New Development in Biology
1987	Maryknoll College	Biology, Technology and Society
1988	Leyte National High School	Biology for National Recovery
1989	Marikina Institute of Science and Technology	Biology Environment and Survival
1990	University of Baguio / Benguet State University	Environmental Education for a Better Society
1991	University of the Philippines, Diliman	Environmental Management for Economic Recovery
1992	Colegio de Santa Isabel	Science & Technology: Focus on Livelihood
1993	Ateneo de manila University	Environmental Education for a Sustainable Development
1994	Central Mindanao University	Biology Education Toward the Year 2000
1995	Philippine Science High School, Diliman	The Biologist in Education Research and Technology
1996	University of Northern Philippines Vigan	Biodiversity: Issues and in Concerns
1997	Far Eastern University	Biology Education in the Information Age
1998	Central Luzon State University in Munoz	Biology Education and Agrotechnology in the Third Millenium
1999	Centro Escolar University	Biology in the 3rd Millenium: Operationalising Scientific & Technological Literacy
2000	University of San Agustin, Iloilo	Biology Education in the 21st Century: Enchancing Teaching Competencies
2001	University of Santo Tomas in Manila	Environmental Education for All
2002	Xavier University / Ateneo de Cagayan de Oro	Biodiversity Education and Research for Community Development
2003	Adamson University, Manila	Current Trends in Biology
2004	Northwestern University, Laoag City	e-Learning in Biology
2005	La Salle Green Hills, Mandaluyong City	Biology Education in Health, Peace and Sustainable Development
2006	Western Mindanao State University / Ateneo de Zamboanga University / Zamboanga State College of Marine Sciences and Technology	Biology Education in the Classroom and Beyond
2007	University of Santo Tomas, Manila	The Biologist: as an Educator, Researcher and Community Worker
2008	University of La Salette, Santiago City, Isabela	The Centure of Biology: A Celebration of Life
2009	University of Makati, Makati City	Biologists in Bioresource Exploration and Conversation
2010	Palawan State University, Puerto Princesa City	Biology and the Decade of Education for Sustainable Development