PLANT SCIENCE BULLETIN FALL 2020 VOLUME 66 NUMBER 3

A PUBLICATION OF THE BOTANICAL SOCIETY OF AMERICA

What Have We Learned?

Lessons and Strategies from the Chaos By Dr. Bryan Dewsbury

IN THIS ISSUE...

e Shapes of Botany, by BSA President Getting Started in Tropical Field Research, Diversity and Inclusion in the Sciences, Cynthia Jones...p. 174 by Kadeem Gilbert...p. 243 by Beth Ginondidoy Leonard .... p. 191 From the Editor PLANT SCIENCE BULLETIN Greetings, Editorial Committee Volume 66 is nal 2020 issue of PSB comes at what feels like an unprecedented moment. As I write this, the U.S. Presidential election is essentially over. However, due to pending recounts, litigation, and spreading disinformation, the transition of power is shaping up to be, at minimum, chaotic. At the same time, the world is still in the midst of the COVID-19 Shannon Fehlberg (22) pandemic and the U.S. has just posted a record Research and Conservation number of cases reported on a single day and a Desert Botanical Garden record number of hospitalizations. When I’m not Phoenix, AZ 85008 teaching twice as much as usual to accommodate [email protected] both my students who are meeting in person and my students who are in quarantine, I nd myself “doom-scrolling” the latest news and opinions.

Since its rst issue, PSB has been the place where David Tank members of the Society can confront current (2021) Department of Biological events and acknowledge current problems in Sciences science, academia and education. In this issue, University of Idaho we present an article by BSA President Cindi Moscow, ID 83844 Jones that reects on “ e Shape of Botany” and [email protected] demonstrates how we can learn from the past and act for the future. ese themes are also highlighted in articles by Bryan Dewsbury and Beth Ginondidoy Leonard that specically address issues of diversity and inclusion. How do we, as a James McDaniel community of scientists and educators, address the (2022) inequality and systematic oppression engrained in Botany Department University of Wisconsin our institutions and promote equity and justice? Madison In the student section, we check in on the ongoing Madison, WI 53706 impact of the pandemic on our student members. [email protected]

I hope that you nd the articles in this issue timely and motivating. I send warm wishes to all as 2020 draws to a close.

Sincerely, Seana K. Walsh (2023) National Tropical Botanical Garden Kalāheo, HI 96741 [email protected]

Fall 2020 Volume 66 Number 3 TABLE OF CONTENTS

SOCIETY NEWS The Shapes of Botany...... 174 Advocate for Botany and Science! ...... 185 SPECIAL FEATURES Diversity and Inclusion in the Sciences: Relationships and Reciprocity ...... 191 What Have We Learned? Lessons and Strategies from the Chaos ...... 198 The Teaching Botanist: William F. Ganong and the Botanical Society of America...... 206 SCIENCE EDUCATION BSA Awarded $3.9m Grant for PlantingScience...... 231 STUDENT SECTION Shifting Gears: Fieldwork, Benchwork, and Greenhouse Studies during COVID-19 ...... 236 Getting Started in Tropical Field Research...... 243 ANNOUNCEMENTS In Memoriam - Brian Joseph Axsmith (1963–2020) ...... 250 MEMBERSHIP NEWS ...... 254

BOOK REVIEWS ...... 255

Looking forward to meeting with these premier scienti c societies!

173 SOCIETY NEWS The Shapes of Botany is article by BSA President Cynthia Jones is e BSA was formally established in 1893 to based on her BSA Incoming President Address “unify and subserve the botanical interests of at Botany 2020. the country” (Diggle, 2013). A scroll through For most of my career, my research has the Past Presidents on the BSA website shows focused on the evolution, development, that the Society elected its rst President in and functional signi cance of leaf shape: 1894. Between 1984 and 1972, only 3 out of physical, tangible forms in space. However, 78 presidents were women. Since 1972, the in this essay, I’m not going to address leaf percentage of women serving in this role has shape, but instead leverage some of the gone up by an order of magnitude relative other 14 de nitions of shape (https://www. to the period preceding 1972 (Fig. 1). Why merriamwebster.com/dictionary/shape) to focus on 1972? In 1972, Title IX became law. reect on where I see the BSA today, on our Title IX stated that no person could be denied “national aspirational capacity for botanical participation in, or reap bene ts from, or be education” at the undergraduate level, and on subjected to, discrimination in any educational teachable moments for botanists presented program or activity receiving federal assistance by the human emotional need for plants in a on the basis of their sex. Shortly aer, in 1973, pandemic. the Supreme Court decision Roe v. Wade gave women rights associated with reproductive choice. Both of these events accompanied a new phase of the women’s movement and the ACKNOWLEDGMENTS BSA responded. Clearly, intention and eort I thank Marsh Sundberg for generously can change scienti c societies, even if it takes sharing his data les. I am also 50 years! grateful to Charlie Henry for combing through 154 college catalogs on-line Recent events have led to heightened to document their course oerings in reection on the role of race and ethnicity basic plant biology. in perpetuating inequities, and the BSA is owning its part in this situation. We intend to create a more equitable and welcoming Society. We will make every eort possible By Cynthia S. Jones to ght discrimination against people who Department of Ecology and are black, indigenous, or persons of color. We Evolutionary Biology acknowledge that we have a lot of work to do: University of Connecticut, optional responses to this year’s membership Storrs, CT 06269 USA form show what we all already know: over 50% reported as white (Fig. 2), and the actual

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Figure 1. Past Presidents of the BSA. Prior to 1972, 4% were female; since then, 43% have been female. percentage is likely higher as some if not most Figure 2. Percentage of members reporting race of the 30% who declined to report may be and ethnicity data based on BSA 2020 mem- white. We will strive harder to become more bership renewal. diverse, such that we become a scienti c society where the contributions of BIPOC process of selecting candidates for leadership members are welcomed, recognized, and positions and membership on committees celebrated. with the goal of making these processes as equitable, accessible, and transparent What actions is the BSA taking? is Fall, the as possible. Finally, the BSA will support BSA is embarking on a new strategic plan that initiatives, such as Black Botanists Week, that will de ne the Society’s priorities for the next are independent of the BSA but that support ve years. Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) and encourage BIPOC researchers, educators, will be one of four pillars of this plan. In the and others who are passionate about plants. shorter term, BSA sta and the BSA Board of Directors and the Committee on Committees Changing themes of this essay, I want to relate will undergo training in Diversity, Equity and a story. In the late 1990s, I had a student in Inclusion. At Botany 2020 Virtual, we hosted a course who seemed unhappy. e second our rst BIPOC Mixer for members and their week, I mentioned that I had noticed her allies, and we also hosted an open forum on demeanor. She responded that she didn’t diversity. e Executive Director is working really “like” plants, but that she was a senior with the BSA Committee on Diversity, Equity and she needed the course to ll a graduation and Inclusion on new tracking metrics that will requirement. We talked about strategies for allow us to tell if our initiatives are working, approaching the course and in the end she and beginning this Fall we will revamp the did well. As she turned in her nal exam, she

175 PSB 66 (3) 2020 said, “I don’t know if I should thank you or not.” I was surprised and responded that I had been under the impression she liked the course. She replied, “Well, yeah, but life was less complicated when I looked at the side of the road and just saw a lot of green.” Now, “I see individual plants… it makes my brain work too hard.”

is conversation was my rst realization that when many people, including students, view a scene with vegetation such as Fig. 3A, they are seeing something more like in Fig. 3B: a smear of green. It is worth noting that seeing a smear of green isn’t bad. Color phycologists will tell you that most people report feeling calm and restored aer seeing green (Elliot and Maier, 2014). In fact, one of the rst publications describing the “moral associations” of humans to color was by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, translated into English by C. L. Eastlake in 1840 (Goethe, 1810). In his treatise eory of Colours, Goethe wrote of green that “the eye experiences a distinctly grateful impression from this colour” (p. 316). But as botanists, we don’t see a smear of green: we see diversity (Fig. 3C). We see shapes, colors, interactions, and species. We study how diversity evolved, how it is maintained, and how diversity will respond to climate change. We know that plant diversity forms the cornerstone of ecosystem stability and resilience (e.g., Tilman et al., 2014; Anderegg et al., 2018).

Given the importance of plant species diversity in terms of ecosystem responses to climate change, I wondered whether the Figure 3. A, New England forest on the edge of concept of diversity had yet in ltrated how Echo Lake, Mans eld Center, CT. Photo taken botany is presented in what I think of as by the author. B, e author’s impression of mainstream information. e answer is what students see. C, What botanists see. “not really.” Googling “botany” brought up ve sites at the top of the page. e rst is a de nition of botany. e second is Wikipedia,

176 PSB 66 (3) 2020 which mentions biodiversity in the last line at the end of the fourth paragraph. An entry in Britannica follows that does not mention diversity. Fourth is the BSA site that mentions major groups of plants. e h site describes careers in environmental science (https://www. environmentalscience.org/). e introduction to Botany at this latter site makes no mention of diversity, but does include a statement I questioned: “Many of the top universities have A botany degrees, but there has been a decline in recent years of students taking botany in favour of other environmental and natural sciences.” Is this true? Do many of the top universities have botany degrees? Has there been a decline in recent years in students taking botany?

While not addressing these questions directly, surveys of course catalogs of institutions B of higher learning provide some insights. Marsh Sundberg (2004) published one such survey that provides baseline data. In 2008, Sundberg revisited the same course catalogs and updated the information for a talk Figure 4. Data based on course catalogs from he presented at Botany 2008 (http://2008. 154 institutions of higher education. A, Per- botanyconference.org/engine/search/index. centage of institutions oering freshman level php?func=detail&aid=194). Using the courses. B, Total number of courses beyond Sundberg 2008 data set as a starting place, freshman level oered in each category. Num- we revisited course catalogs of the same bers of institutions included in the study: in 154 institutions. We searched for Botany 2004, 58 research institutions, 60 comprehen- Departments or any department with sive institutions, and 55 liberal arts colleges; in Botany in its name. I assumed the number 2020, 57 research institutions, 48 comprehen- of departments with “Botany” in the name sive institutions, and 49 liberal arts colleges. would be correlated with the numbers of departments that award degrees in botany, 41% had departments with Botany in the with the caveat that some institutions that name. By 2020, that number had dropped to had removed Botany from the name of their 12%, indicating that in fact “most of the top department could retain a botany degree. universities” no longer oer botany degrees. Even in 2004, with a few exceptions, e second issue raised on the “Environmental only Research Universities had Botany Science Introduction to Botany” website was departments. Of those surveyed in 2004, that there has been a decline in the number of students enrolling in botany courses. I did

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Figure 5. Percentage of institutions oering courses in various botanical disciplines and areas of student. Grey = 2008, black = 2020. not investigate enrollment numbers, but we is that there also has been no decline in were able to record courses oered in course the numbers of courses oered above the catalogs. More generally, I was interested in freshman level (Fig. 4B). In other words, our whether the decline in “Botany” departments “national aspirational capacity” for instruction translated to a decline in botanical education in the fundamental biology of plants appears at the collegiate level. Assuming that to be as strong today as it was 16 years ago, institutions of higher learning update their despite the dramatic decrease in the number catalogs periodically and drop (most) courses of botany departments! Considering dierent no longer oered, and assuming that these types of courses, the general distribution institutions do not continue to support is roughly the same (Fig. 5), although new courses with low enrollments, we looked courses (e.g., Plant Development or Evolution at the percent of these 154 schools oering and Diversity) have been added as others (e.g., courses that were primarily focused on basic Morphology) have declined. plant biology as a proxy for enrollments. We found that at the freshman level, there has Botany classes are especially important been very little change in the number of the because our labs satisfy many criteria for introductory courses focused on botanical creating excellent learning opportunities (e.g., instruction (Fig. 4A). e very good news Nilson, 2010). ey are multimodal, active,

178 PSB 66 (3) 2020 especially if the greenhouses are not tied to research. Data always help make the case to administrators that greenhouses are critical to basic plant biology education, but I’ve never seen any multi-institutional data on greenhouse use or support. (Please contact me if you know of any!) To address this data gap, I published a survey in the February 2020 issue of the BSA’s monthly e-mail newsletter. I also submitted the survey to the Association of Research and Educational Greenhouse Curators. In total, about 100 valid surveys were returned. Although that is a fairly low return rate, each of the valid responses was from a dierent institution. Seventy-three percent of responses were from institutions in the U.S. or a U.S. protectorate. Eighty percent of responses were from public institutions, and half of those had more than 20,000 undergraduates. Only 10% were from respondents who described their institutions as “primarily applied,” as opposed to “primarily basic” or “combined.” e survey results were similar so all institutions were combined. Ninety-seven Figure 6. Botany labs provide engaged learning percent of respondents teach courses in basic opportunities. plant biology, and of those, 95% viewed the use of living plants for teaching as extremely and engage multiple senses and incorporate important or very important. many of the skills necessary for STEM Eighty-eight percent of the respondents education, such as graphing, data analysis, indicated that they have greenhouses that are and observation-based hypothesis testing used for teaching, outreach, or undergraduate (Fig. 6). Our labs also present plant diversity research. e modal number of plant species in ways that images and lectures cannot used primarily in teaching was between 50 accomplish. Oen not appreciated, our labs and 200 species (Fig. 7A), although a fair have the potential for unusually high levels number of institutions use more than 200 of student engagement because they include species per year. Most respondents indicated living material, as compared to most modern that between 100 and 500 undergraduate animal-oriented courses. students are taught per year, although in some institutions the number is much higher (Fig. 7B). Providing living material comes with a fairly high cost, especially if the material is provided Also relevant to the question of institutional by greenhouses. Greenhouses are expensive support for greenhouses is, who paid for their to build and to maintain, and we periodically construction? Greenhouse sizes are generally hear examples of universities that make the between 1000 and 10,000 square feet (Fig. 7C), decision not to continue to support them, Construction was funded most commonly by the educational institution, or by some 179 PSB 66 (3) 2020

Figure 7. Results from Survey of Greenhouse Use and Support. A, Numbers of plant species from greenhouses and outdoor space used for teaching. B, Number of undergrads using living materi- als. C, Size of greenhouses used for undergraduate teaching or research. D, Categories of funding sources for greenhouse construction. E, Categories of plant care personnel. F, Source of salary for plant care personnel. combination of funding sources (Fig. 7D). have a life span of about 30 years, so if these Most respondents indicated that greenhouses data are nationally representative, more than are staed by a paid sta member, as well as 50% of greenhouses used for teaching should students, and of those institutions with paid be replaced in the next 20 years. Given the sta, most are funded by the institution (Fig. current cost of constructing greenhouses and 7E, F). is represents signi cant nancial declining state support for public institutions investment in greenhouses that support of higher learning, the current age of more undergraduate teaching and research. than half of the greenhouses used nationally for teaching presents a serious threat to our Perhaps the most interesting nding of the ability to continue to provide immersive study was that 61% of teaching and 48% of learning experiences in basic plant biology, research greenhouses are more than 20 years a threat I perceive as especially dire given old, with a signi cant proportion of those older the critical role of plants in mediating Earth’s than 30 years (Fig. 8). Traditional greenhouses response to climate change.

