Dear Fellow BSA Members

I bring you greetings on behalf of the Executive Committee of the BSA and will take this opportunity to update you about ongoing activities and future goals of your society.

Plans for the Annual Meeting in Chicago are very exciting. With nearly 1000 abstracts submitted, this year’s meeting is proving to be even larger than the one held in Chico, CA last year (that year there were 838, which was a record number). Our Plenary Speaker will be Judge John E. Jones, who presided over the trial in Dover, Pennsylvania and whose legal decision was a model of clear presentation in support of science and evolution, and a stunning defeat for intelligent design. I know Program Director Karen Renzaglia and the BSA staff are working hard to make sure that our meeting will proceed smoothly and all participants will benefit from and enjoy the meeting. I look forward to seeing you all there in July!

The BSA is making progress on many fronts. Our membership numbers have increased considerably, with a strong surge in student members, and we are approaching 2700 members, up from about 2300 only two years ago. The BSA endowment has crested $3.5 million and has contributed more than $225,000 to BSA activities over the past four years. Interest in our web site continues to be strong, with about 200,000 visits each month. The American Journal of Botany has a healthy impact factor in excess of 2.4, and, guided by Editor-in-Chief Judy Jernstedt, Electronic Editor Scott Russell, Managing Editor Amy McPherson, and Production Editor Beth E. Hazen, continues to be one of the more widely cited outlets for publishing papers on plant biology. Your society is thriving and working for you on behalf of botany worldwide.

The Botanical Society of America has accomplished most of its current strategic plan. In August 2001, a strategic planning session (cleverly named “Deep Thought”) established a set of objectives for the BSA. The major goals included: (1) hiring an Executive Director and a staff to manage membership services and enhance the public image of the BSA, (2) spearheading educational outreach, (3) building coalitions with other professional organizations, (4) expanding our international activities, (5) recruiting future botanists, and (6) raising endowment funds.

Since that session (as reviewed above) a green glow of success has risen over the BSA image, the trajectory of our membership, and our endowment funding. These outcomes have been made possible in large part because of changes that were initiated following the 2001 planning session. In 2002, Bill Dahl was hired as our Executive Director, and we now have a fully operational office that includes a technology manager (Rob Brandt), an administrative coordinator (Wanda Lovan), and an education director (Claire Hemmingway). With this staff, the BSA has been able to make advances that both streamline our operations and expand our outreach. For example, most of our business functions are online and our use of paper has dropped dramatically. Electronic membership renewal rose from 30% in 2003 to more than 85% in 2007, and our response times to inquiries are extremely fast relative to peer organizations. In the realm of education outreach, PlantingScience has taken plants and plant biologists into 19 schools, 26 classrooms, and involved over 1500 students in plant experiments. PlantingScience sessions average three weeks – expanding science experiences for students whose experiments normally last one class period or less. Botanists donate approximately 1.5 hours per session, twice a year, to create an incredibly wide reaching and high impact outreach program. We have maintained and deepened our relationships with other organizations. The American Fern Society, The American Society of Plant Taxonomists, The American Bryological and Lichenological Society, and The American Institute of Biological Sciences have long and valued histories with the BSA, and we have broadened our association with the international community of botanists, as well as with Mycologists and Phycologists. This year’s annual meeting is being held in conjunction with the American Society of Plant Biologists, next year we’ll be meeting with the Canadian Botanical Association/Association Botanique du Canada, and in 2009, we’ll be meeting with the Mycological Society of America. In addition, we are reaching out to provide membership and other services to societies including the American Fern Society and the Society for Economic Botany.

We are embarking on a new strategic planning process. Building on the “deep thought” plan that has been driving our activities over the past five years, we seek input from the membership as we move the BSA into the future. The past five years have established a strong foundation on which to build, and opened many new doors for the coming years. We need your guidance as we make recommendations for the BSA to propel our activities and agendas.
• What do you think should be some of the goals for the BSA in the next 5-10 years?
• What emerging issues, opportunities, or responsibilities should the BSA address?
• How should the BSA manage its endowment to best advantage for the future of botany?
• Are there ways that the BSA should become involved in political agendas, educational initiatives, and emerging research opportunities?

We value your perspectives and opinions and seek your guidance as we generate a forward-thinking plan that will carry the mission of the BSA forward. Please send any ideas you have to me, to other members of the Executive Committee (listed below), or to members of the BSA Council. Soon we will form a Strategic Planning Committee and charge it with the challenge of developing a document that will help us become an even more effective voice for research and education about plants. We encourage you to become partners in crafting the future of the BSA.

Sincerely,

Christopher Haufler
President

Members of the Executive Committee include:
President, Christopher H. Haufler
E-mail: vulgare@ku.edu
President Elect, Pamela Soltis
E-mail: psoltis@flmnh.ufl.edu
Past President, Edward L. Schneider
E-mail: eschneider@sbbg.org
Secretary, Stephen G. Weller
E-mail: sgweller@uci.edu
Treasurer, Kent Holsinger
E-mail: kent@darwin.eeb.uconn.edu
Program Director, Karen S. Renzaglia
E-mail: renzaglia@plant.siu.edu
Council Representative, Pamela K. Diggle
E-Mail: Pamela.Diggle@colorado.edu
Graduate Student, Mackenzie Taylor
E-Mail: mtaylo37@utk.edu

Botanical Society of America
4475 Castleman Avenue
St. Louis, MO 63110

PO Box 299
St. Louis, MO 63166-0299

Ph: 314-577-9566
FAX: 314-577-9515
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.

The objectives of The Society are to: sustain and provide improved formal and informal education about plants; encourage basic plant research; provide expertise, direction, and position statements concerning plants and ecosystems; and foster communication within the professional botanical community, and between botanists and the rest of humankind through publications, meetings, and committees.