As we wrap up the 2007-2008 academic year and look ahead to the summer and the 2008 Botany Conference, we have some student news to share with you.

* First, we would like to introduce your new Student Representative to the BSA Council, Jim Cohen. Jim will begin his term at Botany 2008, replacing Mackenzie, and will serve from 2008-2010. Jim is currently a graduate student at Cornell University.

* Thank you to all who applied for travel and research awards! The recipients of these awards are now listed at www.botany.org/awards_grants/2008Awardrecipients.php. As students, it's nice to see the effort the Society puts into our development. Over $10,000 has gone to students from the Society and Sections so far this year...

* We would like to share the results of the T-shirt contest. The winning entry was designed by Rachel Meyer and Natalia Pabon. Their fabulous T-shirts will be available in Vancouver and all proceeds from the purchase of these T-shirts will go to benefit BSA student members.

* We are making considerable progress on the BSA student web forum. Our goal is to have this site online by the Vancouver meeting. This website will feature blogs and discussion boards open to 1) students exclusively, 2) all BSA members, and 3) anyone. We hope that this online community will become a place where students can ask questions, get information about opportunities, and chat informally about their experiences. If you have an idea about what you would like to see on this forum, please email Mackenzie at mackenzie@utk.edu.

* Our student community in BSA is strong and growing. Did you know that we, the student members, comprise almost 26% of the total BSA membership? How about the fact that BSA student members have made significant contributions the success of BSA’s education outreach program, PlantingScience (www.PlantingScience.org)? Many of us have heeded the call to get the younger generation excited about the plant sciences and served as online mentors to middle and high school students as they designed and ran experiments. Some of of us are also taking part via the Master PlantingScience Team. If you are interested in becoming involved in PlantingScience, please contact Claire at chemingway@botany.org or call the BSA office. What a great and easy way to generate enthusiasm about science and plants!

* We hope that many of you are looking forward to Botany 2008 in Vancouver, BC. This will certainly be a beautiful venue for a stimulating and enjoyable meeting. We have several events aimed at students, including a student luncheon on Monday, followed by a student social Monday afternoon. A social for new members will be held on Tuesday. Also, look for a discussion session on navigating a scientific meeting early in the week. You can find more information at www.2008.botanyconference.org/.

As a responsible Society we are working towards a more "green" meeting. One of our biggest changes this year will be preparing the Conference Abstract Book on a flash drive rather than in print form. All the Abstracts for the meeting are online and you are encouraged to print out the sessions you wish to attend before you arrive. Of course, we will have computers and printers available to do this on-site as well. If you wish to have a hard copy of the book you may purchase a copy as you register for the meeting.

Also, the Botany 2008 program software allows you to build and save your itinerary online! Plan ahead the sessions and events that you want to attend. You will be able to do this as soon as the program is completed in early June at: http://2008.botanyconference.org/engine/search/. All you need to do is log into the system (you may need to create a login) and check boxes will appear beside each even/talk/poster. Very cool!

Stay tuned as the conference team announces other ways Botany 2008 pledges to be kinder to the environment.

See you in Vancouver!

Cheers,

Mackenzie Taylor            Andrew Schwendemann
mackenzie@utk.edu         aschwend@ku.edu

Student Representatives
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.