Dear BSA Members:

1. BSA Bylaws Approved
2. Botany & Mycology 2009 & CALL FOR WORKSHOPS
3. BSA Call for Nominations
4. Call for Proposals - Student Research Awards
5. 2009 Student Travel Awards
6. American Journal of Botany - Darwin Bicentennial: The Abominable Mystery
7. Plant Science Bulletin - LIVE ONLINE
8. PlantingScience - UPDATE
9. Chlorofilms - plant videos on YouTube

1. BSA Bylaws Approved
I'm pleased to report that the mail ballot requesting members to approve changes to the BSA Bylaws was resoundingly approved.

2. Botany & Mycology 2009
Plans for Botany & Mycology 2009 are well underway! Abstract submissions are now being accepted! Conference Registration and Housing are also open and ready to go! All available at www.2009.botanyconference.org.

Abstract Submissions: www.2009.botanyconference.org/engine/login.php?next=abstract
Registration: https://payments.botany.org/engine/login.php?next=registration
Housing Information: www.2009.botanyconference.org/Lodging/index.php

CALL FOR WORKSHOPS
There is still time to present your favorite Scientific or Educational workshop at the Botany & Mycology 2009 at Snowbird.

Workshops will be held on Sunday, July 26th. Join us....share new techniques, strategies, and projects with your colleagues. Workshops are typically hands-on sessions, they are free to participants and can be two-hour, half-day or full-day in length. The Workshop submission form is posted on the conference website at: www.2009.botanyconference.org/2009Calls/2009ls_Workshops.php

The deadline for submission has been extended to February 15^th. If you have any questions or comments - please let me know! Workshops really enhance the quality of the conference....and you can help!

We look forward to seeing you all in Snowbird!

3. BSA Call for Nominations - your participation is appreciated!

» BSA Offices 2009 - President Elect & Secretary - Due February 15, 2009
» BSA CORRESPONDING MEMBERS - Due April 1, 2009
» Starting February 1, BSA Student Representative to the Board - Due March 1, 2009
» BSA Merit Award - Due March 1, 2009

» BSA Young Botanist Awards - Due March 1, 2009
» Charles Edwin Bessey Teaching Award - Due March 1, 2009
» Darbaker Prize - Due April 1, 2009
» Grady L. Webster Publication Award - Due April 1, 2009

4. Call for Proposals - Student Research Awards

» BSA Graduate Student Research Awards - Due March 1, 2009
» Genetics Section GSRA - Due April 1, 2009
Please note: In February we will announce an undergraduate research award program. Submissions will close in early June.

5. 2009 Student Travel Awards

» Vernon I Cheadle STA - Due April 1, 2009
» Triarch (Conant) "Botanical Images" STA - Due April 1, 2009
» Developmental & Structural Section STA - Due April 1, 2009
» Ecological Section STA - Due April 1, 2009
» Genetics Section STA - Due April 1, 2009
» Mycological Section STA - Due April 1, 2009
» Phycological Section STA - Due April 1, 2009
» Phytochemical Section STA - Due April 1, 2009
» Pteridological Section STA - Due April 1, 2009

6. American Journal of Botany - Darwin Bicentennial: The Abominable Mystery
In 2009, researchers from many fields are celebrating the 200th anniversary of Charles Darwin’s birth and the 150th anniversary of the publication of On the Origin of Species. In reflecting on how Darwin influenced the field of botany, and in honor of his bicentennial, the American Journal of Botany has published a special issue for January, 2009 that presents a series of articles on Darwin’s “abominable mystery”: the rapid origin, evolution, and rise to dominance of flowering plants. Just as Darwin and his contemporaries did not agree on their scientific theories, our authors provide a wide range of expertise---and often differences of opinion---on the topics presented in the issue. The abominable mystery is still as hot a topic today as it was in 1879, when Darwin first penned this most frequently quoted phrase, and this issue assembles a group of papers from such diverse approaches as history of science, anatomy, morphology, paleobotany, pollination biology, molecular systematics, genetics, and ecology.