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In addition to these approaches, we also can and should emphasize to administrators the important role of plants and greenhouses as well as spending time in nature for the mental health of students. Numerous studies are showing that spending time in nature is bene cial to health (Lai et al., 2019; Robbins, 2020). e idea that academic greenhouses could contribute toward improving mental health was rst brought to my attention when I learned of a program called NatureRx@ Cornell. A group of Cornell faculty and administrators recognized that today’s college-age students experience stress, depression, anxiety, and other mental health issues at unprecedented levels. At the same time, this group was aware of recent research showing that there are many positive mental and physical health outcomes associated with spending time in nature. Relative to college- aged students, time in nature reduces stress, anxiety, depression, and aggressive feelings, as well as leading to increased happiness and life Figure 8. Ages of greenhouses used for under- satisfaction and increased social connection, graduate teaching and research (grey) and re- especially if nature is experienced with a search only (black). friend. College students may be especially interested in studies showing that spending Perhaps the single most important thing we can time in nature improves concentration, do now is to recognize this looming threat and recall, and immune function. NatureRx@ form a collective voice. In addition to making Cornell is a program in which mental health our federal agencies aware of this potential providers write prescriptions for students to national decline in our ability to provide high- spend time in natural areas on or near campus quality education in basic botanical education, and is described in detail in a book by Dan there are several possible actions those of us Rakow and Greg Eells, two of the founders of currently facing greenhouse replacements NatureRx@Cornell (Rakow and Eells, 2019). are familiar with: inviting governmental (For a list of steps to start a NatureRx program representatives to view the greenhouses and at your institution, see Box 1.) how they are used, educating administrations on the critical role of plant biology relative to For general background on the history of sustainability and climate change, aligning ideas and scienti c literature demonstrating our greenhouses with the strategic plans of the mental health bene ts of spending time the universities, and identifying opportunities in nature, I recommend e Nature Fix to involve the greenhouses in campus-wide (Williams, 2017). is well-researched book initiatives. 181 PSB 66 (3) 2020

Japan has shown that phytoncides, volatile organic compounds produced by some plants BOX 1 (e.g., pines, oaks, onions), reduce sympathetic Steps for starting a nerve activity, and therefore blood pressure, NatureRx Program at your and boost immune activity when taken in institution (from Rakow and Eells, 2017; through our nasal passages (Li et al., 2009). used with permission) Many psychologists also subscribe to the idea of “Biophilia” originally proposed by 1. Organize a committed Eric Fromm and later reiterated in a slightly group. dierent form by E. O. Wilson (1984), which 2. Secure the support of the is the idea that humans have an “innate” (i.e., Administration. genetically predisposed) emotional aliation 3. Inventory green spaces on with other living organisms. campus. 4. Engage the students. In addition to the simple fact that being 5. Partner with campus health around plants is bene cial, and by extension services. that being in a greenhouse is bene cial, there 6. Develop an app or website. is need for more research on the link between 7. Impact the academic program. botanical education and mental health eects. 8. Develop an approach to We already know from decades of research evaluation. that educating children outdoors increases 9. Identify and overcome the academic performance in a range of areas. challenges. What we do not know is how the mental 10. Model the behavior. health bene ts of being in nature interact with the stress associated with memorizing a fact. Are the positive eects of phytoncides achieved if attention is directed, for example, reviews the hypotheses behind why spending to learning a species name? Is it possible time in nature makes us feel better, but to date, that simply because our botany labs use the actual mechanisms remain unclear (Lai living materials, compared to labs based on et al., 2019). Two of the rst researchers in non-living material, our students are more this eld, Rachel and Stephen Kaplan (1989), engaged, successful, happier, or creative? proposed, what is now known as Attention Restoration erapy. is hypothesis states is connection between mental health and that prolonged use of directed attention, which plants extends beyond the classroom. If there by de nition is voluntary (e.g., many jobs, is any silver lining in this horrible pandemic, academic study), causes mental fatigue and it is that people are turning to plants for stress. Even brief periods in the natural world comfort! Seed companies sold out this year provide a level of involuntary fascination (e.g., Pierre-Louis, 2020), gardening supply that allows directed focus to rest and recover. stores are seeing high volumes, people are Ulrich et al. (1991) subsequently proposed the sharing photos of their house plants, and local Stress Reduction eory, arguing that nature parks have closed early in the day because lowers stress immediately, and lowering of they are so crowded. How can we turn this stress then allows recovery. Research from rekindled connection to plants into curiosity 182 PSB 66 (3) 2020 about them? Even during this pandemic, there shape and we have a very bright future. With are many possibilities and we should share intention, we can change. We can become a ideas. We can volunteer to lead fall “ower more diverse Society that supports botanical walks” for the public, or within universities endeavors from multiple perspectives. consider activities that link botany to mental health and oer socially distanced tours of the greenhouses or natural areas near campus LITERATURE CITED to small groups, or as instructors, conduct as Anderegg, W. R. L., A. G. Konings, A. T. many labs outside as possible. A recent study Trugman, K. Yu, D. R. Bowling, R. Gabbitas, conducted at UC Santa Cruz (Beltran et al., D. S. Karp, et al. 2018. Hydraulic diversity of 2020) demonstrated that students from four forests regulates ecosystem resilience during demographic categories (underrepresented drought. Nature 561: 538-541. minority students, rst-generation, students from families with low income, and gender) Beltran, R. S., E. Marnocha, A. Race, D. A. bene t from participation in eld courses. Croll, G. H. Dayton, and E. S. Zavaleta. 2020. Over ve years, this participation was linked to Field courses narrow demographic achieve- higher gains in self-ecacy, higher retention ment gaps in ecology and evolutionary biol- in ecology and evolutionary biology majors, ogy. Ecology and Evolution 10: 5184-5196. and higher rates of graduation as compared to lecture-based courses. In other words, Diggle, P. 2013. Learned societies - Past, students who choose these courses bene tted present and future? Plant Science Bulletin 59: signi cantly beyond the knowledge gained 150-157. from course content. Elliot, A. J., and M. A. Maier. 2014. Color psychology: effects of perceiving color on e main points of this essay can be psychological functioning in humans. Annual summarized by two quotes from Goethe, Review of Psychology 65: 95-120. both from eory of Colours. In the preface to the book, he wrote, “Every act of seeing leads Goethe, J. W. v. 1810. Goethe’s Theory of to consideration, consideration to reection, Colors: Translated from the German, with reection to combination, and thus it may be Notes by Charles Lock Eastlake, R.A., F.R.S, said that in every attentive look to nature, we Retrieved 20 September 2020 via Internet ar- already theorize” (p. xx). To me, this quote chive. John Murray, London, England U.K. encapsulates the essence of teaching. e second quote speaks to the second part of Kaplan, R., and S. Kaplan. 1989. The Experi- this essay: “And thus as we descend the scale of ence of Nature: A psychological perspective. being, Nature speaks to other senses – to known, Cambridge University Press, New York, NY. misunderstood, and unknown senses: so speaks she with herself and to us in a thousand modes” Lai, H., E. J. Flies, P. Weinstein, and A. Wood- (p. xviii). is year, more than a quarter of ward. 2019. The impact of green space and members in the BSA are students. is is a biodiversity on health. Frontiers in Ecology remarkable achievement and is essential for and the Environment 17: 383-390. the future of the Society. e Society is in good

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Li, Q., Y. Wakayama, R. Inagaki, M. Katsu- Sundberg, M. D. 2004. Where is botany go- mata, Y. Hirata, T. Shimizu, T. Kawata, et al. ing? Plant Science Bulletin 50: 2-6. 2009. Effect of phytoncide from trees on hu- man natural killer cell function. International Tilman, D., R. Isbell, and J. M. Cowles. 2014. Journal of Immunopathology and Pharma- Biodiversity and ecosystem functioning. An- cology 22: 951-959. nual Review of Ecology and Systematics 45: 471-493. Nilson, L. B. 2010. Teaching at its best: A re- search-based resource for college instructors, Ulrich, R. S., R. F. Simons, B. D. Losito, E. ed 3, pp. 3-15. Jossey-Bass, Wiley Imprint. Fiorito, M. A. Miles and M. Zelson. 1991. Stress recovery during exposure to natural Pierre-Louis, K. 2020. Panic buying comes and urban environments. Journal of Environ- for the seeds. The New York Times, New York, mental Psychology 11: 201-230. New York, USA. Williams, F. 2017. The Nature Fix. W. W. Rakow, D. A., and G. T. Eells. 2019. Na- Norton & Company, New York, NY. tureRx: Improving College-Student Mental Health. Cornell University Press, Ithaca, New Wilson, E. O. 1984. Biophilia. Harvard Uni- York. versity Press, Cambridge, MA. Robbins, J. 2020. Ecophychology: How im- mersion in nature benefits your health, Ya- leEnvironment360. Yale School of the Envi- ronment, New Haven, CT.

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Advocate for Botany and Science! The joint BSA Public Policy and ASPT Environmental and Public Policy Committees JOIN #TEAMBUCKWHEAT strive to connect membership to relevant public policy resources, actions and activities. By Naomi Fraga

Join the BSA Slack #public_policy channel Eriogonum tiehmii Reveal (Tiehm’s buckwheat, to learn about late-breaking public policy Polygonaceae) is endemic to the Silver Peak issues and ways that you can get involved to Range in Esmeralda County, Nevada, about advocate for plants and science! Get started halfway between Reno and Las Vegas. is at https://cms.botany.org/home/membership/ species is at risk of extinction because its bsa-slack.html. entire global population is located within the boundary of a proposed industrial lithium In this issue, we showcase the work of a and boron mine. If approved, the mine would member involved in a local policy topic that extirpate more than 60% of all the known may be of interest to many within the societies. plants (~28,000 of 44,000 plants known) Dr. Naomi Fraga’s work also provides an and up to 30% of the total occupied habitat. excellent example of the ways in which the Further, in a devastating turn of events, it scientific community can affect meaningful was discovered in September 2020 that up change for biodiversity conservation. to 40% of the global population of E. tiehmii was damaged or destroyed as the project awaits environmental review. is newly documented threat is currently undergoing investigation, but illustrates the extreme vulnerability of E. tiehmii.

As a part of the coordinated eort to support conservation of E. tiehmii, I along with the Center for Biological Diversity launched a plant conservation campaign on social media to urge the botanical community to “join #Teambuckwheat to save Tiehm’s buckwheat.” By BSA PPC Co-Chairs Krissa Skogen (Chicago Botanic In July 2020, over 80 Garden) and Tanisha Williams (Bucknell University) and #TeamBuckwheat supporters ASPT PPC Chair Naomi Fraga (California Botanic Garden) showed up to the 3.5-hour workshop, and over 100

185 PSB 66 (3) 2020 scientists signed a letter advocating for the region, but I am also collecting data on the addition of Tiehm’s buckwheat to the disturbances and threats to plant diversity. Nevada list of endangered ora. We now One notable disturbance in the study area have the opportunity to broaden our network is cattle grazing in montane meadows. I am and leverage support from the botanical interested in studying and communicating the community via the BSA Slack #public_policy impacts of cattle grazing, since my research channel. If you’d like to learn more about interests extend to plant conservation, land conservation eorts such as this, please management, and disturbance regimes. My join our network. We will share current hope is that this project will provide tangible information related to conservation issues, data that can help improve management and especially those that will bene t from a practices. call to action. Montane meadows are an incredibly species-rich ecosystem (Jones et al., 2019). ASSESSING GRAZING Although they make up only 10% of the land area within the Sierra Nevada, they IMPACTS ON REMOTE are an essential component for the health of MONTANE MEADOWS IN wildlife and humans (Ratli, 1985). Montane meadows play a critical role in water storage THE SOUTHERN SIERRA and cleanliness, acting as the kidneys of a NEVADA, TULARE COUNTY, watershed as they lter out sediments and debris from water owing downhill (Blank CALIFORNIA et al., 1995). Additionally, 50% of California’s domestic water comes from Sierra Nevada By Nina House watersheds, demonstrating the distinct role that meadows play in water quality for millions of people across the state (McIlroy and Allen- Diaz, 2012). However, when not managed sustainably, grazing by cattle can lead to altered species composition, trampled soil and plants, altered hydrology, and the spread of non- native species (McIlroy and Allen-Diaz, 2012). Further, when combined with other threats and disturbances within the region, including altered re regimes, drought, climate change, and increasing recreation, these vital habitats I am a Master’s student in Botany at the may be signi cantly altered. California Botanic Garden and Claremont Graduate University, currently undertaking It is oen dicult to assess the exact a oristic study of the Manter and Salmon consequences of grazing, since impacts can Creek watersheds in the southern Sierra vary depending on the timing, duration, and Nevada, Tulare County, CA. e primary intensity of use (McIlroy and Allen-Diaz, goal of my study is to conduct a systematic 2012). Knowing the types of data to collect inventory of the vascular plant diversity of and who to approach with concerns can make 186 PSB 66 (3) 2020 all the dierence in improving management of grazing in montane meadows. Laura Cunningham, California Director of the Western Watershed Project, has been working to document the impacts of cattle grazing in montane meadow systems in the southern Sierra Nevada (Figure 1). rough the help of the Botanical Advocacy and Leadership Grant, funded jointly by both the Botanical Society of America and the American Society of Plant Taxonomists, I have had the privilege of inviting Laura to my study site so I can learn more about how to document these Figure 2. Many montane meadows through- disturbances in a way that can inform future out the Sierra Nevada, such as Big Meadow forest management. (pictured), see active cattle grazing from June through September each year. During one trip in July 2020, Laura and I visited three montane meadows located within that has seen little in the way of recent cattle my study site. Manter Meadow occurs within grazing (Figure 2). We also visited two the Domeland Wilderness and represents meadows outside of designated wilderness, a relatively undisturbed montane meadow Big Meadow and Horse Meadow, that reside in active grazing allotments (Figure 3). Laura demonstrated how to document a variety of meadow health indicators, including: stream bank height, stability, water color, sediment deposition in streams, trampling, presence of tued hair grass (Deschampsia cespitosa, Poaceae), percentage of bare ground, vegetation height, and location of fencing. Our initial observations indicated that there is a dierence in the ecosystem health of the heavily grazed vs. minimally grazed meadows in my study site. In Manter Meadow, stream banks were high and were stabilized by tall vegetation. We observed clear water along streams and small rocks that were Figure 1. Laura Cunningham, California Di- unburied by sediment. ese kinds of habitat rector of Western Watershed Project, and I characteristics provide trout with a secure worked together to document grazing impacts place to lay their eggs. ere was little bare in three meadows in my study site. Here she can ground, and D. cespitosa, an indicator species be seen measuring the height of vegetation in for meadow health, was seen throughout the the heavily grazed Big Meadow. meadow. In contrast, Big Meadow and Horse Meadow displayed several impacts from grazing, including trampled and collapsing

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the rejuvenation of meadow vegetation. In addition to our report, we also hope to interact directly with forest service staff to discuss our findings and suggestions.

I would like to thank the American Society of Plant Taxonomists and the Botanical Society of America for providing the Botanical Advocacy Leadership Award. rough this award I will be able to provide scienti c information that may lead to management changes in important ecosystems. With the reports and publications that result from Figure 3. Manter Meadow represents a mon- this work, I hope I can inform future policy. tane meadow that has seen little in the way of I would also like to thank my Master’s thesis recent grazing. advisor, Dr. Naomi Fraga, who has assisted with the synthesis and implementation of this project. I am grateful to Laura Cunningham springs and stream banks, brown water, and a for taking the time to work with me and share deep sediment layer. ese characteristics are her knowledge of meadow management. known to negatively impact populations of Her work evaluating grazing impacts on sh and aquatic invertebrate that make their meadow health is timely and much needed! homes in and downstream from montane Finally, I would like to thank the California meadows (Herbst et al., 2012). Deschampsia cespitosa, while present, was oen absent of reproductive features due to being grazed by cattle. Finally, large patches of bare ground were present in both grazed meadows, and in Horse Meadow the bare patches were particularly sizable.

Laura and I are now collaborating on a report to the Sequoia National Forest that will include our observations and recommendations for grazing management. These recommendations include additional fencing around springs and streams in both Big Meadow and Horse Meadow to enhance water quality and prevent the collapse of stream banks. Additionally, Figure 4. e Salmon Creek (pictured) is cur- in Horse Meadow, we recommend reducing rently under review for designation as a Wild cattle density and, in both Big and Horse and Scenic River. Running through both Horse Meadows, periodic off-years would allow for Meadow (pictured) and Big Meadow, it receives heavy impacts from grazing, as can be seen here in the way of collapsing banks.

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Botanic Garden for their continued nancial, Jones, J. A., R. Hutchinson, A. Moldenke, V. educational, and moral support as I work to Pfeiffer, E. Helderop, E. Thomas, J. Griffin, complete my oristic inventory of the Manter and A. Reinholtz 2019. Landscape patterns and Salmon Creek watersheds (Figure 4). My and diversity of meadow plants and flower- hope is that through greater knowledge of our visitors in a mountain landscape. Landscape ora and the impacts of cattle grazing, we will Ecology 18. spark change in forest management and work McIlroy, S. K., and B. H. Allen-Diaz. 2012. to conserve and protect montane meadows Plant community distribution along water throughout the Sierra Nevada mountain table and grazing gradients in montane mead- range. ows of the Sierra Nevada Range (California, USA). Wetlands Ecology and Management LITERATURE CITED 20: 287–296. Blank, R. R., T. J. Svejcar, and G. M. Riegel. Ratliff, R. D. 1985. Meadows in the Sierra Ne- 1995. Soil genesis and morphology of a mon- vada of California: State of knowledge (No. tane meadow in the northern Sierra Nevada PSW-GTR-84; p. PSW-GTR-84). https://doi. range. Soil Science 160: 136-152. org/10.2737/PSW-GTR-84. Herbst, D. B., M. T. Bogan, S. K. Roll, and H. D. Safford. 2012. Effects of livestock ex- clusion on in-stream habitat and benthic in- vertebrate assemblages in montane streams: Stream recovery and livestock grazing exclu- sion. Freshwater Biology 57: 204–217.

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190 SPECIAL FEATURES

Diversity and Inclusion in the Sciences: Relationships and Reciprocity I was honored to present during the Botany My academic background includes linguistics, 2020 session “Enhancing scientist diversity education, and cross-cultural and Alaska in plant biology.” I am Deg Xit’an (Dene’/ Native/Indigenous studies. In terms of the Athabascan), a member of the Shageluk natural sciences, my undergraduate courses Tribe of interior Alaska, and research were limited to “natural history of Alaska” and professor of Indigenous Studies at Alaska “human osteology.” However, as a member of Paci c University. Alaska Paci c University the Deg Xit’an (Dene’/Athabascan) nation, my (APU) is a small private institution located in personal experiences include place- and land- Anchorage, Alaska and is currently pursuing based education, since Alaska Native peoples tribal university status. I recently transferred have thousands of years of knowledge[s] from the University of Alaska Anchorage, around place and land. As my thinking around where I served as professor of Alaska Native science progressed, I began to think of Alaska Studies from 2016 to 2020 to APU. APU’s Native and Indigenous ways of knowing board of trustees recently appointed a Yup’ik as science(s), rather than “just” ways of 1 woman—Valerie Davidson, an attorney/ knowing. is essay focuses on Alaska Native health elds scholar—as president, a rst for and Indigenous perspectives, although the that institution. processes of diversity and inclusion obviously need to be engaged more broadly.

