Index

Paleobotany Awards

Membership

Bibliography of American Paleobotany

Personalia

Programs

Sales items

Section reports

Officers and Bylaws

Paleobotany links

Willy Taylor reported that the Bibliography of American Paleobotany for 2002, including the current membership directory for the Section, has been published and was distributed to members and institutional subscribers soon. Additional copies are available for $18. Contact Willy at: taylorwa@uwec.edu.

For 2003 membership has remained about the same, around 350. Meetings attendance for Mobile is down somewhat, reflected in a smaller number of papers in our section. There are 28 papers contributed, 2 posters, 1 new research poster, 8 participants in the "Dating in the 21st century" symposium organized by Pat Herendeen and Peter Crane and co-sponsored by the Paleobotanical and Systematics sections.

The Paleobotanical Annual Mixer and Banquet was held on Monday evening, July 28th at Roussos Restaurant in Mobile, with 70+ attendees. In lieu of a paleobotanical auction an extended game of "Paleobotanical Trivia" was played. Each year, proceeds from the sale of anonymously donated "campaign" buttons (this year: "Plants Mobilized in the Eocene") go to the Paleobotanical Endowment. The Paleobotanical Section also continues to receive donations in support of endowment funds, including the Cookson, Becker, Cichan, and Remy funds.

Status of funds provided on handout: this is not completely up-to-date, awaiting information from BSA Treasurer and Business office. Move of BSA office to St. Louis and change in personnel has delayed reports, but in general BSA is recovering after recent losses in market.

Tom Taylor proposed that money for students be provided to attend IOP. He would like to see 20 awards at $500 each. Students must belong to the section to qualify. The Chair should appoint a committee to draft guidelines for selecting attendees. The Motion was discussed, voted on, and passed. Steve Manchester amended motion that the amount to student and the number of students be flexible, and total spent be $10,000.

K. Pigg transmitted by Gensel (Kathleen’s notes). The meeting was chaired by President, Scott Russell. Annual reports were delivered by the President (Scott Russell), Past President (Judy Jernstedt, President Elect (Linda Graham), Secretary (Jenny Richards), Treasurer (Joe Armstrong), Program Director (Jeff Osborn), Editor of American Journal of Botany (Karl Niklas), Editor of Plant Science Bulletin (Marsh Sundberg), Webmaster (Bill Dahl) and others. Details of the Council meeting can be found on the website: http://www.botany.org/.

Highlights of the meeting included: The President's report discussed the move of the business office to St. Louis, Bill Dahl's hiring and getting started as executive director of Bot Soc and taking over as Webmaster and hiring of Wanda Lovan as administrative coordinator. The Treasurer reported was that BSA is doing well fiscally and has recovered from the past several years of revenue loss. Transitions with the business office move and reorganization have proceeded successfully.

Jeff Osborn, Program Director announced that there were around 550 participants at Mobile, with numbers are lower than last year. In 2002 there were around 1000 people were registered for Botany 2002, with 750 papers in 60 sessions, 2 special lectures and 13 symposia comprising the program. The premeeting Educational Outreach Forum had 300 participants. This year marks the Second Annual Education Forum. There is a request for more participation from sectional representatives especially in areas of providing advice for teaching and curricula. All Abstracts were submitted electronically this year. The abstracts can be read online, and searched, and additional features are planned for the abstract site, so that participants will eventually be able to add uploads, data, PDF files etc after conference. For next year’s meeting: deadline for Symposia is Sept. 15, 2003, (except for the Paleo Section who votes to support proposed symposia during the business meeting). Deadline for workshops and field trips is October 15. There is interest in promoting more interdisciplinary symposia that will help bring additional people into meetings.

Future meetings were announced: 2004- Snowbird, Utah; 2005- Austin, Texas, 2006- not yet determined.2006 is the centennial year and Sections are encouraged to think of ways they can each contribute to centennial activities. In 2007 the meeting may be in St. Louis. There was some discussion about the concern of cost and logistics of next year's meeting at Snowbird, with asurrence that the arrangements will be affordable for students. Additional issues raised regarding meetings: Jeff Osborn and Karen Renzagllia have received funding to encourage the participation of under-represented students in meetings. Members are encouraged to participate in mentoring for these students. A survey about future meeting venues will be made. Exhibitors numbers are down in recent years- suggestions are needed on ways to encourage exhibitors to continue to participate.
From the Editor of the American Journal of Botany (Karl Niklas): AJB will have new software that will allow for online submissions of manuscripts soon. There will be a special volume of AJB on the Tree of Life- it is hoped to be out by July 2004 as a regular issue (not supplement, so other issues will be adjusted accordingly to take up slack). Suggestions are needed for the cover illustration. The current editor, Karl Niklas's, term ends January 2005. The new editor was soon to be selected and will work with the current editor to insure a smooth transition. From the Editor of the Plant Science Bulletin (Marsh Sundberg). The Bulletin welcomes the announcements of other scientific meetings, particularly those that Bot Soc sections are involved with. From the Webmaster- Bill Dahl is redesigning the Bot Soc website, working to increase educational outreach via webpage, and asks sections for input and contributions to website. Eventually there will be ways for member to check details on web related to payment of dues, etc

In new business: The deaths of Corresponding members Knut Faegri, Karl Hunziger, and William Stern were acknowledge.Three new Corresponding members were named: Rolf Berg (ant dispersal/ pollination biology); Enrique Coen (Arabidopsis/Anterrhinum molecular genetics), and Michael Melkonian (green algal phylogeny). Eleven Karling Awards were given for graduate student support.
Discussion was led by Linda Graham and Pat Gensel about the need for outreach, visibility of botany, and participation in public policy issues relating to plants. Also raised was concern about collections that are being lost because of cutbacks, lack of interest and how to protect them. A Statement on Evolution drafted by Joe Armstrong and Judy Jernstedt on behalf of the Botanical Society was read and approved by the Council. It was considered to be important for Bot Soc to participate in this discussion and particularly to include botany’s unique examples.

