The first Meteoritical Society meeting was held in 1933. The 88th Annual Meeting of the Meteoritical Society will take place August 9–14, 2026 in Frankfurt am Main, Germany and is hosted by Goethe University and Senckenberg – Leibniz Institution for Biodiversity and Earth System Research, with support by Physikalischer Verein.
The Meteoritical Society
The Meteoritical Society is an international organization dedicated to the promotion of research and education in planetary science with an emphasis on the studies of meteorites and other extraterrestrial materials that further our understanding of the origin of the solar system. The Society was established in 1933. Our members come from over 50 nations and include scientists and enthusiasts.
The Meteoritical Society aims to:
- Promote research and education
- Support young planetary scientists
- Publish leading journals including Meteoritics and Planetary Science
- Organize annual meetings and workshops
- Honor outstanding scientific and service contributions
- Approve all new meteorite names and classifications and record them in the Meteoritical Bulletin
Sustainability
To do our part in the fight against climate change, the Local Organizing Committee has implemented a number of measures to promote sustainability, including:
- Providing a city-wide public transit ticket with registration
- Avoiding single-use plastics and other disposables
- Offering only vegetarian food for the banquet, breaks, icebreaker, etc.
- Reducing waste associated with informational materials
- Collecting bottles for the deposit system (Pfand)
- Following energy-saving measures for the conference venue
What Can You Do?
Transit
Transit is one of the leading sources of carbon emissions, especially for international conferences. To put this in perspective and attach some quantitative data, here is a comparison of the carbon emissions (in kg CO2) for a few hypothetical trips using different modes of travel:
Chicago to Frankfurt1
- Direct economy flight = 2600
- Two legs economy flight = 2900 (via Copenhagen)
- Direct business flight = 10,200
London to Frankfurt2
- Train = 13.8
- Car = 83.2
- Flight = 133
Paris to Frankfurt2
- Train = 13.5
- Car = 66.8
- Flight = 112
To reduce your carbon footprint, you can do the following:
- When traveling to and from Frankfurt, opt to use trains or buses. If these options are not practical and you must fly, choose the most direct flight you can and fly economy class. Take-off and landing consume more fuel making multi-leg flights problematic. Flying economy class ensures the plane is carrying more passengers, so the emissions per passenger are reduced. You may also choose to offset your emissions, although it is always better to avoid them in the first place.
- While in Frankfurt, opt to travel by foot or else using public transit. For routes not well-covered by public transit, consider using an electric scooter or bike through any of the shared services (e.g., Lime, Voi, Call a Bike). Avoid ride sharing or renting a car.
Lodging
Beyond following standard energy- and water-saving measures, you can further reduce your environmental impact by opting for eco-hotels. Here are some options. Note that Motel One Frankfurt-Römer is included on this list and is also one of the conference hotels.
Reducing Waste
To further reduce waste, you might consider bringing you own thermos or mug for hot drinks. During check-in, you will receive a MetSoc water bottle which we hope you will use for the duration of the conference. Jugs will be available for refilling water, but you can also use tap water, including from restroom faucets. In Germany, drinking water regulations are very strict, which means the tap water is both safe and delicious.
Germany uses a fairly comprehensive recycling system. As such, many plastic and glass bottles qualify for a deposit (or Pfand). More details are available here. When you buy a beverage, you pay a deposit which is included in the price. To receive your deposit back, you must return the bottle to a collection machine located in any grocery store. The machine will print out a receipt which you then hand to a cashier. To check if your bottle has a deposit/Pfand, look for the word “Mehrwegflasche” or one of the symbols shown. We will collect deposit/Pfand bottles in case you would rather not deal with the hassle of returning them but would like to contribute to reducing waste and protecting the environment.
