Call for Botany 2012 Symposia, Colloquia, and Workshops

Botany 2012 will be held in Columbus, OH July 7 – 11, 2012. Societies participating in Botany 2012 will include: the American Bryological and Lichenological Society (ABLS), the American Fern Society (AFS), the American Society of Plant Taxonomists (ASPT), the Canadian Botanical Association/L'Association Botanique du Canada (CBA/ABC), and the Botanical Society of America (BSA).

In preparation for Botany 2012 we are now soliciting proposals for symposia, colloquia, and workshops. Symposia are organized around a topic of potential broad interest, are timely because of recent advances or synthesis in the field, or are particularly relevant to the conference venue. Colloquia are organized around more specialized topics with all presentations adhering to the standard 15 minute timeframe. The number of presentations in a colloquium is variable. Discussion sessions ("roundtable discussions") are organized around a particular topic of interest with the bulk of the time devoted to discussion that engages the audience. Workshops are distinguished from symposia and colloquia by the inclusion of time devoted to hands-on activities (e.g., software demonstrations, data analysis tutorials, etc.).

Members are encouraged to organize symposia for the annual meeting. We strongly encourage cross Society/Sectional symposia. Each proposed symposium must have a coherent, timely, and preferably cross disciplinary theme. The sequence of speakers and progression of topics in the symposium should be considered carefully. Symposia will be half-day programs (four hours); full day symposia will not be considered. Individual talks in symposia are generally 30 minutes in length (inclusive of questions), although 15 minute talks may be accepted at the discretion of the symposium organizer. Time devoted to synthesis and discussion is strongly encouraged.

The symposium program may include an introduction as well as concluding discussion. An example symposium program is outlined in the timetable below: 15 min introduction (optional), three symposium speakers at 30 minutes each, coffee break, and three symposium speakers at 30 minutes each followed by a Discussion.

• Introduction (optional) 15 min
• Three Speakers 30 X 3 = 1.5 hr
• Coffee Break 30 min
• Three Speakers 30 X 3 = 1.5 hr
• Discussion/ Summary (optional) 15 min

Approval of symposium proposals is a two-step process. First, a symposium proposal must be approved for sponsorship, either in name only or with financial support, by at least one disciplinary section of the BSA and/or a Botany 2012 partnering Society. Second, all proposals approved by a Section or partnering Society will be evaluated by the Botany 2012 Program Committee, which is composed of all the Program Directors, to select those with the greatest potential interest to conference participants, while at the same time maximizing the diversity of disciplines and subject areas represented in the symposium selection. To minimize conflicts there will normally be no more than two concurrent symposia at any time, for a total of 12 symposia for the conference. It may be useful for planning purposes for symposium organizers to communicate their symposium idea with the appropriate Program Director before submitting the proposal (see below for contact details).

All funding for symposia comes from BSA Sections and partner societies, and will only be provided if the symposium has been approved by one or more of these organizations. Sponsorship can be requested from more than one BSA Section and/or partnering Society, as cross disciplinary/multi-sectional symposia are strongly encouraged. Note that one Section or partnering Society must be identified as the lead sponsor.

All symposium proposals must be submitted using the submission site at: www.botanyconference.org (where you are now). The site will open Thursday, September 1st, 2011.

Copies of the proposals will be sent electronically to the sender and the Program Directors listed below.

Colloquia do not require formal approval (and do not receive funding) but proposals are requested to facilitate listing and promoting the colloquia on the conference web site. Similar to a symposium, a colloquium contains papers that are conceptually related and address a specialized topic. Unlike a symposium, all presentations and discussions in a colloquium adhere strictly to a 15-minute timeframe but have greater flexibility in the number of scheduled presentations. Colloquia are listed on the conference web site and are available for submission of contributed abstracts. A Colloquium may include 8-16 contributed papers, although colloquium proposals with a lesser number of talks will be considered.

When you submit your proposal, you will be asked for the following information:

• What Societies and Sections will be sponsoring the session. Please provide contact information for any persons who have approved the sponsorship
• The societies participating in Botany 2012 of which you are a member
• The names, email and street addresses of the organizers, and which of them will lead the session
• A title and description of the session
• Keywords and web links that are relevant
• Requirements, such as room type, food, special equipment or transportation, depending on the type of proposal
• An estimate of anticipated attendance
• A list of invited speakers or leaders, if relevant.

The deadline for receiving proposals is Friday, October 28th, 2011 at 11:59 PM PST.

For additional information or questions, please contact the appropriate Program Director:

BSA
David Spooner, USDA, Agricultural Research Service, Madison, WI 53706
(608) 890-0309, david.spooner@ars.usda.gov

ASPT
Patrick Herendeen, Chicago Botanic Garden, Glencoe, IL 60022
(847) 835-6956, pherendeen@chicagobotanic.org

AFS
Michael Windham, Duke University, Durham, NC 27708
(919) 613-8732, mdw26@duke.edu

CBA/ABC
Dr. Hugues Massicotte, University of Northern British Columbia, Prince George, BC V2N 4Z9
Tel: 250-960-5813, E-mail: hugues@unbc.ca

ABLS
Dr. Roger Rosentreter, Bureau of Land Management, 1387 S. Vinnell Way , Boise, ID 83709
Tel: 208-373-3824, E-mail: roger_rosentreter[at]blm.gov

And/or your sponsoring BSA Sectional Program Chair.
Please see: http://www.botany.org/governance/sections.php.