Vacancies exist on several BSA committees for the coming year, and interested members are sought to help in the functioning and growth of The Society. If you would like to be considered for service on one of the committees, please contact Carol C. Baskin, School of Biological Sciences, Lexington, KY 40506-0225 USA (phone 606-257-3996; fax 606-257-1717; e-mail jmbask0@ukcc.uky.edu) by 15 May 1998. Committees with vacancies include: Archives and History, Committee on Committees, Conservation, Darbaker Award, Education, Esau Award, Financial, Membership and Appraisal, Merit Awards, Moseley Award, and Pelton Award. Committee responsibilities are described under Article X of the By-Laws in the BSA Membership Directory and Handbook.

Carol C. Baskin, President-Elect

Call for Applications: Karling Graduate Student Research Award

The purpose of this award is to support and promote graduate student research in the botanical sciences. To be eligible, one must be a member of the Botanical Society of America, a registered full-time graduate student, have a faculty advisor who is also a member of the BSA, and not have won the award previously.

The application shall consist of up to four single-spaced pages and must include: 1) a description of the research, including purpose or objective, brief outline of methodology, and potential contribution or significance to an area of the botanical sciences; 2) a budget detailing how the funds would be used; and 3) a supporting letter from the advisor (this must not be more than one page).

Applications should be submitted to the chair of the section of the BSA that best matches the proposed research (excluding geographical sections). Sectional officers and addresses are listed in the Winter 1997 issue of the Plant Science Bulletin or may be obtained from the BSA business manager. Applications are due May 1, 1998. Sectional officers will prioritize those applications considered worthy of funding. The sectional evaluations will be passed on to the Executive Committee for final selections. Award winners will be announced at the BSA banquet at the annual meeting in Baltimore. Ten awards of $500 each will be given in 1998. Funds for the awards come from interest from the Karling and the BSA Endowment Funds, and from the sale of BSA logo items.

- Nancy G. Dengler, President

President's Report: Council of Scientific Society Presidents

The Council of Scientific Society Presidents (CSSP) is an organization of presidents or other representatives of about sixty scientific federations and societies whose combined membership numbers well over 1.4 million scientists and science educators. The BSA has been a member for about six years, along with at least five other plant-related societies, American Society of Agronomy, American Society for Horticultural Science, American Phytopathological Society, American Society of Plant Physiologists, and Crop Science Society of America, as well as Ecological Society of America.

The goals of the CSSP are to "facilitate cooperation across multiple scientific disciplines; deliberate and adopt public policy positions and act upon the science research and education issues of national or international scope; develop ways to enhance the public understanding and appreciation of science; foster scientific research, science study, and dissemination of discoveries; and provide a mechanism for communicating among the various scientific disciplines through the presidents of scientific societies." The CSSP is based in Washington, DC, with offices in the American Chemical Society Headquarters. The current Chair of CSSP is a plant scientist, Dr. Jaleh Daie, from the University of Wisconsin and representing the Association for Women in Science, and the Executive Director is Dr. Martin Apple, an expert on science policy matters who has a scientific interest in crop plant engineering.

The CSSP meets twice a year in Washington, D.C. I attended the December 6 - 9, 1997 meeting this year which was organized around a series of Workshops, Issue Forums, and Task Force meetings. A workshop on Cyberspace Issues focused on "promising experiments" - societies such as the American Psychological Association, Association for Computing Machinery, and American Physical Society which have electronic publishing underway and full text journals available on line from at least 1990 onwards. The discussion centered around copyright issues, how to handle preprints and reprints, and pricing structures. These societies all had various subscription packages (print only, print and electronic, electronic only) and hearing their experiences was informative. All are larger than the BSA, however, and the experiments were still too new to answer "What is the effect of electronic publishing on member and institutional subscriptions and the financial health of the society?"

A second workshop on "Achieving a world class math/science education" focused on strategies for improving the effectiveness of educational research, and a forum on "Invasion of non-native flora and fauna" addressed issues related to invasive plants, animals, microbes and transgenic crops. This year I served as co-chair of the CSSP International Science Task Force. We invited John Boright, Director for International Affairs of the National Academy of Sciences and John Schumacher, External Affairs, NASA to lead a discussion about the role of science and technology in informing foreign policy. The need for a science advisor in the State Department was identified as a priority and we drafted a letter to Madeline Albright, Secretary of State, offering the services of the CSSP membership as a direct link to credible, respected experts on wide range of scientific questions. The CSSP meeting closed with a series of briefings on Congressional science policy, led by the Honorable Vern Ehlers, Vice Chair of the House Science Committee.

