 The origin of the society resulted from the emergence of the field as a distinct subject in the 1970s.The phrase conservation biology originated from a conference of ecologists and population biologists at the University of Michigan, that published the book ""Conservation Biology" An Evolutionary-Ecological Perspective" was highly influential internationally, eventually selling tens of thousands of copies including a Russian translation.By the mid-1980s there was sufficient interest and participation to establish a formal society and publish a peer reviewed journal "Conservation Biology", started in 1987 and published by Blackwell Scientific Publishers.