Individual copies of the Darwin issue are available at https://payments.botany.org/bsamisc/specialajb.php. BSA members receive a discount on their orders.

I'd like to acknowledge and thank Ruth Stockey, Sean Graham and Peter Crane as special editors for a tremendous effort in evolving the concept into a final product. It is also important to acknowledge the efforts of Judy Jernstedt as Editor–in-Chief; Amy McPherson and Richard Hund as AJB staff in employing advanced technologies to improve the AJB; and Beth Hazen, Sophia Balcomb and Jan Niehoff for their support as contract editors. And of course, a big thanks to all of the authors and reviewers taking part in the Darwin Bicentennial Issue: The "Abominable Mystery." Several of you have already started mentioning the issue on your blogs and communication, such as Daniel Mosquin’s mention at www.ubcbotanicalgarden.org/potd/2009/01/darwins_abominable_mystery.php. I thank you for this publicity, and I encourage all of you to spread the word!

Great effort team! And happy birthday Charles.

For a successful 2008, the Editor-in-Chief and editorial staff of AJB extend heartfelt gratitude to the authors who have contributed their work, and to all of the Associate Editors and reviewers, who have given generously of their time, expertise, and constructive advice.

Remember, in November we moved the journal into a position where we place articles online, ahead of print - AJB Advance Access. You may sign up to receive notice of these articles at www.amjbot.org/subscriptions/etoc.shtml. The AJB home page will have RSS feeds, available per section or for entire issues, very soon—stay tuned.

7. Plant Science Bulletin - LIVE ONLINE
Plant Science Bulletin needs a new editor to begin with Volume 56 (March, 2010). Are you looking for a meaningful way to serve the Botanical Society of America? Are you interested in desktop publishing? Would you like to correspond with botanical colleagues in many disciplines about books, articles, and matters of interest to the BSA? Need more information?

If your answer to ANY of these questions is yes, please communicate your interest to Dr. Pat Herendeen (Chair, BSA Publication Committee). PATRICK HERENDEEN, Chicago Botanic Garden, 1000 Lake Cook Road, Glencoe, 60022 Phone: 202/994-5828, 847-835-6956. E-mail pherendeen@chicagobotanic.org

Applications are welcome any time and no later than July 1, 2009. The BSA Publication Committee will begin reviewing interested candidates during summer of 2009.

For a description of the Plant Science Bulletin see: www.botany.org/plantsciencebulletin/.

Remember, the Plant Science Bulletin is now LIVE ONLINE. As articles, books for review, book reviews and news come in, they go up on the web. There are also RSS Newsfeeds available for those wishing to be instonanious about things - www.botany.org/zrss.php.

8. PlantingScience - UPDATE
We are pleased to report we have a full contingent of scientist mentors for the Spring 2009 session! We are also pleased to report the growing number of Scientific Societies coming on board as PlantingScience partners, including the American Society of Agronomy, the American Society of Plant Taxonomists, the American Fern Society, the American Bryological and Lichenological Society, the Society for Economic Botany, American Institute for Biological Sciences, and the Ecological Society of America.

We extend a special thanks to the following BSA members who have recently helped us test out some new features for PlantingScience student registration: Antonio Arroyo, Robyn Darbyshire, David Giblin, Tony Haigh and his son Andrew, and Melissa Islam. Their input has been invaluable in launching updates and improvements to the registration process.

9. Announcing a video contest! - Chlorofilms - plant videos on YouTube
Up to $8,000 in prizes for fresh YouTube videos in plant biology. BSA members entring - we'd also like to add your clip(s) to the BSA videos page, Botany without Borders - www.botany.org/botany-without-borders.php.

Thank you for your time!

Sincerely,

Bill Dahl
Executive Director
Botanical Society of America
www.botany.org
www.BotanyConference.org
www.PlantingScience.org

Mission: The Botanical Society of America exists to promote botany, the field of basic science dealing with the study and inquiry into the form, function, development, diversity, reproduction, evolution, and uses of plants and their interactions within the biosphere.