On the whole, I believe that participation in CSSP is beneficial to the Botanical Society of America. The meetings foster an exchange of ideas with other societies with similar interests or of similar sizes. Knowledge and concerns of other societies and the CSSP as a whole can be helpful to the BSA, such as previous experience with electronic publishing or the development of an ethics statement. Also, participation in CSSP activities allows us to share our efforts and experiences with many other societies, such as the BSA Education Committee has done through the CSSP Math/Science Education Task Force.

Nancy Dengler, President

1998 BSA Annual Meeting
Baltimore, Maryland - 2 - 6 August, 1998

The Botanical Society of America (BSA) will hold its annual meeting in Baltimore, Maryland from August 2 to 6, 1998, at The Baltimore Convention Center. This meeting is being organized in cooperation with the American Institute of Biological Sciences (AIBS). Additional societies participating in these meetings include the: American Fern Society (AFS), American Society of Plant Taxonomists (ASPT), Association of Systematics Collections (ASC), Association of Tropical Biology (ATB), Ecological Society of America (ESA), International Society of Ecological Modeling (ISEM) and Torrey Botanical Society. For more information on the BSA Meeting, consult the BSA website at http://www.botany.org/bsa/meetings.html.

The theme of the 1998 AIBS Meeting will be "Managing Human-Impacted Systems." The AIBS Plenary Session, Sunday evening at the Baltimore Convention Center, will feature. "Restoring the Chesapeake Bay Ecosystem: A Challenge for Science and Society," presented by Donald Boesch.

A wide variety of field trips and workshops are scheduled all week. Scheduled field trips include: The U.S. National Arboretum, Wetlands and an Old Growth Forest Near Baltimore, Virginia's Delmarva Peninsula, and Canoeing and Exploring the Patuxent River Ecosystems Scheduled Worksops include: "Invasive Species-Science, Management and Policy Options," "AQUATOX Fate and Effects of Pollutants Model," and "Plant Communities of the Potomac Gorge" Pre-College and Education Workshops include: "Plant Activities for Pre-College Classrooms." "Investigation-Based Teaching for K-12 Teachers," "Schoolyard Ecology for Elementary School Teachers," and "Teaching College Biology: Roles for Professional Societies."

Register before May 31 for a discount! Two rates are available - individuals registering before 31 May will receive the discount noted below: Regular - Pre-registration (before 31 May) $175, after 31 May $225. Student - Pre-registration $85, after 31 May $110. Pre-College Educator - Pre-registration $100, after 31 May $125. Companion - Pre-registration $40, after 31 May $40.. For more information, consult the AIBS website at http://www.aibs.org/ or contact Marilynn Maury, AIBS Meetings Director, voice: 703-834-0812, x203; fax: 703-834-1160; email: (mmaury@aibs.org)

BSA Symposia for 1998 Annual Meeting

Committees of the Botanical Society of America, 1997 - 1998

Nominations Reopened: 1998 Jeanette Siron Pelton Award in Plant Morphogenesis

The Conservation and Research Foundation has recently approved several changes in its guidelines for the Jeanette Siron Pelton Award in Plant Morphogenesis. In particular, the Foundation made senior investigators also officially eligible for the award, and thus, the Pelton Award Committee of the BSA is reopening the nomination process in order to seek additional nominations for both junior and senior investigators. All individuals nominated following the previous call for nominations will automatically be considered along with any new nominations received before the new deadline listed below. Subject to the anticipated approval by the appropriate changes in the BSA by-laws in early 1998, the expanded guidelines for nominating, selecting, and awarding a winner of the 1998 award are:

