Summer is now underway and the 2008 Botany Conference is fast approaching (too fast for some of us). A veritable cornucopia of events focused on students and student issues await us in Vancouver, and we thought we’d share some of those with you now. And please remember, this year's BSA t-shirt was designed by BSA student members Natalia Pabon-Mora and Rachel Meyer. All proceeds from t-shirt sales go into the BSA Student Development fund for use at future events!

The UMEB Student and Mentor Orientation Meeting will be from 4:00 to 5:00 on Sunday, so come and mingle with students, faculty, and other environmental-minded people.

All other student events kick off on Sunday at 4:30 with a discussion session on Navigating a Scientific Meeting. During this informal session, students and faculty will share their strategies for getting the most out of a scientific meeting, both professionally and personally. Topics to be addressed include: successful professional networking, tips for choosing sessions and activities, presenting posters and oral papers, and professional conduct.

From 5:00 to 6:30 on Sunday, there will be a Reception with a Graduate School and Job Fair. This is a great opportunity to mingle with other botanists and see what opportunities are available for botanists in graduate schools and employment.

The Student Involvement in Botany Luncheon will take place from 11:00 to 12:30 on Monday and feature a presentation on Career Opportunities with the Bureau of Land Management. This will be another great opportunity to see what you can do with a degree in botany and grab a free meal in the process. If you want to attend the lunch, but forgot to sign up, please send a note to Bill Dahl (wdahl@botany.org) and he'll see that you receive a ticket ($5).

Before attending the meeting, we suggest you take a look at the Conservation and Land Management Internship Program - http://www.chicago-botanic.org/research/training/clm_internship/. The Chicago Botanic Garden’s Conservation and Land Management Internship Program aims to place more than 80 outstanding college graduates for five- or ten-month paid internships to assist professional staff at the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), National Park Service (NPS) or U.S. Forest Service (USFS). Please note: the group will also be running a symposium, Demand for Botanists on Public Lands: Challenges and Solutions, on Wednesday morning - http://2008.botanyconference.org/engine/search/?func=AbstractTitle§ion=254.

Later that day, the Student Involvement Across the Botanical Society of America Meeting will be held from 3:15 to 4:15. The Student Involvement meeting will be a great place to discuss the role of students in the BSA and what the BSA can do to assist us in developing our careers. We'll also explore how we (you) can become more involved in making sure the BSA aggressively pursues its mission.

Make sure you don’t miss the Botany 2008 Student Mixer on Monday from 5:00 to 6:30. Find out what your fellow students are up to and make some new friends. If you can’t make it to the student mixer, be sure to stop by the Student and New Member Social that will go from 5:00 to 6:00 on Tuesday.

Need a place to discuss survival tactics for grad school? Come to the What works for Me: Students’ Perspectives on the Graduate School Experience discussion session from 11:00 to 12:30 on Wednesday.

There are a few other events that are not student specific, but are likely to have a high level of student interest. A mentoring workshop on the PlantingScience Online Community will be held from 3:00 to 5:00 on Sunday and a PlantingScience Mixer will be held on Tuesday from 7:00 to 8:00 pm. PlantingScience is a collaborative research opportunity for scientists, teachers, and young students that aims to improve understanding of science while fostering an awareness of, and appreciation for, plants. If you are a part of the PlantingScience community or would like to know more about the BSA-led science mentorship program, please join us Tuesday evening. Mingle with mentors over hors d'oeuvres and drinks.

The conference will culminate with the BSA Mixer and Banquet for all Botanists on Wednesday night from 6:00 to 10:00. We hope to see all of you there in Vancouver.

Cheers,

Mackenzie Taylor            Andrew Schwendemann            Jim Cohen
mackenzie@utk.edu        aschwend@ku.edu                    jic24@cornell.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.