THE ALASKAN CONTEXT By Beth Ginondidoy Leonard AND PERSONAL HISTORY Research Professor of Indigenous Studies Research on Alaska Natives is oen combined Institute of Culture with American Indians, and researchers tend and Environment to gloss over the unique and diverse contexts Alaska Paci c University of Alaska Native nations (Figure 1). For example, Alaska Natives make up almost 20% of Alaska’s population,2 there are at least eight

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Figure 1. Indigenous peoples and languages of Alaska map. (From Krauss, M., G. Holton, J. Kerr, and C. T. West. 2011. Indigenous Peoples and Languages of Alaska. Fairbanks and Anchorage: Alaska Native Language Center and UAA Institute of Social and Economic Research. Website: https://www.uaf.edu/anla/map.) distinct cultural groups, 229 federally recognized Deg Xinag (literally, “language from around tribes, 20 ocial Indigenous languages,3 here”) is the westernmost Dene’/Athabascan 12 Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act language, a region that stretches from Holy (ANCSA) regional corporations,4 and over 200 Cross, Alaska to Hudson Bay in Canada. I ANCSA village corporations. Alaska Native grew up in the Deg Xit’an (“people/beings students are 24% of the K-12 population, a from around here”) communities of Shageluk signi cant percentage when considering the and Anvik in the 1960s and 1970s and diversi cation of STEM elds. Native peoples because of socio-historical circumstances did have thousands of years of knowledges/ not learn my heritage language. As a second sciences and relationships with speci c lands language learner of Deg Xinag, however—a or regions around Alaska, and archaeological process that began in my early 30s—I found evidence suggests that Athabascan peoples that the language provided a doorway into the have been living in interior Alaska for at least scienti c worldview of the Deg Xit’an peoples 12,000 years. whose terms for plants reect complex relationships between and among humans

192 PSB 66 (3) 2020 and non-humans. Place names may also when consumed as medicine and/or food. reect the “beings” of an area; for example, my In her discussion of Indigenous knowledges, father grew up in Didlang Tochagg, or Spruce Mi’kmaq scholar Marie Battiste (2002) Slough. e spruce tree, or didlang, was/is one references the signi cance of protocols and of the most useful plants to the Deg Xit’an time in ceremonial practices: “Indigenous people, providing, for example, medicine knowledge is also inherently tied to land, not in the form of new shoots in the spring that to land in general but to particular landscapes, could be collected and made into tea to treat landforms, and biomes where ceremonies colds; pitch, which was used for bandaging are properly held, stories properly recited, cuts and waterproo ng canoes; and wood for medicines properly gathered, and transfers of burning, or the construction of items such as knowledge properly authenticated” (p. 13). sled runners or household items. Although the term didlang does not have a known literal Bang et al. (2018) also respond to Western meaning, its relationship with the people of science’s beliefs around the sentience and my area reects Potawatomi scholar Robin agency, and how this has constrained scienti c Wall Kimmerer’s observations: “In some inquiry: Native languages the term for plants translates to ‘those who take care of us’” (Kimmerer, “…from a Western perspective, plants 2013, p. 278). Spruce also burns at a higher have little agency. is logic has arguably temperature than other woods and is soer held back emerging research on plant than birch, making it easier to work with. In abilities and intelligence, as Western terms of “plants-based” knowledge, the people scientists now understand that some of my area and other areas of Alaska maintain plants can recognize and selectively a reciprocal “gi” relationship with plant favor kin and that many plants can signal beings: the presence of threats.”

“…in the gi economy, the gis are For many Alaska Native and Indigenous not free. e essence of the gi is that peoples, the Western hierarchy of humans as it creates a set of relationships. e the pinnacle of intelligence and achievement currency of the gi economy is, at its is a foreign concept because the oen-superior root, reciprocity…in a gi economy sensory abilities of non-humans such as plants property has a ‘bundle of responsibilities’ and animals are recognized and celebrated. attached.” (Kimmerer, 2013, p. 28) For example, in his discussion of Yupiaq realms of being, Oscar Kawagley’s (1998, p. Indigenous peoples, before gathering plants 4) tetrahedral metaphor places the human or berries, for example, may oen sing a and natural realms on the same level. Other song, or oer a prayer or gis. Considering Indigenous scholars such as Tewa scholar the current research on plants that suggests Gregory Cajete (2016) highlight the abilities that the plant can alter its chemical structure of plants and animals to “educate” humans on when responding to a threat, I have oen dierent topics such as appropriate medicines, wondered if the songs or prayers or gis etc. Peter John, a late Dene’/Athabascan chief also cause the plant to alter its chemistry from Minto, Alaska, also emphasized the to be perhaps more bene cial to humans importance of close relationships with the

193 PSB 66 (3) 2020 natural world: “If you look deeply enough, also closely related to the term for “raven.” you’ll see that animals can help us understand “blackbird,” and “puall mushroom,” life as it is…animals understand you, but only although this is not obvious through the if you know how to talk with them” (Krupa, separation of these terms under “kinship,” 1996, p. 25). “birds,” and “plants” in the organization of topically based noun dictionaries (see chart below). INDIGENOUS EDUCATION: e Deg Xit’an organization of these WAYS OF KNOWING, “beings” through the Deg Xinag language BEING, AND DOING conceptualizes a world of relationships and reciprocities among human and non-human “ere is a shared body of understanding realms—a world very dierent than the among many Indigenous people that separated disciplinary world(s) presented to education is really about helping an Indigenous students in academia. For the Deg individual nd his or her face, which Xit’an people, the entity Raven (sometimes means nding out who you are, where referred to as “Crow”) is signi cant as you came from, and your unique cosmological narratives document how he character…Indigenous education brought light and helped create dierent is, in its truest form, about learning aspects of their environment. Raven’s relationships in context.“ (Cajete, 2000, relationship with the puall mushroom p. 183) is likely further explained through stories; however, some of this information may have Gregory Cajete oers both critique and been lost with the passing of Elder storytellers. solutions for education, including the concept of “learning relationships in context.” “Educate comes from Latin educare... Relationships and reciprocities are key to which is derived from a specialized use Indigenous engagement with human and of Latin educere...meaning ‘to assist at non-human worlds, and in many areas of the birth of a child’. is old meaning of the world Indigenous “ways of knowing, the English word ‘educate’ is similar to being, and doing” have been maintained for our own Inupiat Eskimo word...which thousands of years. As I began my language- literally means ‘to cause to become a learning journey, I also began to understand person’.” (Okakok, 1989, p. 413) these relationships through examining literal translations of kinship, bird, and plant terms. For Alaska Native and other Indigenous For example, the term for “grandfather” is peoples, goals of education might include Okakok’s Inupiat translation “to cause

Deg Xinag English Literal translation -tsiy Grandfather Yixgitsiy Raven you guys/your (pl.) grandfather Yixgitsiy Vozra’ Rusty Blackbird Raven’s nephew Yixgitsiy Nołchidl Puall Mushroom Raven’s (sewing) bag

194 PSB 66 (3) 2020 to become a person” and a Yup’ik goal of programs and attain degrees. Institutions nourishing “a right mind to think with” might consider re-orienting themselves in (Barker, 1996). Part of “becoming a person/ terms of “preparedness,” i.e. universities are human being” includes understanding oen “underprepared” to serve Indigenous relationships and reciprocities between and students or students-of-color, and instead among human and non-human worlds. Similar focus on educational pathways that utilize concepts from the Deg Xinag language include “funds of knowledge” (Gonzalez et al., 2005), the terms dinayetr (literally, “our breath/way decolonizing (Battiste, 2013), Indigenous of life, our belief system”) that recognizes and/or other educational methodologies the responsibilities of humans to the natural that would enhance diversity and capacity- world in maintaining life and balance as well building in STEM elds. as getiy xiyo t’anh (literally “s/he has a good mind/is able to plan ahead”). Another key challenge within academic institutions is the creation and expansion of both physical and intellectual landscapes for DIVERSITY IN THE Indigenous students and students-of-color. ese students oen encounter barriers SCIENCES: OPPORTUNITIES as they seek to maintain their personal IN HIGHER EDUCATION identities while expanding their knowledge in disciplinary elds. Institutions also suer Garcia and Shirley (2012) frame education as from a lack of Indigenous faculty and faculty- a “sacred learning landscape,” emphasizing the of-color. For example, Alaska Native students roles of institutions and teachers in nurturing make up a signi cant percentage of students in critical consciousness and “origins of place” the University of Alaska system (10%–20%), (pp. 77-78). Higher education institutions have yet Alaska Native faculty numbers have never numerous opportunities to oer authentic exceeded 5% (and are now closer to 3%), and interesting experiences for Indigenous highlighting a signi cant parity issue. And students. In my experience, higher education there are very few, if any, Alaska Native faculty oered a number of learning experiences and who teach and research in STEM elds in the opportunities that were absent or erased in the University of Alaska system. Recently, the only K-12 system. For example, this was my rst two Alaska Native biology faculty teaching opportunity in a classroom setting to engage in the University of Alaska system relocated with my heritage language; a place where Deg to universities in the eastern U.S. With Xinag was seen as interesting and important, relationships and reciprocity being key Alaska rather than “primitive” and irrelevant in global Native values and factors in student success, contexts. It was also my rst opportunity recruiting and retaining Indigenous faculty in a classroom setting to engage in any are signi cant challenges that can hinder substantive way (beyond material culture) that diversity and inclusion in the sciences— with my culture, other Alaska Native cultures, especially when considering recruitment of and authentic Alaska Native and Alaskan Alaska Native students into higher education. histories. Granted, institutions did and still Indigenous higher education research do xate on the “under-prepared” Alaska indicates that formation of relationships Native student or student-of-color, and oen (mentoring/networks) is necessary for question the abilities of these students to nish 195 PSB 66 (3) 2020

Indigenous student success (Pihama et al., Indigenous faculty and faculty-of-color to 2019); for many Indigenous scholars, these address parity issues. Reframing relationships relationships are more akin to a godmother/ in higher education and acknowledgement father relationship than a “traditional” and action around reciprocities would academic mentor relationship (Leonard et al., extend possibilities for Indigenous students 2020). Mentoring in an Indigenous way oen and students-of-color and might advance goes well beyond preparation for academic academia in unexpected and refreshing ways. writing, research, and “getting students through” their programs, to assisting with job searches, co-authoring publications and FOOTNOTES conference presentations, and continuing the 1https://www.alaskapaci c.edu/valerie- relationship throughout the student’s/faculty’s nurraraaluk-davidson-named-alaska-paci c- career. university-president/ 2https:// rstalaskans.org/census-information- center/overview/ CONCLUSIONS 3https://uaf.edu/anlc/languages.php With current advances in science that seem 4https://ancsaregional.com/about-ancsa/ to converge or negotiate parallel paths with Indigenous knowledges/sciences, and the number of groundbreaking publications LITERATURE CITED by Indigenous scholars and scientists, one Bang, M., A. Marin and D. Medin. 2018. If might ask, “Who wouldn’t want to pursue Indigenous peoples stand with the sciences, a STEM eld?” If used in science programs, will scientists stand with us? Daedalus 147: Braiding sweetgrass: Indigenous wisdom, 148-159. scienti c knowledge, and the teachings of plants (Kimmerer, 2013), Who’s asking? Native Barker, R. 1996. A right mind to think with: A science, Western science and science education Yup’ik theory of human development. Unpub- (Medin and Bang, 2013), Native science: lished M.Ed. Project, University of Alaska Natural laws of interdependence (Cajete, Fairbanks, Fairbanks. 2016), and Blackfoot physics: A journey into the Battiste, M. 2013. Decolonizing education: Native American universe (Peat, 2002) provide Nourishing the learning spirit. Saskatoon, valuable new perspectives into the natural SK: Purich Publishing. realms; these new perspectives and theories by established scholars are currently absent in Battiste, M. 2002. Indigenous Knowledge and STEM curricula. If science curricula could be pedagogy in First Nations education: A litera- renegotiated to explore its own philosophical ture review with recommendations. Prepared ideologies and “other” ways of knowing, for the National Working Group on Education this approach could advance recruitment and the Minister of Indian Affairs. Indian and and retention of underrepresented students, Northern Affairs Canada, Ottawa, Ontario. but also “advance” scienti c thought and knowledge in signi cant ways. Institutional changes are also necessary to recruit and retain

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Cajete, G. 2016. Native science: Natural laws Krupa, D. (Ed.) 1996. The gospel according to of interdependence. Sante Fe, NM: Clear Peter John. Fairbanks: Alaska Native Knowl- Light Publishers. edge Network.

Cajete, G. 2000. Indigenous knowledge: e Leonard, B., S. Nicholas, O. Skinner, and pueblo metaphor of indigenous education. In G. Tsinajine. 2020. Innovations in Indige- M. Battiste (Ed.), Reclaiming indigenous voice nous scholar mentorship: Relationships and and vision (pp. 181-191). Vancouver, BC: UBC responsibilities. 2020 International Indig- Press. enous Research Conference, Ngā Pae o te Māramatanga. Garcia, J. and V. Shirley. 2012. Performing decolonization: Lessons learned from Indige- Medin, D. L. and M. Bang. 2014. Who’s ask- nous youth, teachers and leaders’ engagement ing? Native science, Western science and sci- with critical Indigenous pedagogy. Journal of ence education. Boston, MA: MIT Press. Curriculum Theorizing 28: 76-91. Okakok, L. 1989. Serving the purpose of edu- Gonzalez, N., L. Moll, and C. Amanti. 2005. cation. Harvard Educational Review 59: 405- Funds of knowledge: Theorizing practices 422. in households, communities and classrooms. Peat, F. D. 2002. Blackfoot physics: A jour- Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. ney into the Native American universe. Grand Kawagley, A. O. 1998. An alliance between Rapids, MI: Phanes Press. humans and creatures. Sharing our Pathways 5: 4-5. Fairbanks: Alaska Native Knowledge Pihama, L., J. Lee-Morgan, L. T. Smith, S. J. Network. Retrieved from https://uaf.edu/ Tiakiwai, and J. Seed-Pihama. 2019. MAI Te ankn/publications/collective-works-of-angay/ Kupenga: Supporting Māori and Indigenous An-Alliance-Between-1819DE.pdf. doctoral scholars within higher education. AlterNative 15: 52-61. Kimmerer, R. W. 2013. Braiding sweetgrass: Indigenous wisdom, scientific knowledge, and the teachings of plants. Minneapolis, MN: Milkweed Editions.

197 PSB 66 (3) 2020 What Have We Learned? Lessons and Strategies from the Chaos Dr. Dewsbury was the Plenary Speaker at Botany 2020 and his talk examined what the social re- ality of inequity has taught us, and more importantly, how we can and must position ourselves to be agents of change.

A CHAOTIC SPRING each according to their privilege. Workers in the retail and service industries as well as the Disasters wreak havoc on communities no gig economy soldiered on, unable to “work so much through their inherent destructive remotely” or give up employment critical for powers, but by their ability to expose existing keeping themselves economically solvent. ssures in poorly constructed systems. Two In so doing, these workers continued to risk unique disasters upended normal academic exposure to themselves and their families social functioning in the Spring of 2020 in very while those with means were safely ensconced dierent but also connected ways. COVID-19 behind closed doors and online meetings. arrived to the shores of a skeptical United States, Similarly, as faculty, sta, and students and quickly ground all operations requiring migrated to the online classroom, the ability physical proximity, including institutions of to transition seamlessly depended on several higher education, to an abrupt halt. e chaos factors that varied according to means. Many that ensued saw pedagogical models carefully students returned to homes with internet that craed for the physical classroom struggling was either nonexistent or of inferior quality to to adapt itself for remote learning. ough that which existed on campuses. is, along the virus itself can infect most people, even with changes in the availability of ideal study asymptomatically, its requirement for close environments, meant that the quality of the contact for spreading meant that prevention home environment (in turn impacted by required physical distancing. is simple economics) strongly predicted the ability of reality allowed the virus to sort the population, the student to continue to fully engage in the course. In many cases, students did not have the option to return home at all.

