Dear BSA Member,

1. Please take a few moments to renew your membership - http://www.botany.org/membership/join.php
If you have received this note, our records indicate you need to renew for 2008. Thank you!

1. Student Research and Travel Awards - http://www.botany.org/
Please act - there are a number of student research and travel awards open for the Botany 2008 Conference.

2. BOTANY 2008 - "Botany Without Borders" - July 26-30, 2008, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada
Get your passport now and join us at the beautiful campus of the University of British Columbia this summer!
http://www.2008.botanyconference.org/

Abstracts for the conference are being accepted through April 1. Submit your abstract(s) online.
http://2008.botanyconference.org/engine/login.php?next=abstract

Conference registration is now open - https://payments.botany.org/engine/registration/

3. PlantingScience Mentorship - Scientist Mentors Needed - http://www.plantingscience.org/
Are you interested in serving as a volunteer mentor to high school and/or middle school students as they conduct their 2-3 week experiments through the PlantingScience program? This exciting program, initiated by the BSA, now has almost 1,000 students participating in the Spring session alone. As the PlantingScience program grows with each successful inquiry session, more scientist mentors are needed to communicate online with the student teams. If you are interested and want to find out more, please contact the BSA Education Director, Claire Hemingway, at chemingway@botany.org.

4. National Science Foundation in Search of Three Program Directors
http://jobsearch.usajobs.opm.gov/getjob.asp?JobId=67754917&AVSDM=2008%2D01%2D25+08%3A32%3A57

The Division of Environmental Biology (DEB) at NSF is searching for three permanent program directors, one in each of three clusters: Ecosystem Science Cluster, Population and Evolutionary Processes Cluster, and Systematic Biology and Biodiversity Inventories Cluster. These individuals will have significant input on future research directions and funding opportunities within DEB and the Directorate for Biological Sciences as well as on the proposal review and award process at NSF. It would be great to have a BSA member in one of these positions! Please visit the link above for more information. The deadline is April 4, 2008.

5. Make the National Science Foundation a Priority
Help make the National Science Foundation a priority in the FY 2009 Congressional budget. The Commerce, Justice and Science Appropriations subcommittee will be deliberating on the FY 2009 budget and needs to hear from you. You can sign a letter supporting the NSF at the link above. Deadline for signatures is March 12.
http://www.botany.org/news/pdfs/NSFbudgetlettertoCongressFY09.pdf

See you in Vancouver!

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.