Pam Diggle was elected as Council representative to the Executive committee.

a. 6th European Paleobotany and Palynology Conference, Athens, Greece, Aug. 29-Sept. 2, 2002. Ruth Stockey reported that the meeting was excellent. It included a field trip to the Isle of Lesbos to see Miocene petrified forest, along with several other field trips.

b. Geological Society of America- There was a large turnout of paleobotanists at GSA this past November, which was held in Denver, Gar Rothwell reported.

c. Mid-continent Paleobotanical Colloquium- The 20th Annual MPC was held at the Field Museum, Chicago, IL May 2-5, which was the site of the first MPC. The meeting was organized by Jenny McElwain and colleagues and included a full slate of excellent presentations, many of them by students. A field trip to Mazon Creek occurred on the Saturday.

d. Other meetings- Wood anatomy meeting was held in Oregon. Rick Dillhoff, Kathleen Pigg, and David Greenwood and colleagues participated in the Geological Association of Canada meeting in Vancouver in May, in a symposium on the Okanogan Highlands biota. The symposium was organized by Bruce Archibald and David Greenwood and will be published in the Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences.

a. Upcoming meetings

1. IOPC-VII, Bariloche, Argentina, Mar. 21-26, 2004

2. GSA- 2003- Seattle, Washington, Nov. 2-5, 2003

It was announced the Wes Wehr will be presented with the Paleontological Society’s Strimple Award. This was initiated by Kirk Johnson and supported by many in the section with letters.

3. 2004 Mid-Continent Paleobotany Colloquium, University of Oklahoma, Norman, OK. To be hosted by Richard Lupia and Amy McLain. There will be a field trip to Permian localities.
BSA, Snowbird, UT July 31-Aug. 4, 2004

4. BSA 2005-Austin, Aug. 13-19th :late to avoid overlapping ESA.

5. BSA 2006- centennial. site won’t be historically significant, but will be programmatically significant

6. XVII International Botanical Congress, July 17-23, 2005, Vienna.

b. Student membership and Karling Student Research Awards. Gene Mapes reported that there were twice the number of submissions as awards this year. Student members of the Section are encouraged to apply.

c. In memoriam: Maynard Moseley, Betty Speirs (collector of Joffre Bridge material, Alberta); Vim Wright, Seattle (eco-activist who helped save Florissant Fossil Beds and Estella Leopold’s companion). A moment of silence was observed.

d. Other announcements: Ned Friedman announced the MORPH RCN (research coordination network). A website is under development. The program was outlined and participation is encouraged. Training will be facilitated at several levels, grants being available to undergraduates, postdocs, young faculty to gain experience in morphology and/or molecular development.

a. Cookson Award: Cookson Award Committee report: This year’s recipient of the Cookson Award is Michael Dunn. Criteria were: significance of research, clarity of presentation, content of talk, quality and organization of graphics. Committee consisted of Willy Taylor, Patricia Gensel, Kevin Boyce. There was also discussion on reviewing the criteria for the Cookson award. A committee will be appointed to consider the matter.

b. Cichan Award: none given

c. Remy and Remy award: in progress

d. Moseley Award: committee- Jim Mickle, Frank Ewers, K. Pigg

e. Nominating committee for 2004 Section Chair: Lisa Boucher was nominated and elected. The nominating comittee consisted of Steve Manchester, and Edie Taylor.

f. Proposed symposia and field trips for 2004: Two symposia and one field trip will be sponsored by the Section at Botany 2004.

The first symposium is entitled: "A century of seed ferns: A symposium to celebrate paradigm shifts in the understanding of seed plants" and is organized by Michael Dunn and Gar Rothwell. The Section voted and approved to provide up to $2000 financial support and to sponsor this symposium. It will include European paleobotanists, and there are tentative plans to publish results in Torrey Botanical Club.

he second symposium to be sponsored by the Section is entitled "Discerning homologies: gene expression, development and morphology, and is organized by Larry Hufford and Ned Friedman.

Lisa Boucher proposed two choices for a field trip, a 2-day trip to the L. Cretaceous Blackhawk and Eocene Green River or a one day trip to the Manning Canyon Flora. It was voted that a field trip take place and in a straw vote there was more support for the 2-day than for the 1-day trip.

g. Tom Taylor proposed that an auction be held at next year's meeting. The motion passed.

h. Ruth Stockey suggested we develop a family tree of American Paleobotanists. Information will be solicited on the next year's dues page to be mailed out to the Section in the spring.

i. Service by members of section acknowledged with thanks:
Chair: Brian J. Axsmith; Session conveners: Brian Axsmith, Lisa Boucher, Gene Mapes, Gar Rothwell, and Ruth Stockey; Bibliography: Willy Taylor; Cookson Award committee: Kevin Boyce, Pat Gensel and Willy Taylor; Nominating Committee Steve Manchester and Edie Taylor; Button sales- Jim Mickle, Ruth Stockey, Stefan Little, Selena Smith; "Paleobotany Trivia" at the Banquet: Tom Taylor and Ruth Stockey.

j. The meeting adjourned.