In the midst of the pandemic, hundreds By Dr. Bryan Dewsbury of thousands of protesters spurred by yet Assistant Professor, another senseless Black death, braved Department of Biology- quarantine protocols to bring attention to University of Rhode Island, the deaths of more Black lives at the hands Kingston, RI of law enforcement. This was not the first time that activists have shone a light on the

198 PSB 66 (3) 2020 physical danger Black lives face in the United I teach students.” This simple but useful States, but on this occasion, the Black Lives proclamation offers a powerful counter to the Matter movement’s message garnered much conventional mindsets of our current teaching more widespread support (Dave et al., 2020). practices. Pedagogy, even supposedly active Activists and other academic advocates within ones, have long privileged the dissemination the higher education space embraced this of content over the more socio-psychological time with mixed emotions. On one hand, it is goals of education. At best, it was assumed frustrating that much of the systemic changes that the student cultivating a sense of meaning suggested in response have been discussed and purpose through the process was an and fully articulated by its proponents for existing by-product of classroom instruction, decades, and that it took the cessation of many or at worst, that process was outsourced to Black lives in public and graphic fashion in the student affairs side of campus. Inclusive order for these proposals to be finally seriously practices center the cultivation of relationships discussed. On the other hand, the momentum as the driver of pedagogical structures, in that that has been generated by the latest protests what eventually occurs in the classroom is have brought a more diverse and expansive the result and the continuation of meaningful community to the table in favor of working dialogue (Durakoğlu, 2013) between teacher towards more concrete equitable solutions. and students. At its core, inclusive practices are not simply about “how to teach”; they are If there is to be a message of hope from the guiding principles for how members of civic darkness, institutions of higher education society interact with each other. In so doing must position ourselves to look critically at they offer us ways to think about and move this chaotic time and learn crucial lessons. forward from our chaotic Spring, and that In this process we might recognize that the begins with having a clear vision for equitable chaos highlighted an existing system that was futures. broken, particularly for those who depended on it the most. If we are to return to something different and improved, we must have a clear HAVE A VISION plan to address our historic shortcomings. I offer here a four-step process, undergirded Activists inside and outside academia might by the paradigm of inclusive practices, as a view our current moment with a wary eye mechanism for our community to collectively because many of us have seen too many move forward. These are (1) having a clear instances like these end with the whimper of vision, (2) being prepared to learn, (3) performative platitudes. The pattern is always identifying a specific achievable strategy, the same. Incident takes place that generates and (4) having a mechanism to assess collective outrage, thoughts and prayers are the impact of your efforts. My hope is bestowed, and perhaps on a campus there is that although the events of Spring revealed the hiring of a diversity officer or creation our collective failures, they also offer us an of a diversity office in response. Once the opportunity to re-envision the structure and cameras depart and the news cycle moves on delivery of education experiences in ways to other things, accountability for the response that are authentically inclusive. Elizabeth measures often fail to match the level of Moje (1996) said, “I don’t teach subjects, furor that generated the initial response.

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What exacerbates this issue is the tendency copycatting well-worn responses without to place the entire responsibility for racial disrupting the core functional elements progress on the newly hired officer, an act of of their operation. Ideally, the charting careless deference that likely contributes to of this vision should reflect an ongoing the high turnover seen for this role (Hartley dialogue between all stakeholders within the III and Godin, 2010). It appears then to the institution. Organizational change theory marginalized that institutional responses purports that neither fully top-down nor fully are more about quelling institutional and grassroots efforts are sufficient for bringing personal guilt as opposed to accepting about meaningful change (Kezar, 2012). It responsibility for implementing policy and is when all parties feel like they have legit behavior change to augur different futures. In agency in shaping the structure and future the midst of a plethora of position statements of the institution. That agency comes about and institutional proclamations about their as a recognition of the power and privilege commitment to Black lives, it is critically that each member has, regardless of their important that stated visions are reflected in professional station within the organization. the core of the university operations. Hiring Too often, conversations about institutional practices, promotion and tenure review change get derailed by complaints about the policies, and pedagogical support structures lack of power the individual has. Professors are just some examples of areas where are not as powerful as Deans, who are not colleges and universities can demonstrate their as powerful as Presidents, who are not as commitment to a stated vision. In other words, powerful as Boards of Trustees, etc. We can until well-crafted visions and statements are choose to focus on this academic food chain, supported by budget line items and policy or we can cultivate the power we do have and changes, the cycle is at high risk to continue, use it for good in our context. For practitioners because the institutional position on equity is in the classroom, this means having an communicated to community members in the aspirational vision for our students and our ways these policies are enacted, funded, and practice. I make no requests here for specific assessed, not in public bombast. pedagogical techniques but instead ask that you pose tough questions about the course(s) Before embarking on major policy change, that you teach. Are you confident that you are some aspirational questions are worth asking. cultivating the full potential of the students What kind of social imaginary will unfold who matriculate through your classroom? should equity work be successful on your Is your course elevating equity outcomes campus? If I were to walk onto your campus by examining critical social questions in the in 20 years, what would the classrooms, the discipline? Or by cultivating meaningful meetings, and the hallways feel and look like? dialogue between classroom members? Once These are not easy questions to answer. They that vision is crafted, at either level, then the are worthy of a retreat where the breadth of an difficult work of backward designing begins appropriate vision is chartered and anchored from that vision to identify the specifics of what by the desire to create a system that promotes needs to be done in order to meet that vision. It equity. Without such a charge, institutions are is here that equity work becomes particularly left looking to their side at their neighbors, challenging, since it exposes our collective

200 PSB 66 (3) 2020 intellectual and experiential shortcomings incorrect (Brown and Brown, 2010). Even in in this area. However, our preparation and institutions of higher education, students in commitment to the learning process and its non-humanities majors may only engage these inherent supports will be crucial if success is topics in general education courses and if so, to be achieved and sustained. rarely in the context of their STEM discipline. But understanding these contexts are crucial if we are to permanently move away from BEING PREPARED TO deficit thinking toward empowerment and working on structural change. For example, LEARN institutions such as the one where I work enroll The reality of the professoriate, particularly students from a diverse cadre of secondary the STEM professoriate, is that most of us institutions. Preparedness level for college- were trained, hired, and promoted over long level introductory biology (a course that I periods of time with little careful attention teach) varies widely and typically correlates to the scholarship of teaching, much less with school location. But what does that the enactment of inclusive practices. There correlation actually mean? Even a cursory seemed (and still seems) to be an implicit look at the variables of “preparedness” notion that expertise in an acutely refined and “school location” indicate there is a content area constituted expertise in being able lot to understand with each. This led to me to craft a meaningful educational experience. embarking on a course of study that explored Filtration pedagogical models, particularly in the relationship between neighborhood introductory STEM courses, perpetuated this ethnic and economic structures (particularly myth with the “it’s not me, it’s you” mindset of property values), school quality at the K-12 science professors. As a first step, the learning level, and the relative choices that families process must recognize college teaching as have to meaningfully impact any of the above a skill to be cultivated and not as a practice variables. I would not do this topic a disservice that is automatic. Secondly, to fully realize by attempting to summarize the issue here, the power that inclusive teaching has to help except to say that federally sanctioned and create equitable futures, we must learn the unofficial redlining policies have been history (and present) that informs the social powerful forces helping social inertia in context of the learning process. This means marginalized groups for almost a century. This engaging literature that explains the broader means that by the time the student gets to my context of American social structures as well classroom, privileged or not, they have been as specifically trying to understand our own impacted by social forces over which they had social positioning within it. little control. So I, cognizant of that history, must enact a pedagogy centered on uplift, These are not easy lifts. The evidence from particularly for the historically marginalized, studies on K-12 curricula suggests that if you and help students identify skills that allow had a fairly conventional education experience them to arrest and shape their own futures. in the United States, your knowledge of the The biology content is just a tool in service of experiences of the marginalized are likely the cultivation of those skills. at best inadequate and at worst partially

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The learning process must be sustained, on a campus. Identifying one’s current and continuous, and legislated. One-off workshops potential sphere of influence is a critical part and conversations are not enough to fully of this process. In the defeatist mindset, it is reorient praxis once fixated on delivery to easy to lament the lack of influence that one embrace humanistic principles. This learning has compared to the next level in the political process would have to be supported with the hierarchy. However, in the uneasy mix of appropriate time and feedback structures that graduate students, professors of various are customary to how any new skillset would “ranks,” administrators, and other personnel, be cultivated. This structure allows for the each individual does have some power to fine tuning of the practitioner’s psychosocial make change. It would be a better use of time radar that, once piqued, precludes them to figure out how to maximize the privilege from viewing the class in ways other than that we currently have as a separate project humans in STEM. From here, they can design to restructuring the ways in which power is strategies, however small, that are appropriate defined, structured, and operationalized in to their context. higher education.

The difficulty of journey means that IDENTIFY A SPECIFIC practitioners will always need a support structure. Support in this context means ACHIEVABLE STRATEGY logistical, financial, and emotional. The first One consequence of chaos is to leave us feeling two represent the core commitments that so defeated by the darkness that we are frozen an institution of higher education, serious into inaction. One consequence of a carefully about a change, makes to support its faculty. calibrated learning process, however, is that it Emotional support can come in the form of helps us to not be dwarfed by the enormity of faculty communities, where practitioners from the issue. In so doing it allows us to identify across campus connect over the commonality simple scalable strategies that can make a of their cause. Though the department contexts difference today. The nature of those strategies may differ, much strength can be gained from might depend on where you consider your working with allies across campus who are level of awareness to be. Your next project treading the same paths toward inclusive might be diversifying your syllabus and being classrooms. A group like this, working on more intentional about centering the voices of common inclusive strategies, can then provide Black and indigenous people of color in the the proof of principle needed for an institution examples and histories told about the subject to identify which are effective, and provide matter. Others may rethink how group work avenues for scaling. is structured and enacted, paying particular attention to how assignments can encourage A faculty community group also provides the and promote difficult dialogues around social safe space for the continued exploration of the relevant issues in STEM. Those wishing to self through the continuous learning process. promote institutional transformation might It is here that we need to be especially mindful be thinking about strategies that identify the and protective of each other’s growth. All levers of power and policy changes needed for too often, the path toward cultural humility inclusive practices to become more prevalent turns into a fierce competition of wokeness.

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Members of the community at times find more of the core functioning of the university? joy in pointing out the flaws and slip-ups in our In what ways have hiring practices, review allies than recognizing that the process, even and promotion policies, and the support within ourselves, involves mistake-making of inclusive pedagogies been revamped to and atonement. The social consequences of reflect a commitment to equity? The answers inequity are too deep, and the fight against it to these questions require responses that go is too critical, for us to spend our righteous beyond position statements and necessarily indignation on friendly fire. involve budget line items and expenditure that is commensurate with the scale of the transformation process. ASSESSING EQUITABLE In the classroom, a similar level of aspiration OUTCOMES and critical feedback should exist. The STEM To repeat a question I asked earlier, if I were pedagogical enterprise has evolved to center to walk onto your campus in 20 years, what content acquisition as its primary purpose would the classrooms, the meetings, and the with an implicit assumption that meaning hallways feel and look like? Addressing this and purpose comes about by virtue of simply being part of the experience. Therefore, aspirational question requires some careful teaching strategies, even some marketed as thinking about how short-, medium-, and inclusive, are often measured solely in terms long-term outcomes are measured along the of how they impact academic performance. way. Too often, particularly in the celebration If education is in fact meant to be a practice model of inclusive practices, the celebration of freedom (Hooks, 1994), then there should itself is submitted as its own assessment. be mechanisms in the classroom space that at When pressed on what strategies they are least attempt to capture how its participants taking to enact equity, campuses point to are moving toward this actualization. Several heritage month celebrations, multicultural options exist in this regard. Rovai’s (2002) affinity groups, and diversity awards. While Classroom Community Scale (CCS), for these events are welcome and appropriate, example, measures classroom community they are not ipso facto measures that equity connectedness and has been validated for both on campus actually exists. Colleges and face-to-face and online classrooms. However, universities serious about equity should other assessment structures should be be able to quickly point to climate surveys, considered, less sense of belonging, meaning, student interviews, disaggregated academic and purpose and things of this nature be data, and focus groups as bodies of evidence always boiled down to a single number. If they are constantly engaging to understand the inclusive classroom is meant to engender their collective growth process. More personal growth, then who better than the importantly, institutions should be able to student to be positioned to speak to this process point to specific political and policy structures in a way that was unique to their experience? that have been revamped with equity as its For my introductory biology classroom, I use core goal. For example, in cases where there the “Letter to a Future Freshman” prompt are diversity officers and/or offices, what (Walton and Cohen, 2011). Here, students are mechanisms are in place to ensure that their asked to write (in 500 words or less) a letter responsibilities do not exist on the periphery to a hypothetical future first-year student

203 PSB 66 (3) 2020 advising them on strategies to successfully painfully clear that after the sports stadiums navigate their first semester at college based closed and social activities evaporated, the on the letter writer’s own mixed experience teaching of students is the one activity the just completing the same. In “passing down” university could under no circumstances this advice, the student is forced to look discontinue. To reclaim liberation pedagogy critically at their own choices, good or bad, as an expectation of the field, we must and in so doing learn for themselves how institutionally and personally take some steps those choices might inform their own future back and lay out an aspirational vision as it navigation of college. I can think of no more pertains to equity on our campuses and our powerful measure of the student experience classrooms. We must then commit to a long- than articulation of the students’ own voices. term process on understanding the scholarship of equity in education, backed by the political and financial muscle of our institutions. The IN CLOSING reorientation of our radar should then lead to specific measurable strategies enacted with the Many historians agree that the televising of goal of future, more sophisticated iterations the assault of marchers on Bloody Sunday informed by data, and scaling to campus-wide in Selma, Alabama awakened a nation’s implementation where appropriate. Finally, sensitivities to the violence of racism, and we must assess the impact of our efforts with consequentially spurred Congress to pass the same tenacity and rigor as we would any the Voting Rights Act in 1965 (Augustine other compartment of our institutions, but and Pierre, 2015). Similarly, viral videos ensure that no assessment is complete without of Black Americans dying at the hands of the centering of the student voice. law enforcement over the Spring of 2020 and prior, and the groundswell of datasets In the years to come, we will be called to showing the disproportionate death rates account for the energetic motivation to during the pandemic, can supply a similar join book groups and issue public service impetus for new, more bold action on a statements in the wake of a chaotic Spring of national scale on equity. To the extent that we 2020. When that time comes, it is my hope are part of a historic moment on moving the that we have more to show than book club needle on race relations, it behooves those membership. It is my hope that the allyship of us committed to equity to ask what our and fervor exhibited during the days of Black individual responsibilities are, to not merely Lives Matter marches led to a transformation be well-wishers, and to be active participants of our role and responsibilities as education in generating solutions. practitioners. It is my hope that after statements were issued, there was then critical For this we must rst recognize that the self-reflection that turned into leveraging our college teaching profession in its current privilege to create a different type of education structure, especially in STEM, has long experience. An experience that turned us from abdicated its responsibility to liberation mere purveyors of the information ubiquity, pedagogy. This is a tragic irony. During the into humanistic cultivators of emerging chaos of the pandemic months, it became adults, primed to shape their own, and the nation’s equitable futures.

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Hooks, B., 1994. Teaching to transgress. LITERATURE CITED Routledge. Augustine, J. C. and J. K. Pierre. 2015. The substance of things hoped for: Faith, social Kezar, A. 2012. Bottom-up/top-down lead- action and passage of the Voting Rights Act of ership: Contradiction or hidden phenom- 1965. Cumberland Law Review 46: 425. enon. The Journal of Higher Education 83: 725-760. Brown, A. L. and K. D. Brown. 2010. Strange fruit indeed: Interrogating contemporary text- Moje, E. B. 1996. “I teach students, not sub- book representations of racial violence toward jects”: Teacher-student relationships as con- African Americans. Teachers College Record texts for secondary literacy. Reading Research 112: 31-67. Quarterly 31: 172-195. Dave, D. M., A. I. Friedson, K. Matsuzawa, Rovai, A. P. 2002. Development of an instru- J. J. Sabia, and S. Safford. 2020. Black Lives ment to measure classroom community. The Matter protests, social distancing, and CO- Internet and Higher Education 5: 197-211. VID-19 (No. w27408). National Bureau of Walton, G. M. and G. L. Cohen. 2011. A brief Economic Research. social-belonging intervention improves aca- Durakoğlu, A. P. D. A. 2013. Paulo Freire’s demic and health outcomes of minority stu- perception of dialogue based education. Inter- dents. Science 331: 1447-1451. national Journal on New Trends in Education and Their Implications 4: 102-107. Hartley III, H. V. and E. E. Godin. 2010. A study of chief academic officers of indepen- dent colleges and universities: Who are they? Where do they come from? What are they doing? Where do they want to go? Coun- cil of Independent Colleges. https://eric. ed.gov/?id=ED510962

205 PSB 66 (3) 2020 The Teaching Botanist: William F. Ganong and the Botanical Society of America I rst learned about William Ganong as an ABSTRACT undergraduate when I constructed and used a William Francis Ganong (1864–1941) “modi ed Ganong Respirometer” in my plant was the rst Professor of Botany at Smith physiology course. Later, as a graduate student, College (1894–1932), a founding member my major professor, Ernst Abbe, presented me of the Society for Plant Morphology and with his copy of Ganong’s Textbook of Botany Physiology and a driver in the uni cation of for Colleges and shortly thereaer I purchased the three American botanical societies that e Teaching Botanist at a used bookstore. became the Botanical Society of America. But over the years I pretty much lost track of He was the second President of the uni ed him. Even when the Teaching Section decided Society. He had a strong publication record to create a BSA award for teaching in 1988, we in morphology, ecology, and physiology named it not aer Ganong, but rather aer his but was most well known as a botanical contemporary Charles E. Bessey (Sundberg, education reformer who promoted learning 2016). I didn’t even think of Ganong again about the whole plant by integrating until a few years ago when he turned out to anatomy, physiology, morphology, and have a signi cant role in botanical education ecology. He is best known for the rst of his in the decades around the founding of the BSA several books, e Teaching Botanist. Ganong (Sundberg, 2014). It’s time to take another look promoted, and implemented, many of the at the career of this Canadian polymath who “modern” pedagogies we encourage today, happened to be a co-founder of our Society. from “ippling” the classroom to inquiry- based instruction that teaches science the way science is done. While the Royal Society of Canada eulogized him as “one of Canada’s THE EARLY YEARS: greatest scholars,” his reputation in the BSA DEVELOPING A had nearly faded even before his death. A goal of this paper is to begin to remedy that BOTANICAL REPUTATION situation. William Francis Ganong (1864–1941) became the rst Professor of Botany and Director of By Marshall D. Sundberg the Botanic Garden at Smith College (1894– Roe R. Cross Distinguished 1932). A charter member and driving force Professor of Biology in the Society for Plant Morphology and Department of Biological Physiology, he helped coordinate its union Sciences with the American Mycological Society and Emporia State University, Emporia, KS

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on his dissertation, this pattern continued until his retirement when, free of teaching, he could concentrate year-round on the history, natural history, and physiography of his home province. “Almost every year of his adult life, Ganong spent months exploring New Brunswick, alone or with a companion, ‘on foot, by canoe, wagon, bicycle, and nally by car and carravan’” (Rees, 2016, p. 95).

