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Dear Botanical Friends and Colleagues,

We are now accepting your submissions for Botany 2015 Symposia, Colloquia, Workshops, and Discussion Sessions

Submission site open:  http://botanyconference.org/engine/calls_submit/
Symposium submission deadline: October 15, 2014

“Botany 2015 – Science for Plants and People” will be held in Edmonton, Alberta on July 25-29, 2015. Societies participating in Botany 2015 will include the: Canadian Botanical Association, Canadian Society of Plant Biologists, Canadian Phytopathological Society,  Canadian Weed Science Society, Canadian Society of Agronomy, Canadian Society of Horticultural Science, American Bryological and Lichenological Society, American Fern Society, American Society of Plant Taxonomists, International Association for Plant Taxonomy, Mycological Society of America, Society for Herbarium Curators, and Botanical Society of America. In preparation for Botany 2015 we are now soliciting proposals for symposia, colloquia, workshops, and discussion sessions.

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. Each proposed symposium must have a coherent, timely, and preferably cross disciplinary theme. We strongly encourage cross Society/Sectional symposia and a diverse line-up of speakers. Symposia are half-day programs (four hours: 8:00-12:00, 1:30-5:30); full day symposia will not be considered. Talks are 30 minutes (inclusive of questions); with the coffee break, symposia are typically limited to six main speakers. The symposium program may include an introduction, and time for discussion and synthesis is encouraged. An example symposium program is outlined below:

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

Colloquia are organized around more specialized topics, with all presentations adhering to the standard 15 minute time frame. The number of presentations in a colloquium is variable up to 16.
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 include hands-on activities (e.g., software demonstrations, data analysis tutorials, etc.).

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 another society participating in Botany 2015. Second, all proposals approved by a Section or partnering Society will be evaluated by the Botany 2015 Program Committee, which is composed of all the Program Directors, to select those with the greatest potential interest to conference participants, while maximizing the diversity of disciplines, subject areas, career paths, gender, and career stages represented in the symposium. To minimize conflicts there will 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 (contact details below).

Society funding for symposia comes from BSA Sections and partner societies, and a commitment must be obtained before proposal submission. Symposium funding also can come from granting agencies or industry sources, and the proposal must be accompanied by a letter stating this support. Sponsorship can be requested from more than one BSA Section and/or partnering Society, and cross-disciplinary/multi-sectional symposia are strongly encouraged. In such cases, one Section or partnering Society should be identified as the lead sponsor. Please note that the main purpose of symposium funding is to be able to obtain high-quality speakers who would not normally be attending the conference; it is not intended as a means to reward speakers who regularly attend our meeting.  It is therefore possible to organize a good symposium with little or no funding.

All symposium proposals must be submitted using the submission site.  Copies of proposals will be sent by email to the organizer 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. Colloquia are listed on the conference web site and are available for submission of contributed abstracts. The deadline for receiving proposals is October 15, 2014.
 
For additional information or questions, please contact the appropriate Program Director:
 
ASPT
Harvey Ballard, Ohio University, Athens, OH 45701
(740) 593-4659, ballardh@ohio.edu

ABLS
Larry St. Clair, Brigham Young University, Provo, UT 84602
larry_stclair@byu.edu

AFS
Eric Schuettpelz; SchuettpelzE@si.edu
 
BSA
Amy Litt, The New York Botanical Garden, Bronx, NY 10458
(718) 817-8161; alitt@nybg.org
 
IAPT
Karol Marhold; Karol.Marhold@savba.sk
 
MSA
Dan Durall; daniel.durall@ubc.ca

SHC
Andrea Weeks; aweeks3@gmu.edu

For Canadian societies, contact information can be found at:
http://www.plantcanada.ca/eng/board_2011-2012.htm
 
And/or your sponsoring BSA Sectional Program Chair. Please see:
http://www.botany.org/governance/sections.php

Best wishes,
Amy Litt, BSA Program Chair


BSA Office
4475 Castleman Ave.
St. Louis, Missouri 63110
PH 314-577-9566, FAX 314-577-9515
BSA- www.Botany.org
American Journal of Botany - www.amjbot.org
Applications in Plant Sciences - http://www.bioone.org/loi/apps
Plant Science Bulletin - www.Botany.org/PlantScienceBulletin/
Botany Conference - www.BotanyConference.org
PlantingScience- www.PlantingScience.org
 
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