The Pelton Award Committee is actively seeking nominations for the 1998 Jeanette Siron Pelton Award in Plant Morphogenesis. This prestigious award, including $1,000 prize, travel expense stipend, and certificate, is given to junior investigators exhibiting exceptional promise or to senior investigators for sustained excellence in the field of plant morphogenesis. The particular subdiscipline of the nominee's research may be molecular biology, cell biology, and/or organismal biology. Previous award winners are: R.H. Wetmore (1969), C.W. Wardlaw (1970), P.B. Green (1972), P.K. Hepler (1975), B.E.S. Gunning (1978), L.J. Feldman (1980), T.J. Cooke (1983), T. Sachs (1985), S.D. Russell (1988), E.M. Lord (1989), R.S. Poethig (1993), E.M. Meyerowitz (1994), and S. Hake (1996). The award is not restricted as to sex, nationality, or society affiliation of the recipient. It is anticipated that the award winner will present a special seminar at the annual BSA meetings. A nominating letter should describe the nature of the nominee's contributions to the field of plant morphogenesis and include the full citations of key papers or books that have resulted in the nomination. Please send the nomination before 15 April 1998 to: Fred D. Sack, Chair, Pelton Award Committee, Department of Plant Biology, Ohio State University, Columbus, OH 43210-1293 (e-mail: sack.1@osu.edu).

- Todd Cooke

News from the Sections

Ecological Section Offers Student Travel Grants

The Ecological Section will make small grants ($50 - $100) available to graduate or undergraduate students to help defray travel expenses to the 1998 annual BSA meeting. The student must be presenting a talk or a poster on an ecological topic. A letter of application should include the title of the presentation, the amount requested, and an explanation of the need for the financial support. Applications should be sent to Brenda Casper, Ecological Section Chair, Dept. of Biology, Univ. of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104-6018 no later than May 1, 1998.

Northeastern Section Botanical Field Meeting
June 21-25, 1998

The 1998 Annual Joint Field Meeting of the Northeastern Section of the Botanical Society of America, the Torrey Botanical Society, and the Philadelphia Botanical Club will be held at Johnson State College in the Green Mountains of north central Vermont.

Field trips are planned to examine vegetation in a variety of habitats including bogs, fens and montane areas. Evening programs will address the geology of the region as well as topics of local botanical interest.

The cost is $225 per person including double occupancy dormitory housing (single occupancy available at $265), all meals, buses, leaders, speakers and handouts. Space is limited. Application Deadline is May 8, 1998. For details and registration forms, please contact: Field Meeting Chairperson Ursula Joachim, 10 Bryant Crescent #21, White Plains, NY 10605, or call 914-428-6304.

Economic Botany Section Officer Update

Plant Science Bulletin has received the following updated listing for Sectional Officers of the Economic Botany Section:

*Chairperson (1999)
David Lentz
New York Botanical Garden
Bronx, NY 10458-5126
E-mail: dlentz@nybg.org

Secretary-Tresaurer (2000)
Daniel K. Harder
Missouri Botanical Garden
P.O. Box 299
St. Louis MO 63166
E-mail: harder@mobot.org

(* = Section Representative to the Council)

Paleobotanical Section
Special offer: Back volumes of the "Argumenta Palaeobotanica"

Between 1966 and 1991 eight volumes of the "Argumenta Palaeobotanica" were published by the late Prof. Dr. Winfried Remy. Most of the contributions are by the Münster palaeobotany group, but also papers by reknown authors from other institutes were included. The first four issues each consist of a text volume with a separate atlas. The printing quality of these plates is simply superb. In the later volumes the plates are bound with the text. Several benchmark papers were published in the 'Argumenta Palaeobotanica'. Especially noteworthy are modern classics like the papers by Winfried Remy and his coworkers on the Lower Devonian Rhynie chert flora, including descriptions of the anatomically preserved gametophytes. A complete list of the contents of all eight volumes can be found on our homepage: ( http://www.uni-muenster.de/GeoPalaeontologie/Palaeo/Palbot/arg.html)

These issues are now available for strongly reduced prices. A complete set of all eight volumes is offered for US $50.- plus postage. We still have a reasonable number of copies of all volumes, though some of the 24 plates of Vol 1 are getting scarce; missing plates will be replaced by good quality xerox copies.

All the money raised by selling "Argumenta Palaeobotanica" volumes will be used to strengthen the Remy & Remy Fund, a fund that was instituted last year at the Santa Barbara meeting by the Paleobotanical Section of the Botanical Society of America. This fund will be used for instituting the Remy & Remy award that will be given each year for the best palaeobotanical/palynological publication of the foregoing year. Further information on the Remy & Remy Fund can be found elsewhere in this newsletter.

"Argumenta Palaeobotanica" volumes can be ordered from Hans Kerp or North American colleagues can order a set from Thomas N. Taylor. Orders will be handled on a first come first serve basis. Volumes will be sent by surface mail unless airmail is specifically requested. You will receive a separate bill with detailed payment instructions.

Take your chance to complete your library and support the Remy & Remy Fund!