Upon completing his Master’s study, Ganong followed the advice of his mentor and enrolled at Harvard where he received a second A.B., Summa cum laude, in 1887. Ganong, awarded the Morgan Fellowship, was hired by the Figure 1. William Francis Ganong, Professor Botany Department as Assistant Instructor of Botany, Smith College. of Botany. Promoted in 1889, he served two the Botanical Society of America in 1906 to years as Instructor of Botany, specializing form today’s Botanical Society of America in plant physiology under the direction of (BSA) and was elected the 15th (2nd post- Charles V. Goodale (Quinquennial Catalog, merger) BSA President (Figure 1). 1895; Rees, 2016). In 1893 he travelled to

Born on 19 February 1864, in Carleton, New Brunswick, Ganong remained a dedicated son of the province throughout his life. He began collecting and recording natural history specimens as a schoolboy. As an undergraduate at King’s College (now the University of New Brunswick), his mentor, George Frederic Matthew (who studied with both Asa Gray and Louis Agassiz at Harvard) stimulated Ganong’s interest in botany and geology. He graduated with a B.A. in Natural Science, with Honours, in 1884 and continued on for an A.M. (Master of Arts) in 1886 (Figure 2). In between, he published his rst biological paper on the invertebrate animals of Passamaquoddy Bay (Ganong, 1885). He established a remarkably persistent personal calendar during his undergraduate years, which alternated a nine-month focus on academics with three summer months of eld Figure 2. Graduation photo from King’s work in New Brunswick (Figure 3). With the College, 1884. exception of a summer in Germany working

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Figure 3. Ganong at Holmes Lake, 1901 (photo is basis for commemorative statue erected in St. Stephen, New Brunswick, in 2017). the University of Munich where he studied 452). Eager to return home, Ganong accepted under Karl Ritter von Goebel. In less than two a position as the rst Professor of Botany years he researched, defended, and published and Director of the Botanic Garden at Smith a thesis (in German) on the morphology of College, Northampton, MA, where he spent cacti: Beiträge zur Kenntniss der Morphologie his entire professional career. One appeal und Biologie der Cacteen (Ganong, 1894). was that Massachusetts is conveniently close Goebel established a major botanical garden to New Brunswick. Later, when asked about for his research institute in Munich and what part of his German experience he most had recently published the two-volume enjoyed, he replied, “e part from New York Panzenbiologische Schilderungen (1889, back to Northampton” (Rees, 2016, p. 23). He 1891), which included a major section on Cacti never returned to Europe and rarely travelled in volume 1, just prior to Ganong’s arrival in in the U.S. except to meetings. ere was Munich. With materials close at hand and a always more to discover in New Brunswick. major professor interested in development of adaptive plant structure, Ganong fell into During his rst year at Smith, Ganong a perfect circumstance. It is noteworthy that taught eight botany courses: General Botany, three years later, Goebel published his opus, Microscopical Anatomy, Anatomy and Organographie der Panzen, in which he cites Morphology of Cryptogams, Advanced Ganong’s contribution to cacti (volume 2, p. Natural History of Cryptogams, Advanced Natural History of Phanerogams, Lectures

208 PSB 66 (3) 2020 upon the Physiology and Biology of Plants, ora. With his dissertation published in Laboratory upon the Physiology and Biology Flora, he expanded his cactus research from of Plants, and Special Problems in Morphology comparative aspects of morphology and or Biology of Phanerogams or Cryptogams anatomy of major cactus groups, which Leading to Original Investigation. Six years allowed him to speculate on their evolutionary later, the curriculum consisted of General relationships, to the role of environment in Botany, Morphology and Ecology of the driving xeromorphic adaptation (Ganong, Groups, Classi cation, Cellular Anatomy and 1895a, b). An obvious gap in the literature Embryology, Horticulture, and Physiology concerned embryo and seedling development, and Investigation (Smith Botanic Garden, 2020). which he lled with a series of papers on polyembryony and a pioneering paper in Ganong now began to expand his already Annals of Botany—the rst comparative extensive publication list on invertebrates in study of the cactus seedling development the Bulletins of the Natural History Society of that allowed him to conclude that adaptive New Brunswick with papers on the province’s changes in the size and form of the embryos

Figure 4. Tree based on embryology and seedling development published in Annals of Botany, 1898.

209 PSB 66 (3) 2020 are preceded by changes in the adult plant, not the other way around (Ganong, 1898a, THE SOCIETY OF PLANT b, 1899a). Based on this study, he revised his MORPHOLOGY AND evolutionary tree of the Cactaceae (Figure 4). e critical role of ontogeny in formulating PHYSIOLOGY evolutionary relationships was one of the “cardinal principles” in Ganong’s view of morphology (Ganong, 1901a). Beginnings Participation in professional societies His work on the cacti made him keenly aware provided Ganong a mechanism for continuing of the role of environment on plant growth, professional development. A natural target what he called “Phytobiology” (presumably for his initial interest was the Society of based on Goebel’s “Panzenbiologie”) but Naturalists of the Eastern United States, which others were calling Oecology or Ecology was organized in 1883. An interdisciplinary (Ganong, 1895c), so he now began to expand organization of botanists, geologists, on his earlier work in New Brunswick physiologists, and zoologists, among other (Ganong, 1891). is resulted in two major scienti c disciplines, it provided a perfect t papers in the Transactions of the Royal Society for Ganong’s interests. It is unclear when he of Canada on raised peat bogs (Ganong, joined the Society, but at the 1895 meeting 1897a, 1898c), a four-part series of papers in in Philadelphia he was elected secretary of the Botanical Gazette on the “Vegetation of the a committee of ve, which also included C. Bay of Fundy Salt Marshes,” (Ganong, 1903a-d), E. Bessey and L. H. Bailey, to investigate the and a study of the Grande Plaine of Miscou formation of a botanical section or society Island (Ganong, 1906). Rodgers (1944) states to meet annually with the Naturalists. Both that the salt marsh studies are “ranking Bessey and Bailey were already charter among the rst great ecological studies made members of the newly formed Botanical in North America.” For Ganong, it was critical Society of America, which held its rst that the ecological relationships observed meeting four months earlier in Spring eld, in nature were based on the physiological MA, in association with American Association and anatomical adaptations that evolve over for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). time (Ganong, 1904). ese studies were e early history of the original BSA is well contemporary with those of his friend Henry documented by Tippo (1958) and Smocovitis Chandler Cowles on the southern shore of (2006). Lake Michigan. Tippo (1958) suggested that there was some degree of antipathy toward the new BSA on the part of many Eastern botanists, including Ganong. Among their concerns was a preference for winter meetings over summer meetings, the relatively high dues of BSA, their preference for meeting with the American Society of Naturalists vs. the AAAS, and

210 PSB 66 (3) 2020 most importantly, the elitism of BSA, which the rst U.S. Plant Anatomy textbook the admitted “only American botanists engaged previous year) (Gregory, 1895), and six other in research, who have published work of botanists met in the Harvard Cryptogamic recognized merit” (Minutes, BSA, 1893, p. laboratory at 10 a.m. on Wednesday, Dec. 30, 1). Membership was by invitation. Many of 1896 to discuss a response to a circular Ganong the Eastern botanists felt that membership in sent out earlier that year about forming a new a botanical society should be open to anyone plant-oriented society (Table 1). Although who was interested in joining. e following only a few respondents expressed active year the Naturalists met in Boston. Ganong, interest, the group concluded that two or three William Farlow, Emily Gregory (who authored more members would be sucient and thus Table 1. Charter and first-elected Members, Society for Plant Morphology and Physiology. (women in bold)

e Committee organized at Cambridge, Dec. 30, 1896

W. G. Farlow Emily Gregory H. M. Richards Harvard University Barnard College Barnard College W. P. Wilson B. L. Robinson J. M. Greenman Philadelphia Museums Harvard University Harvard University J. M. MacFarlane T. axter W. F. Ganong University of Pennsylvania Harvard University Smith College Added to the Committee, February, 1897 G. L. Goodale W. C. Sturgis L. H. Bailey Harvard University Connecticut Expt. Station Cornell University Clara E. Cummings J. E. Humphrey G. F. Atkinson Wellesley College Johns Hopkins Cornell University D. P. Penhallow B. T. Galloway E. A. Burt McGill University U. S. Dept. Agriculture Middlebury College G. E. Stone E. F. Smith Massachusetts Agr. College U. S. Dept. Agriculture

Elected at First Meeting, Ithaca (Sage College) Dec. 29, 1897

V. M. Spalding D. G. Fairchild H. C. Porter University of Michigan U.S. Dept. Agriculture University of Pennsylvania H. J. Webber R. A. Harper Harriet L. Merrow U.S. Dept Agriculture University of Wisconsin Rhode Island Agr. College W. T. Swingle A. F. Woods eo. Holm U.S. Dept. Agriculture U.S. Dept. Agriculture “withdrawn” W. W. Rowlee A. J. Pieters J. W. Harshberger Cornell University U. S. Dept. Agriculture University of Pennsylvania G. H. Hicks U.S. Dept Agriculture 211 PSB 66 (3) 2020 they should proceed to organize a botanical At the end of October, Ganong sent a organization that would meet annually with reminder (Circular 5) that began with a sad the American Society of Naturalists. ey noti cation that two original organizers had agreed to invite “other botanists known to died, Dr. Gregory in April and Dr. Humphrey. sympathize,” primarily from the Eastern Ganong then described the recent successful states, and focus on forming not a general meeting of the BSA as evidence “of the widely group or one focused on taxonomy, but and rapidly spreading activity in the pursuit rather one targeting plant morphology and of all departments of the science…with such physiology “and it’s dependent (applied) a growing interest in morphological and subjects.” Ganong, serving as secretary of the physiological investigation, a winter meeting group, played a vital role in establishing the devoted especially to those subjects should be new society. Twelve days aer the meeting he abundantly successful.” He reminded members sent the organizers summary minutes and a of their obligation to actively participate in request for additional nominees (Society for the upcoming meeting and encouraged them Plant Morphology and Physiology [SPMP], to recruit additional interested botanists to p. 59). Ten days aer that, “in the absence attend and participate. Finally, he included a of de nite instructions,” he preemptively questionnaire to be returned: Do you expect nominated 11 other botanists to join the to present? Do you expect to read your paper? edgling organization. is was sent as a Do you approve of inviting others? If so, whom ballot to the organizers for their approval do you suggest be invited (SPMP, p. 80)? (SPMP, p. 67). Within two weeks a majority of the organizers agreed and Ganong posted In early December, Circular 6 informed the a 3rd Circular, a formal invitation to the committee members that 14 papers “were original 9 organizers and the 11 nominees, promised” for the upcoming meeting “with summarizing the December meeting and some others reported as probable.” Ganong also formally inviting each to present at the suggested that as the papers were scheduled December, 1897, Naturalists meeting. While to be presented early Tuesday morning, the there, they would formally organize the group should meet at 8 p.m. Monday night new society (SPMP, p. 72). In April, Ganong to discuss “important subjects of scienti c sent out a 4th Circular verifying that all 20 and geographical scope, name, constitution, “members” indicated interest in participating conditions of membership, etc.” Attached was and encouraging them to be “personally a survey to indicate acceptance for an earlier responsible for the success of the meeting” organization meeting and the full titles of (Table 1). It is noteworthy that two of the papers for inclusion in the meeting program “select” 20 were women; Emily Gregory was (SPMP, p. 94). Ten days later Ganong sent out among the original 9 members and Ganong the program (Circular 7), which included 13 invited Clara E. Cummings, a cryptogamic papers by “members” and an additional 16 specialist, among the 11 he nominated (SPMP, by other invited botanists. Among the latter p. 74). (By comparison, Elizabeth Britton was were four women: a high school teacher, Dr. the lone female charter member [of 25] of the Martha Bunting of Philadelphia High School; original BSA.) Dr. Adeline Schively of Philadelphia Normal School; University of Pennsylvania grad student Caroline ompson, who became

212 PSB 66 (3) 2020 professor of Botany at Wellesley; and recent Ganong’s work. Rees (2016, p. 66) says, graduate, Dr. Lucy Wilson who also took a “He described himself as a pre-Raphaelite: a position at the Philadelphia Normal School. precise, small-details man, a pointillist not a Also presenting were ve U.S. Department of brush-waving Romantic.” His handwritten Agriculture scientists including plant explorer notes, copied correspondence, detailed David Fairchild, who presented two papers summaries, and copies of programs and (SPMP, p. 97; Anon., 1913, 1916). It was annual records as Secretary/Treasurer ll agreed that the members would meet Monday a ledger documenting the 9-year existence evening at 8:45 p.m. in Dr. Atkinson’s oce to of the Society, from 1897 to 1906, that is discuss “the most important and critical steps comparable in size, and considerably more in the history of the organization” (SPMP, pp. detailed, than the corresponding volume that 97-100). documents the first 32 years of the BSA from 1894 to 1926. Ganong called the meeting to order and D. P. Penhallow moved to form a Society for Plant Morphology and Physiology; the motion Major Initiatives carried. ere would be no geographic restriction on membership, but meetings Membership and participation in the Society would be held north of Washington DC and grew every year and a variety of amendments no further west than Bualo. ere would were made to the rules. An interesting 1898 be no annual dues; fees would be assessed resolution was “that this Society recognizes to meet “necessary expenses.” Two standing the metric system as the standard of committees, Admissions and Program, were measurement when employed in its working appointed with Ganong chairing the latter as and members are requested to observe this Secretary/Treasurer of the Society. Candidates rule in the preparation of papers” (SPMP, p. for membership should be nominated by 6). e following year, the Society initiated two members and show “ability in original work on the rst of two large initiatives. research.” A total of 16 rules for operating the society were adopted (SPMP, Records No. 1). irteen new members were elected (Table 1) Botanical Literature (SPMP, pp. 1-3, Records No. 1; Smith, 1898). In the last decade of the 19th century, the e rst meeting exceeded expectations with Botanical Gazette (published by the University 22 papers presented. Abstracts of the papers, of Chicago) was the primary journal for and brief histories of the organization, were publishing—not only primary research, but reprinted in both e American Naturalist also brief reviews of published or presented and Botanical Gazette as well as the records of American research. is paralleled some the Society (Ganong, 1898d, e; Smith, 1898; major European journals, but there was little SPMP, Records 1). overlap across the Atlantic, which diminished exposure of American work. At the 1899 New We know much about the creation of the Haven meeting of SPNP, President Farlow, in Society for Plant Morphology and Physiology his outgoing address, noted the “increasing because of the detailed organizational skills need and demand for prompt, synoptical, and meticulous notes that characterize descriptive reviews of new botanical papers

213 PSB 66 (3) 2020 and books…” (SPMP, Botanical Literature, editors, coordinated by William Trelease, p. 1). e Society decided to approach the were appointed to the board (Anonymous, Botanisches Centralblatt to see if better 1902; Bessey, 1901; SPMP, 1900–1902). is reviews could be obtained, and Professors initiative was considered by many to be the Farlow, MacDougal, and von Schrenk primary accomplishment of the Society for were appointed to investigate this matter. Plant Morphology and Physiology as it added MacDougal, who was Secretary of the Section to the prestige of all American botanists G (Botany) of AAAS, invited them to the June (Rodgers, 1944, p. 220). AAAS meeting at the New York Botanical Garden to discuss an approach, but as we will see later, the SPMP chose not to meet with College Entrance Exam AAAS. Although not a committee member, as Secretary of the Society, Ganong took the As a new faculty member, Ganong was not lead, and on January 19, 1900 he addressed invited to be a part of the “Committee of a letter to Dr. Oscar Uhlworm, Editor-in- Ten” charged by the National Education Chief of Botanisches Centralblatt, in which Council (NEA) in 1894 to devise a common he summarized the request of the group. e botany curriculum for schools. e botany committee realized that such reviews were recommendations closely follow Bessey’s already contained, in part, in the Centralblatt, Textbook of Botany (Bessey, 1896; Sundberg, but that many were relegated to the Beihesste, 2012; Table 2). But ve years later Ganong which required a separate subscription. ey had the opportunity to react. e NEA called suggested that American botanists would for another report to specify college entrance strongly support collecting all of the timely and requirements for botany. Committee members descriptive reviews of new botanical works in were drawn from the regional accrediting the Centralblatt (Ganong, 1900). At the end of agencies, AAAS, and NEA. Both Ganong, April, Uhlworm replied to Ganong. Perhaps representing the New England region, and he misunderstood some of the Americans’ Bessey, representing AAAS, served on the concerns, but one of his concessions would botany section. Much of the report paralleled allow two or three American editors onto the the earlier work except now, thanks largely to editorial board. Yet, the main concern went Ganong, ecology and physiology composed unaddressed. In October, Ganong replied on about half of the botany course. e traditional behalf of the Committee that: (1) it would not recitation approach, focusing on memorizing be possible for the Americans to subsidize morphological parts and using taxonomic the change to the Centralblatt, (2) simply keys to identify owers, was “entirely increasing the size of each volume would not inadequate.” Ideally, instruction should focus be a solution, (3) if some material shied to another journal, one should not be required on the laboratory and microscopic analysis of to separately subscribe to both, and (4) the structure and development. e committee idea of adding American botanists to the considered the compound microscope to be editorial board “would contribute greatly to useful and necessary to demonstrate many make the Centralblatt acceptable to American important structures. However, Ganong Botanists.” Uhlworm ultimately agreed, suggested, “e compound microscope is a but ownership of the journal changed as it dicult piece of apparatus for a young student became the organ of the new International to use intelligently…demanding considerable Association of Botanists. Seven American training…and longer periods than are 214 PSB 66 (3) 2020 given in secondary schools.” Alternatively, scienti c specialty “should be a chief care of observational study should focus on plants as any scienti c society” (Ganong, et al., 1908, p. living things in the context of their ecology 594). e committee completed a preliminary and physiology. ese should make up the rst dra in April of the following year, followed half-year of the course. e second half-year by two revisions based on recommendations should focus on comparative morphology and received from the membership (Table 2). e the evolution of plant groups. “In connection committee presented a third revision at the with both of these courses your committee 1902 meeting in New York. Ganong and Lloyd would call special attention to the great were appointed to a permanent committee importance of drawing as a means of securing charged to make the report “as useful, de nite observation.” Furthermore, Botany educationally as possible and to keep it in should be oered either in the junior or senior touch with changing educational conditions” year (Table 2). At the end of the report Bessey (Ganong and Lloyd, 1902, p. 2). This report authored a page of comments dissenting was accepted by the College Entrance from the majority view on several points. Not Examination Board and served for several surprisingly, given his focus on the microscope years as the basis for college admission to in laboratory instruction (see Sundberg, 2012, botany programs. This committee carried over p. 115), he noted examples of successful use of through the merger with the Botanical Society of America to become the Committee on microscopes in some “fourth, h, and sixth Education of the BSA with the fourth and nal grades of certain public schools in Nebraska” report published in 1908 as publication No. 35 (NEA, 1899, p. 175). He also objected to the of the BSA and in e School Review (Ganong, focus on ecology because it was so new to 1908). Furthermore, as part of the vote for botany that no teachers will have been suitably authorization, the BSA recommended: “at trained to teach it. Similarly, he thought that all members of this society who are connected the emphasis on the processes of physiology with universities or colleges be requested to would be a challenge for teachers to go beyond bring before their respective faculties the fact “any but the loosest way by secondary pupils.” that examinations are now being held every He also thought too much had been cut from June …in a year’s thorough course in botany… a survey of the plant kingdom to make room and that it is desirable…that it be widely, or for these more advanced topics. indeed universally, accepted by colleges as an option for entrance” (Ganong, 1908, p. 595). Partially in response to the formation of new Not surprisingly, the recommended course college governing boards for the Northeastern follows very closely the outline provided in and Middle States and Maryland, and perhaps Part II of e Teaching Botanist (Ganong, also in response to this dissent by Bessey, the 1899b; Table 2). following year Ganong presented a paper, “Suggestions for an attempt to secure a standard college entrance option in botany,” at the annual meeting of SPMP at Johns Hopkins. In response to his paper, the Society appointed a committee of Ganong (chair), F. E. Lloyd, and George Atkinson to prepare such a document on behalf of the Society. ey successfully argued that education in a

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Table 2. Comparison of botanical topics covered in Guidelines and Textbooks.

General Gross Special Author Ecology Physiology Morphology Morphology Morphology NEA (1894) Not Not Very Not Not Mentioned Mentioned Important Mentioned Mentioned NEA (1899) Very Important Important Important Somewhat Important Important SPMP (1901) Important Important Important Important Not Mentioned Bessey (1896) Somewhat Somewhat Very Important Somewhat Important Important Important Important Ganong Important Important Important Important Not (1899b) Mentioned

Abbreviated from the table in Traon, 1902.

one another” (SPMP, p. 28). Aer all, at least Merging the Societies: the seven of the 60 members of SPMP in 1901 also belonged to the BSA: George Atkinson, Botanical Society of Liberty Hyde Bailey, John Coulter, William America Farlow, Byron Halstead, Conway MacMillan, and William Wilson. In 1902 the BSA also e nal activity of SPMP was to participate began to discuss the advantages of unifying the in a mutually agreeable union of the three botanical societies. e following year saw the American botanical societies to establish formation of the third botanical society, the the current BSA. As usual, Ganong played a Mycological Society of America, and an SPMP major role. In 1899, the SPMP met at Yale Committee on Relations with other botanical where D. T. MacDougal, newly elected to societies, which included President George T. the Society but also Secretary of the botany Moore, Ganong, and Past-President Duncan section of AAAS, extended an invitation to the S. Johnson. Discussions favored a union, in members to attend the next AAAS meeting, principle, but only under certain conditions. which would be held in New York in June First, all members must share an equal voice of the following year. As mentioned earlier, in the aairs of the combined society (there MacDougal’s purpose was to allow BSA to should be full members only, no associate also engage in the Botanisches Centralblatt members). Second, all sections should have an negotiations. Rather than meet jointly with equal voice in nominating ocers, preferably the BSA at AAAS, the SPMP chose to stay with by some form of proportional representation. the Naturalists who met at Johns Hopkins in ird, membership of sections should be December. e following year, when SPMP controlled by the sections. Fourth, fees should met at Columbia University, MacDougal be kept down to an amount necessary to cover initiated a discussion on “the most pro table cost of administration, and there should be relation of the American botanical societies to no separate admission fee. Finally, if a plan

216 PSB 66 (3) 2020 for union was agreed upon by the respective In December, 1904, all three societies committees, it should be printed and sent to met jointly in Philadelphia with the three the SPMP membership as soon as possible to committees on uni cation negotiating and allow ample opportunity for consideration reporting back to their respective societies. before the next meeting (SPMP, p. 42). At e main order of the SPMP business meeting the same time, two BSA Past Presidents, was to accept the principles recommended by Bessey and Lucien Underwood, and President the committees of conference for union and to Charles R. Barnes served as the BSA authorize a new committee charged to bring Uni cation Committee. Rodgers (1944) has the union into eect. e SPMP committee some interesting quotes that present a BSA consisted of Past-President G. T. Moore, perspective toward union of the societies: President E. C. Jerey, and Ganong. • Underwood to Bessey (p. 222): “…Altho [sic] this society was really organized as It was also announced that SPMP was a sort of protest against our own… I do invited to send a delegate to the International not see that we have anything to gain by Congress of Botany at Vienna in June, 1905; any formal union with them and very the membership selected former President much to lose if we modify in any way Farlow to represent the Society. Farlow did either the matter of our elections or our not attend, nor did a representative of the fees system….[organization of the my- other two societies. Although 16 American cological society] doubtless will have the botanists attended as independent delegates, eect to reduce the interest in the Soc. Pl. “American societies were sadly negligent, and Morph. And Phys. Since several of the many were unrepresented which might have leading spirits of that organization are delegated authority to some of the sixteen” mycologists...I do not think it will aect (Barnes, 1905). Barnes observed that the us one iota…” display of materials for botanical instruction • Barnes to Bessey (pp. 222-223): “I believe was “particularly noteworthy,” especially with it should be the policy of the B.S.A. to apparatus for plant physiology experiments. make itself the dominant force so far as “e equipment puts to shame all of our high organized botanical activity is concerned, schools and nine-tenths of our colleges” (p. 71). and I believe it can only do this by unit- ing all…” e nal meeting of SPMP was held at the • Bessey to Underwood (p. 223): “Let us University of Michigan in December, 1905. not discourage them [other botanical so- Twelve papers were presented, including cieties], while on the other hand perhaps “On the erroneous physiology of elementary we need not give a boisterous encourage- botanical text-books” by Ganong. e report ment…In this way we may have for a of the Committee on Union of the Botanical time a ‘struggle for existence’ resulting in Societies was adopted as presented. ere the ‘survival of the ttest….” would, aer all, be two grades of membership with one fifth of the members of SPMP • Underwood to Bessey (p. 224): “ey (and the Mycologists) now being relegated [SPMP] have certain members…that I to associate membership of the unified could not honestly vote for and I believe society (all members of BSA retained full they have quite a number what would not membership). Selection of associates from poll a majority of the votes of the Botani- SPMP was simple: if your name began with D cal Society…” 217 PSB 66 (3) 2020 or later and were elected in 1902, and all new of the BSA (and rst of the uni ed BSA) in members elected in 1903, 1904, and 1905, 1906. Ganong was elected 15th BSA President would become associate members (SPMP, in 1907. (Margaret Ferguson, one of the six Record #9, p. 3). There was no election of female botanists who transitioned from the officers; current officers would continue SPMP in 1906, became the 36th [and rst until union was affected the following year. female] BSA President in 1929.) Interestingly, Ganong signed off on the Society’s approval MacDougal, who was now President of Section on 28 December and forwarded his report to G (Botany) of AAAS, was not listed at all on the BSA (Minutes, p. 93). the combined BSA membership (Minutes, pp. 96-101, Table 3). The 13th annual meeting of BSA, and first of the united BSA, was held at Columbia In his address as retiring president of the BSA, University on Dec. 27-31, 1906. The logistics Ganong reected on the state of botanical of combining the Societies filled the first day. education in America in 1910; it is uncannily Ganong presented and was the signatory for prescient for today (Ganong, 1910a). He began the SPMP membership and nancial records by enumerating several widely recognized and was appointed to the auditing committee problems. First, that science tends to be of the new BSA. He moved that the records of dicult for most people because it depends both SPMP and the Mycologists be deported on “reasoning, not feeling.” Second, students to the library of the Missouri Botanical are not only generally unprepared for college, Garden for preservation “aer having served but speci cally unprepared for the sciences. the immediate purpose of the Secretary and In the schools, responsibility for learning has Treasurer of the BSA” (Minutes, pp. 101- been shied from the student to the teacher 104). He also moved that the SPMP Standing and students bring that attitude with them to Committee on College Entrance Options in college. ird, science, as a laboratory-based Botany be continued and oer a nal report discipline, had only a single generation to the following year. George Atkinson, one of develop and propagate an eective educational two scientists with membership in all three strategy. Finally, an inquiry approach to merging societies, was elected 14th president

Table 3. Membership in uniting Societies at time of union. Botanical Society for Plant American Society of Morphology and Mycological Society Total America (B) Physiology (S) (M) Full 32 34 (5 women) 23 89

Associate 13 14 3 30 Total 45 48 26 119

Multiple B & S B & M S & M B, M & S

Total 11 8 3 (1 woman) 2

218 PSB 66 (3) 2020 teaching “is distasteful to the great majority “It took me many long years to free [of students] … who prefer to absorb their myself from the feeling that I must knowledge from printed books upon which continue research or else sacri ce the they can lean for authority” (p. 323). good opinion of my colleagues. But I am free, and in the two or three years He then went on to enumerate some of the I have been so the added keenness problems that scientists have bring upon of my pleasure …I propose to try themselves in regard to teaching science, the to convince the society that its rules most important of which is that “we are not ought to be altered as to make teaching, faithful to the genius of our subject” (p. 324). of approved merit and service, a “In a word, the rst great need of our science sucient quali cation for membership. teaching is to make it scienti c” (p. 325). Meanwhile, I advise all of my colleagues e current mantra is that we should teach engaged in collegiate work to join in my science as we do science (Handelsman et al., declaration of independence. Let us 2004; Hanauer et al., 2006). Directly related show the universities that teaching hath is the generalization of introductory courses her victories no less than research” (p. 329). that “cover” the breadth of the discipline, an inch deep. Textbooks were, and continue Indeed, Ganong experienced a revelation that to be, part of the problem. Much better is to signi cantly shied his goals and expectations. concentrate on the basic ideas and go into He continued his BSA roles on the Auditing enough depth to cultivate understanding. Committee and Committee on Education for A second impediment to eective teaching, two more years and twice he was selected a Ganong suggested, is to focus solely on the Councilor (at-large member of the Council). subject while ignoring the students. Success In 1914 he served on the committee to in teaching is directly proportional to one’s ability to communicate with others. us nominate the rst Editorial Board of the attitude and diplomacy are important: “gloving Society’s new journal, the American Journal of the iron hand of the scienti c method by the Botany, but he never again presented at a BSA so velvet of gentle human intercourse” (p. meeting and only rarely published botanical 325). Providing some context of the history (teaching) articles—notably dealing with and personalities of scienti c discovery are plant physiology. Instead, he focused on his also useful tools to engage students. Another teaching and his students at Smith. problem, particularly in the laboratory, is putting too much trust in the technologies and not enough in the individuals. What’s The Teaching Botanist important is not the equipment, but how Graeme Wynn (2017) calls William Ganong you use it and how you interpret the results. Finally, the method of training teachers is a “prodigious polymath.” Beyond all else, wrong. Science professors at colleges and however, Ganong was “e Teaching universities are good at cloning themselves to Botanist.” His philosophy of teaching stressed provide researchers for the future, but they are that instruction should be based on rst-hand totally unprepared to teach future teachers, at study of living plants, in the eld or in the any level. For his own part, he acknowledged laboratory. Furthermore, when the student a philosophical change: is studying botany, the teachers' primary concern should be studying the student

219 PSB 66 (3) 2020 and how best to facilitate learning. One testing the connection of causes and effects could easily argue that while writing about by experiment is a most important part of teaching botany for the 20th century, he was botanical training” (p. 26). (4) Evaluating actually anticipating teaching botany in the evidence and forming conclusions, whether 21st century. e Teaching Botanist, which supported or not. (5) Promoting terse, logical, went through two editions, is the teacher’s and complete expression of the results, using manual for how educate students about plants appropriate botanical terminology. (6) (Ganong, 1899b, 1910b). Intellectual honesty and forming a habit of objectivity; eliminate anthropomorphisms His rst precept is that college teaching and promote intellectual independence. should be carried out as an investigation, or at Botanical content should focus on: (1) the least in that spirit. “e revival in students of position of plants in nature, (2) the structure the spirit of inductive inquiry, a spirit which of plants and how they live, (3) adaptations they naturally possess, but which is usually of plants to their environment, and (4) the crushed out of them by the school course, is nature of irritability and plants’ response to the rst and greatest task of any teacher of a their environment. Science” (Ganong, 1899b, p. 17). us, for any topic, laboratory work should precede e heart of the book is Chapter 3, “On things the lecture and the textbook should be used essential to good botanical teaching.” “e only as supplementary reading. Especially in true teacher of Botany, as of any other subject, introductory courses, students bring a wide is born, not made. But a chief birthmark is variety of preparation and the teacher’s task is a determination for incessant improvement” to determine what each student is best tted (p. 46). e path to teaching begins with a for, and then to set out to help the student college career dedicated to providing a depth reach that point. Most students will not major of understanding of the major elds. Beyond in botany, but all will nd some use for it in college, this should extend to summer schools their lives and their instruction will need to and workshops to stay current in the eld. be thorough and “in considerable amount.” A program of self-study and some kind of ose few who intend to go on should be original investigation hones the skills to be challenged to a level beyond their expectation. taught. is could also include what today we call the scholarship of teaching and While he acknowledged the differences learning: “investigation into better and more in opinion as to the content that should be economical ways of utilizing the science in covered in the introductory course, particularly education… and this line of investigation is compared with Bessey and others, his primary as legitimate, as dicult, and as important for learning outcomes had nothing to do with the advancement of botanical science as is the content. (1) Exact observation; start with elucidation of vegetative parts, chromosome the familiar, but focus on active seeing, not numbers, or transpiration currents” (p. 50). passive looking, and sketch what is observed. (2) Critical comparison and generalization. In terms of teaching temperament, one should (3) Faith in causality: “anatomy and be sympathetic, but an uncompromising and morphology should from the first be viewed yet genial critic of students’ accomplishment. in the light of the factors determining them … “He was kindness itself to his students but he physiology and ecology.” “The cultivation of never once told us anything we could nd out 220 PSB 66 (3) 2020 for ourselves” (Brixter, 1942). He notes that Many of the laboratory manuals available in the tendency in education had been to shi Ganong’s time (as well as our own) were very responsibility for learning from the student precise in their instructions to students and to the teacher, but that “this is a very wrong designed to reinforce known expectations attitude; the responsibility for learning should (Cookbook labs). Ganong’s philosophy be kept upon the student” (p. 53). allowed students to make mistakes and to analyze their results based on trust in their e laboratory is the primary focus of data. “e good teacher, too, will not be above investigation and ideally should have no more employing many little tricks and devices to than 16 to 20 students (the ideal is 10) over at arouse interest, keep attention, and encourage least a 2-hour period, preferably twice a week. application” (p. 62). Because of time and e amount of work should be adjusted to equipment constraints, many physiological “rather above the average student.” e best experiments must be set up as demonstrations, students may complete the work in the allotted but each student should observe and record time and be held to a high standard, but make- her own results and deduce conclusions as if up work should be completed outside of class. the experiment was her own. Lectures, which e laboratory should always be accessible to occur aer the lab work on a topic, are valuable students. Considerable freedom of movement for reinforcing what was learned (the reverse and conversation must be allowed “during the of the traditional relationship between lecture laboratory and students must be expected and laboratory and a model of what we now to clean up aer themselves.” Whenever call a “ipped classroom”). “ey do not like possible, answer questions with questions to the process at rst, but their satisfaction in the promote the thinking process—from known obvious worth of the results, and especially to unknown. their pleasure in the exercise of a power they did not know they possessed, makes them in time like the process itself” (p. 68).

Table 4. Student publications.

Student Year Citation Topic Spectra of chlorophyll Sophie Eckerson 1905 Bot. Gaz. 40: 302–305 solutions Sophie Eckerson 1908 Bot. Gaz. 45: 50–54 Root pressure Grace Clapp 1908 Bot. Gaz. 45: 254–267 Transpiration Grace Bushee 1908 Bot. Gaz. 46: 50–53 Protoplasmic streaming Sophie Eckerson 1908 Bot. Gaz. 46: 221–224 Stomatal distribution

Sophie Eckerson 1909 Bot. Gaz. 48: 224–228 Starch production in leaves

Julia Paton 1922 Am. J. Bot. 8: 471–501 Pollen enzymes

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Finally, one should teach by example. “It is can connect labels to the appropriate parts. an inspiration to students to see their teacher Diagrammatic accuracy should be stressed, himself a student always striving to learn and which makes it easy for the instructor to advance” (p. 65). One proof of his method is evaluate what the student has seen. Ganong that several of Ganong’s students published also included chapters on the design of their own undergraduate research done under laboratories and their equipment, botanical his direction (Table 4). collections, and books for teaching. Critical to the teaching laboratory was the greenhouse As mentioned above, Ganong thought it was and garden plantings (Ganong, 1897b, 1910c). important for students to record observations e experiment house of the greenhouse in their notebooks, thus he included a chapter range was directly connected to the laboratory on scienti c drawing and descriptions. His classroom and was used extensively by advice is as salient today as it was 100 years upper division students for plant physiology ago. To sketch requires careful observation experiments (Figure 5). Ganong designed rst, before outlining, in light pencil, the a variety of physiology apparatus for the general patterns observed. Later, once classroom. Most of these appear in his Plant proportions are correct, details can be added, Physiology textbooks (Ganong, 1901b, 1908) either to the original sketch or as an enlarged and the catalog of apparatus manufactured to insert to highlight the detail. e scale should his design and available from Bausch & Lomb always be indicated, preferably in metric, and Optical Co (Ganong, 1914) (Figures 6, 7). neat labels arranged so that straight-edge lines e collections chapter includes suggestions

Figure 5. William Ganong, c. 1910, with botany honors class in the experimental house at Smith College. Next to Ganong is likely Helen Ashhurst Choat, Assistant in Botany. The students— Elizabeth Green, Mabel Bray, Louise Elder, and Elizabeth Johnson (all class of 1913)—are shown gathering data from Auxograph devices, designed by Ganong to automatically measure and plot shoot growth. (Photo by Katherine McClennan, with permission of Smith College Archives.)

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A B

Figure 6. (A) Bausch & Lomb 1914 Catalog of Ganong Plant Physiology apparatus. (B) Ad from 1938 Science advertising Ganong Respirometer.

Figure 7. Diagram of Ganong’s transpirograph ($75) with transpiration balance ($80).

223 PSB 66 (3) 2020 for living collections, charts, and models, memorized for recitation. e convention and collecting and preparing both preserved for botany texts, introduced by Almira Hart and herbarium specimens. e nearly 100 Lincoln Phelps around 1830, numbered recommended books range from classic sequentially each of the concepts introduced German and British texts to American oras in a textbook (Sundberg, 2012). Bessey and and contemporary textbooks. Also included others still used this format into the late 1910s. are all of Darwin’s botanical books and Ganong was an early deviant. Ganong’s order Wallace’s Malay Archipelago. of content coverage also diered signi cantly from Bessey. Bessey (1905) used the still e nal chapter of part I is “On some common familiar bottom-up approach beginning with errors prejudicial to good botanical teaching.” the structure of cells, tissues, tissue systems, and In Gager’s review of the second edition, he organs before considering the structure and says, “e writer believes that there is no error function of whole plants. Ganong began with a more widespread or more erroneous than that discussion of the scope and value of botanical knowledge of a subject, alone and of itself, study and the distinctive characteristics of confers teaching power or is the sole need in plants followed by an integrated treatment of the preparation of a teacher. ‘e Teaching the structure and function of the distinctive Botanist’ is a protest against this point of view, plant organs: leaves, stems, roots, owers, and a positive, constructive contribution fruits, and seeds and their relation to the toward the solution of the problem of more environment. Both treated plant classi cation eective botanical teaching” (Gager, 1910). in part 2 of their text; Bessey concentrating Part II of the book, “An outline for a synthetic on morphology and Ganong integrating elementary course in the science of botany,” is an application of Ganong’s philosophy to the topical outline of content he espoused in the beginning with the NEA guidelines of 1899 through the BSA guidelines for the college entrance course of 1908.

e philosophy and general organization found in e Teaching Botanist is mirrored in each of Ganong’s other texts but the target is now students, not their teachers (Figure 8). “I was once such a learner, and I have tried to write such a book as I would then have delighted to read” (Ganong, 1913, p. v). His goal is always to emphasize the big ideas and go into depth to explain the interpretation or principles involved. Whenever possible, these principles are put into the context of humans’ relationship to plants. These were not typical texts. e writing was a narrative, not a sequence of numbered concepts to be Figure 8. Sampling of Ganong’s texts.

224 PSB 66 (3) 2020 ecology and physiology with the morphology. he was losing touch with his students and a Whereas Bessey concludes with the taxonomy “great gulf” had opened between them. While of owering plants, Ganong provides a chapter he remained idealistic with his head in the on the ecological classi cation of plants. clouds, they had their feet planted rmly on the ground and focused on a career (Rees, p. By 1917 the Smith Botany Department 197). Free of teaching, “But Oh! e luxury expanded to seven faculty members serving of not having to go at any xed time to about 200 students majoring in some aspect of classes! e cartography goes on, however, botany. Most students followed the technical I can always drop anything and turn to that track in preparation for teaching or laboratory with joy” (Rees, p. 198). He could now pursue work. Required courses included Systematic and Economic Botany, Morphology, and Physiology with electives of Ecology and History of Botany. ose in the Gardening track took Horticulture and Landscape BOX 1 Gardening and either Systematic Botany Some of Ganung’s or Ecology. e Economic track required Honors and Awards Bacteriology and Plant Pathology with electives of Systematic and Economic Botany or Physiology. A research problems course • 1893: Corresponding Member, could be taken in Physiology, Morphology, Royal Society of Canada or Ecology. e enlarged greenhouse range • 1898: Honorary PhD, now included experimental houses for both University of New Brunswick Plant Physiology and Horticulture and the Department shared a new Biology Building • 1900: Fellow, American with the Zoology Department. “In all we Association for the try to remember that while good facilities Advancement of Science are ne tools for skilled workmen, the ideal of education is still Mark Hopkins and the • 1909: Fifteenth (2nd unified) Presi- log. If the spirit of Mark Hopkins be present dent, Botanical Society of America I suppose it does not matter if the log be • 1920: Honorary LL.D., polished oak” (Ganong, 1917). Aer 38 years University of New Brunswick of service, Ganong retired from Smith in 1932. A tribute in the Alumnae Quarterly • 1931: J. B. Tyrell Historical Medal, noted, “ey [former students] remember Royal Society of Canada the delight of his buoyancy and enthusiasm in lecture-room and laboratory, his whimsical • 1940: Charles Reid Barnes Life Mem- humor, his eagerness in bringing to their bership, American Society of Plant immature minds the inspiration of the attitude Physiologists of research” (Seelye, 1932).

e year prior to retiring, Ganong con ded in a letter to a Canadian colleague that although he had not lost interest in teaching, he thought 225 PSB 66 (3) 2020 the mountains of data from summers in New teaching botany. He was the rst American Brunswick and supplement with additional botanist, if not the rst scientist, to advocate eld work, new research, and publishing. But using a scienti c approach to teaching science. that was another life. And all of this was his vocational occupation, that gave way every summer, and during his roughout the years he received several “retirement,” to pathbreaking achievements honors and awards, and in 1940, the in a variety of other disciplines in which he year before he died, he received another demonstrated recognized expertise. Why (Box 1). e American Society of Plant do more botanists not recognize his name? Physiologists held their 17th annual meeting Why does the BSA have a Charles E. Bessey in Philadelphia and at the annual dinner, teaching award and not a William F. Ganong on 30 December 1940, awarded Ganong the teaching award? Perhaps botanists were Charles Reid Barnes life membership award. oended by his Presidential Address (Ganong, “Dr. Ganong was an excellent teacher, a very 1910a) where he challenged the Society “to exacting and careful laboratory technician, make teaching, of approved merit and service, inventor of many devices for physiological a sucient quali cation for membership” (p. experiments, and a writer of textbooks and 329). Perhaps it was because he admitted in the manuals which exerted a profound inuence same paragraph that aer many years he was nally “…able to free myself from the feeling upon the teaching of plant physiology.” that I must continue research or else sacri ce Furthermore, they dedicated Volume 16 (1) of the good opinion of my colleagues.” While Plant Physiology to Ganong “in celebration of researching a previous paper, I thought it the seventy-seventh anniversary of his birth peculiar that the BSA sponsored a symposium (ASPB, 1941). Although in poor health and on Botanical Teaching at the 1911 meeting suering from Parkinson’s, he returned, as in Minneapolis and Ganong was not one of usual, to New Brunswick that summer. He the presenters. Bessey spoke on preparing died on 7 September 1941. Upon his death he botanical teachers, Otis Caldwell focused on was eulogized in the Transactions of the Royal botany in the high schools, and Frederick Society as one of Canada’s “greatest scholars” Clements addressed the methods of botanical (Webster, 1942a, b) and in Science (Smith teaching. ese presentations were followed and Choate, 1941). e BSA published no by a discussion session let by John Coulter obituary and the council minutes state simply, and Frederick Newcombe. e themes chosen “e secretary reported on the deceased, were all from Ganong’s Presidential Address resigned, and dropped members of the society two years earlier (Sundberg, 2014). Did for 1941” (Minutes, 1941, p. 41). Ganong choose not to go or did the organizers choose not to invite him?

Conclusion To answer the question “Why this grudging recognition?”, Ganong’s biographer suggests William Francis Ganong was a driving force the following. during the early years of professional botany in the United States. He produced pivotal "Ganong’s misfortune was to straddle studies in plant morphology and systematics, two countries and several elds of re- plant ecology, and plant physiology and was search, which he was careful to keep the rst to integrate these sub-disciplines in separate…His life was so thoroughly

226 PSB 66 (3) 2020 compartmentalized that fellow workers in one compartment could not see into BOX 2 the next”. (Rees, 2016, p. ix) Ganong’s Publications Upon Ganong’s death, the chief of the map (more than 600 total division of the U.S. Library of Congress published items) commented: • Bulletins of the Natural History “Few geographers interested in cartog- Society of New Brunswick: raphy know that Ganong was eminent 138 articles as a botanist and that his principal work was in that eld. Conversely, I suppose • Botanical and other scientific writ- many botanists do not know of his work ings: 64 in cartography and other allied geo- • Botanical education: 33 graphical subject…his series of mono- graphs on crucial maps in the early • Historical Monographs: 14 cartography and place nomenclature of the Atlantic coast of Canada constitutes • Historical Geographical one of the most important contribution Document: 49 in this field ever published in America” (Martin, 1942). Rees and Martin are correct. But one might also LITERATURE CITED argue that Ganong simply stopped publishing American Society of Plant Biologists. 1941. Wil- and shied gears to teaching. Botanical liam Francis Ganong, Plant Physiology 16(1): publishing, yes, but publishing scholarship? Plate 1 and dedication, 215-216. De nitely not. Ganong’s CV would list more than 600 published items (Box 2). More likely Anonymous. 1902. The International Centralblatt is that he was working at a predominantly for botany. Science 15: 196-197. undergraduate college and was not producing Anonymous. 1913. News and Notes. Science 37: PhDs to promote his school of thought. For 948. instance, among Cowles students were Victor Shelford, William Cooper, and Paul Sears, Anonymous. 1916. Geographical Record. The and among Bessey’s were Fredrick Clements, Geographical Review 1: 225. Conway MacMillan, and Per Axel Rydberg— Barnes, C. R. 1905. The Vienna Congress. Bo- all of whom were prominent male scientists tanical Gazette 40: 68-73. in their own right. Ganong’s students were mostly undergraduates and all female. With Bessey, C. E. 1896. The Essentials of Botany. this legacy, and at that time period, I suppose New York, Henry Holt and Company. it is not too surprising that the BSA lost track Bessey, C. E. 1901. Reviews of current botanical of William Francis Ganong. I hope that now literature. Science 13: 298-301. you will agree with me that he was indeed “the teaching botanist”! Bessey, C. E. 1905. Botany for High Schools and Colleges, Seventh Edition. New York. Henry Hold and Company.

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Brixter, J. S. 1942. P. 16. In: J.C. Webster, Wil- Ganong, W. F. 1898d. Society for Plant Mor- liam Francis Ganung Memorial. Saint John, New phology and Physiology. Botanical Gazette 25: Brunswick. New Brunswick Museum. 106-118.

Gager, C. S. 1910. Review of The Teaching Bot- Ganong, W. F. 1898e. News. (History of the anist, Second edition, by William F. Ganong. Tor- founding of the Society for Plant Morphology and reya 10: 208-210. Physiology). Botanical Gazette 25: 143-144.

Ganong, W. F. 1885. On the zoology of the inver- Ganong, W. F. 1899a. On polyembryoney and its tebrate animals of Passamaquoddy Bay. Bulletin morphology in Opuntia vulgaris. Rhodora 1: 127. of the Natural History Society of New Brunswick 4: 87–97. Ganong, W. F. 1899b. The Teaching Botanist. New York, The Macmillan Company. Ganong, W. F. 1891. On Raised Peat Bots in New Brunswick. Botanical Gazette 16: 123-126. Ganong, W. F. 1900. 10 January and 5 October letters to Dr. Oscar Urlworm, Editor-in-Chief, Ganong, W. F. 1894. Beiträge zur Kenntniss Botanisches Centralblatt. In: Society for Plant der Morphologie und Biologie der Cacteen Morphology and Physiology, Minutes and Re- Flora 40: 1-40. https://hdl.handel.net/2027/ cords. hvd.32044107241259 [accessed 19 July 2020. (see also Canadiana.org [archives.org]). Ganong, W. F. 1901a. The Cardinal principles of morphology. Botanical Gazette 31: 426–434. Ganong, W. F. 1895a, b. Present problems in the anatomy, morphology and biology of the Cacta- Ganong, W. F. 1901b. A laboratory course in ceae. Botanical Gazette 20: 129-138, 213-221. plant physiology. New York, Henry Holt and Co.

Ganong, W. F. 1895c. The Term Phytobiology. Ganong, W. F. 1903a, b, c, d. The vegetation of Botanical Gazette 20: 38. the Bay of Fundy Salt Marshes – an Ecological Study. Botanical Gazette 36: 161-186, 280-302, Ganong, W. F. 1897a. Upon raised peat bogs in 349-367, 429-455. the Province of New Brunswick. Transactions of the Royal Society of Canada. Section IV, number Ganong, W. F. 1904. The cardinal principles of vi: 131-163. ecology. Science 19: 493-498.

Ganong, W. F. 1897b. The Botanic Garden of Ganong, W. F. 1906. The nacent forest of the Mis- Smith College. A study of an educational adapta- cou Beach Plain. Botanical Gazette 42: 81-106. tion. Garden and Forest December: 512-514. Ganong, W. F. 1908. A laboratory course in plant Ganong, W. F. 1898a. On Polyembryony and its physiology, second edition, extended to form a morphology in Opuntia vulgaris. Botanical Ga- handbook of experimentation for educational use. zette 25: 221–227. New York, Henry Holt and Company.

Ganong, William F. 1898b. Contributions to a Ganong, W. F. 1910a. Some reflections upon bo- knowledge of the morphology of cactaceae. The tanical education in America. Science 31: 321– comparative morphology of the embryo and seed- 334. lings. Annals of Botany 12:423-474. Ganong, W. F. 1910b. The Teaching Botanist, Ganong, W. F. 1898c. Upon raised peat bogs in New and Revised Edition. New York, The Mac- the Province of New Brunswick. Transactions of millan Company. the Royal Society of Canada. III, iv, 131-163.

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Ganong, W. F. 1910c. The place of botanical gar- Handelsman, J., D. Ebert-May, R. Beichner, P. dens in collegiate instruction. Science 31: 644- Bruns, A. Chang, R. DeHaan, J. Gentile, et al. 648. 2004. Scientific Teaching. Science 304: 521-522.

Ganong, W. F. 1913. The Living Plant. New Martin, L. 1942. Page 11 In: J.C. Webster, Wil- York, Henry Holt and Company. liam Francis Ganong Memorial. St. John, New Brunswick, New Brunswick Museum. Ganong, W. F. 1914. Ganong Botanical Appara- tus for use in Plant Physiology A. General Cata- Minutes of the Council, Botanical Society of America, 1893-1926. log (second edition). Rochester, N.Y. Bausch & Lomb Optical Co. Minutes of the Council, Botanical Society of America, 1939-1949. Ganong, W. F. 1917. The botanical equipment of Smith College: a study in educational adaptation. National Educational Association. 1894. Report Smith Alumnae Quarterly 8: 183-191. of the Committee of Ten on secondary school studies with the reports of the conferences ar- Ganong, W. F. and F. E. Lloyd. 1902. Third Re- ranged by the Committee. New York, The Ameri- port of a Committee Appointed by The Society for can Book Company. Plant Morphology and Physiology to consider the Formulation of a Standard College Entrance Op- National Educational Association. 1899. Report tion in Botany. School Science May: 1-8. of the Committee on College Entrance require- ments. Chicago, University of Chicago Press. Ganong, W. F., F. E. Lloyd, and H.C. Cowles. 1908. Fourth report on the college entrance Quinquennial Catalog of the officers and gradu- course in botany. School Review 16: 594-600. ates of Harvard University, 1636-1895. 1895. Cambridge, University Press, John Wilson and Goebel, K. E. von. 1889, 1891. Pflanzenbiolo- Son. gische Schilderungen 1, 2. Marburg, N.G. Elw- ertsche Verlagsbuchhandlung. Website: https:// Rees, R. 2016. New Brunswick was his coun- www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/16695#page/9/ try: The life of William Francis Ganong. Halifax: mode/1up [accessed 24 September 2020]. Nimbus Publishing.

Goebel, K. E. von. 1898, 1901. Organographie Rodgers, A. D. 1944. John Merle Coulter: Mis- der Pflanzen, insbesondere der Archegoniaten sionary in Science. Princeton, Princeton Univer- und Samenfllanzen. 1, 2. Jena. Gustav Fisher. sity Press. Website: https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/ item/84403#page/5/mode/1up [accessed 24 Sep- Seelye, A. B. 1932. Professor Ganong. The Smith tember 2020]. Alumnae Quarterly 23: 407–408.

Gregory, Emily L. 1895. Elements of Plant Anat- Smith Botanic Garden. 2020. Early History 1875- omy. Boston, Ginn & Company. 1920. Website: https://garden.smith.edu/about/ history/early-history-1875-1920. Accessed, 12 Hanauer, D. I., D. Jacobs-Sera, M. L. Pedulla, S. July 2020. G. Cresawn, R. W. Hendrix, and G. F. Hatfull. 2006. Teaching Scientific Inquiry. Science 314: Smith, E. F. 1898. The first annual meeting of 1880-1881. the Society for Plant Morphology and Physiology. The American Naturalist 32: 96-110.

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Smith, F. G. and H. A. Choate. 1941. William Tippo, O. 1958. The early history of the Botanical Francis Ganong, 1864-1941. Science 94: 317-318. Society of America. In: Steere, W. C., Fifty years of botany: Golden jubilee volume of the Botanical Smocovitis, V. B. 2006. One hundred years of Society of America, New York, McGraw-Hill. American botany: A short history of the Botanical Society of America. American Journal of Botany Trafton, G. H. 1902. A comparison of recent 93: 942-952. authorities on methods of teaching botany. The School Review 10: 138-145. Society for Plant Morphology and Physiology. 1897-1906. Minutes and Records. Webster, J. C. 1942a. William Francis Ganong (1864-1941). Transactions of the Royal Society Sundberg, M. D. 2012. Botanical education in of Canada 36: 9. the United State. Part 2, The nineteenth century – Botany for the masses vs. the professionalization Webster, J.C. 1942b. William Francis Ganong of botany. Plant Science Bulletin 58: 101-131. Memorial. St John, New Brunswick, New Bruns- wick Museum. Sundberg, M. D. 2014. Botanical education in the United States: Part 3, The Botanical Society Wynn, G. 2017. Review of Ronald Rees, New builds the discipline, 1895-1960. Plant Science Brunswick was his country: The life of William Bulletin 60: 28-61. Francis Ganong. The Acadiensis Blog, September 13, 2017. Sundberg, M. D. 2016. Botanical education in the United States: Part 4, The role of the Botanical Society of America (BSA) into the next millen- nium. Plant Science Bulletin 62: 132-154.

230 SCIENCE EDUCATION BSA Awarded $3.9m Grant for PlantingScience Grant will continue developing teacher/ scientist collaborative professional development and researching Plantingscience.org’s effectiveness

e Botanical Society of America is and PlantingScience partnering organizations extremely excited to announce that we have to carry out the grant. We refer to the newest recently received a 5-year, $3.9M grant grant as “PlantingScience F2” as a reference from the National Science Foundation! e to the second lial generation concept in NSF Discovery Research K-12 program genetics: the new project represents the (DRK-12) will fund the new project, titled recombination of ideas from two previous “Comparing the Ecacy of Collaborative funding rounds. e F2 project builds on Professional Development Formats for previous research on PlantingScience, which Improving Student Outcomes of a Student- showed improvements in student achievement Teacher-Scientist Partnership Program: and attitudes toward scientists. PlantingScience F2”(Grant #2010556). We will be working closely with BSCS Science Learning, education researchers from the PlantingScience.org University of Colorado: Colorado Springs, BSA developed the PlantingScience online mentoring program in 2005 as a low-barrier way for scientists to get involved in K–12 education. Partnerships and mentoring support from 18 other scienti c societies have enriched the program over the past 15 years. In 2011, the program won a Science SPORE prize as a valuable online By Dr. Catrina Adams, Dr. Jodi Creasap Gee, resource. One of the unique features of Education Director Education Technology Coordinator

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PlantingScience is its availability to all improve students’ science achievement and students in the classroom rather than just attitudes about scientists. Sixty-four teachers to those who are high-achieving or able to and 1535 students participated in the research participate in extracurricular programs. study. e students came from schools that are Each of 10 available PlantingScience themes highly generalizable to the overall population takes small teams of students through of U.S. high schools according to available guided investigations that prepare them for 2012-2013 Common Core data. We randomly culminating, independent investigations assigned teachers to either (1) participate in of their own choosing. Each student team a week-long summer collaborative teacher/ works with a volunteer scientist mentor who scientist professional development and then motivates and helps them develop research participate in the PlantingScience online questions, design experiments, analyze data, mentoring program with their students in and interpret results. One of the unique the fall, or (2) teach photosynthesis and features of PlantingScience is its availability respiration topics as they usually would to all students in the classroom rather during the fall semester. We designed pre- and than just to those who are high-achieving post-test questions to link science concepts or able to participate in extracurricular and practices around photosynthesis and programs. Student teams communicate respiration. We gave both sets of teachers prior access to the assessment questions asynchronously with their mentors through and learning goals. An additional pre- and the PlantingScience website, where they post-test evaluated students’ attitudes about can discuss their research, upload photos scientists. and les, and ask for feedback. Students can also ask their mentor about what they Our research’s core nding was that do as a scientist. Over 30,000 students, 275 implementing the Power of Sunlight module teachers, and 1000 scientist mentors have combined with high-quality PD for teachers participated in PlantingScience since 2005. and scientists resulted in positive and Participating teachers come from 45 states statistically signi cant eects on student and ve countries, and mentors come from achievement and attitudes toward scientists 39 countries. (standardized mean eect size g = 0.284 and 0.280, respectively). Future students of these teachers also bene ted as 75% of participating Digging Deeper (DIG) teachers continue to use materials from the e new F2 grant will include a replication of module, and evaluators reported signi cant the research conducted as part of our previous gains in teachers’ preparedness to support NSF-DRK 12 grant, “PlantingScience Digging student science learning generally. Early- Deeper Together - A Model for Collaborative career scientists also bene ted from the Teacher/Scientist Professional Development” experience, making them more aware of best (Grant #1502892, $2.9M, 2015-2021). We practices in instruction. As one interviewed designed the DIG research as a cluster- PlantingScience scientist related, “...It made randomized, pre-test/post-test control group me realize that a lot more can go into a lecture impact study to determine the eectiveness than just PowerPoint... I want to give students of PlantingScience’s Power of Sunlight experiences like those high school students photosynthesis and respiration module to are experiencing.”

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that this new project will require many new The new project builds on mentors. Stay tuned for a call for volunteer PlantingScience and mentors as the grant moves forward. We will need your help and expertise to make this Digging Deeper eort a success! is newly funded research has the potential to add important data to the science education We are incredibly grateful to the BSA literature. First, it will serve as a replication community for the continued support of this study to substantiate and con rm the ndings unique and powerful program for bringing of the Digging Deeper research. ese plant biology into middle and high school replication studies are rare but are increasingly classrooms. Your volunteer mentoring eorts, recognized as important. A new component the programmatic assistance you provide as of the research will be the development and part of the Master Plant Science Team, and testing of an online collaborative teacher/ your donations over the years have kept this scientist professional development format so program growing. We are proud of the success we can test the eectiveness of this approach of PlantingScience and its value as a model for compared with a face-to-face approach for successfully leveraging scientists' passion and professional development. e online format, expertise in service to the next generation of if eective, should enable many more teachers scientists and informed citizens. to take part in a cost-eective way. When we recruit teachers to participate in this project, we will make sure to focus on teachers who serve THANKS TO rural and underserved areas. We want to reach PLANTINGSCIENCE’S students who do not have access to scientist mentors or who do not feel they can succeed EARLY-CAREER SCIENTIST in science. e new grant will also allow us SUPPORT TEAM to continue re ning our PlantingScience web platform to make it easier to use and to PlantingScience student teams need implement new accessibility features. personalized attention and monitoring to ensure they get scientist feedback at key points in their investigations. To provide this level The BSA community's of support requires a strong and dedicated team. We are excited to welcome Dr. Gwynne continued support will help Lim as our new PlantingScience intern for the make this project fall 2020 session. Gwynne is also working as the Executive Secretary of the International successful Commission on Zoological Nomenclature. Scientists who volunteer to serve as mentors Before that, she earned her Ph.D. in Plant for students are integral to the success of Biology at Cornell University in 2018, and her PlantingScience and this upcoming research Masters and Bachelors of Science (Biological study. We welcome scientists to sign up as Sciences) at the National University of mentors for PlantingScience, and we anticipate Singapore in 2010 and 2007, respectively. She

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Learn more about the bene ts and requirements of being on the MPST and consider joining next year’s MPST cohort of graduate students and postdocs: https:// plantingscience.org/joinmpst. Applications will open at the end of this academic year. Dr. Gwynne Lim interns with PlantingScience starting Fall 2020. THE TREE-MENDOUS has been talking peoples’ ears o about science, nature, and natural history as a volunteer or BENEFITS OF TREES! instructor for over 15 years. Interns help get NEW PLANTINGSCIENCE the website set up for participating teachers, coordinate the Master Plant Science Team’s INVESTIGATION THEME work, and help monitor and support hundreds PlantingScience sta is pleased to introduce of active student teams. a new investigation theme created by PlantingScience mentor Dr. Monica We’d also like to recognize the 2020-2021 Lewandowski, with support from the American Master Plant Science Team (MPST) cohort. Phytopathological Society. Teachers and ese graduate students and postdocs serve as faculty can use the new “Tree-mendous mentors to teams of students and as liaisons Bene ts of Trees” module as a stand-alone for PlantingScience teachers. ey help module if pressed for time in their curriculum teachers nd suitable mentor matches for their or can use it to introduce or supplement one of teams and step in to help keep all the student/ our other investigation themes. In the module, scientist and teacher/mentor conversations students are encouraged to go outside—in going strong. is fall BSA is supporting 16 their backyard, neighborhood green space, or scientists on the MPST: Asawari Albal, Foong on campus—and make detailed observations Chee, Chloe Drummond, Fiona Duong, Ana of the trees around them before investigating Flores, Sara Johnson, Jared Meek, Rebecca various ways to estimate the bene ts those Panko, Lydia Paradiso, Chelsea Pretz, trees provide. e module is well suited for Klara Scharnagl, Tatyana Soto, Cameron distance learning during the pandemic. More Sweisthal, David omas, Lydia Tressel, and information on this new module is available Bethany Zumwalde. at: https://plantingscience.org/bene tsorees.

Members of the MPST make it easier for high-school teachers to teach more plant biology in the classroom, which is so essential to capturing student interest and increasing appreciation for plants. Please thank them for their service to the eld!

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e Life Discovery Conference is a highly RECORD ATTENDANCE interactive conference, with many discussion FOR VIRTUAL 2020 opportunities around the conference themes. Despite moving to a virtual format, discussion LIFE DISCOVERY: and interaction were preserved through DOING SCIENCE a program that included an Education Share Fair where participants could share CONFERENCE work-in-progress, Panel Discussions and Breakouts, and small group Networking e Life Discovery: Doing Science Conference is a stand-alone education Topic discussions. Attendees enjoyed the conference for high-school teachers and practicality of the conference topics and undergraduate faculty cohosted by the the ease-of-access that the virtual format Botanical Society of America, e Ecological provided. One attendee wrote: “I really Society of America, and the Society for the appreciated this conference and the focus on Study of Evolution. We recently held the practical applications of ideas. I’ve attended sixth Life Discovery Conference with the other similar events that were more focused theme “Biology Education in an Evolving on theories, analyzing eectiveness data, etc. Landscape.” e virtual format made (all of which are worthy pursuits, of course), attendance easier and less expensive, and but those experiences le me wondering, a record ~200 faculty and teachers were “How do I actually apply this?” I teach non- able to attend, about double the usual majors classes at a community college and I attendance. Highlights included daily was able to bene t by the presentations made keynotes: “Ecology Education goes 4D” by colleagues teaching at a variety of levels.” (Dr. Ken Klemow), “Taking Steps Toward Multidimensional Learning with 4DEE” e 7th Life Discovery: Doing Science (Dr. Luanna Prevost), “Reclaiming the Conference will be held next October in Estes ‘Intro’ in Introduction Biology” (Dr. Bryan Park, CO, from Sept 30-Oct 2, 2021. e theme Dewsbury), and a keynote panel on “Online is “Pushing Past Barriers: Ecological Science Teaching and Learning - Undergraduate for All.” Please save the date and consider and High School” which featured “My very presenting. A call for proposals is open until own Bioblitz” (Dr. Concepcion Rodriguez- December 27, 2020. Check out the conference Fourquet), “e SIFT Virtual Experience: website for more information: http://www. How being thrust into virtual learning was esa.org/ldc. just the kick in the pants we needed!” (Andy Klingensmith), and “e Power of Place-based Ecology and Online Possibilities during Distance Learning” (Jordan Gonzales).

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Shifting Gears: Fieldwork, Benchwork, and Greenhouse Studies during COVID-19 COVID-19 is continuing to shape botanical Everyone has been impacted dierently from research moving forward, but it remains COVID-19, and returning to eldwork/ important, despite the barriers it may currently benchwork/greenhouse work may be too face. Recent publications highlight some of risky for some. these changes; for example, Vandebroek et al. (2020) discussed the barriers COVID-19 We know that this is a hard time for students, has placed on ethnobotanical research. even more so for those starting or nishing Additionally, Weng (2020) highlighted degrees. If you are currently in transition, try that research involving plants is extremely to stay connected with your previous mentors important for treating infectious diseases, and lab mates. Connect with other BSA controlling future pandemics, and nding students via the new BSA Slack. Find out more solutions to other crises (e.g., climate change). ways to interact with BSA at: https://tinyurl. com/y8294b. Also check out the Botany2020 is summer, we collected BSA members’ Virtual Networking Board at: https://tinyurl. experiences with COVID-19. Since it remains com/yau5uqgb. persistent, we want to continue to share stories and advice from BSA members. Responses included messages of hope and moving FIELDWORK forward, despite big changes to research plans and physical and mental well-being. In Elena Loke addition, there were stories sharing defeat. “is spring I was going to be doing lab work and in the summer I had planned to do eldwork in Hawaii. My lab work has been shied to this fall and winter, and to take the place of the eldwork I included more phylogenetic analyses. When COVID-19 began, I had not started lab work or eldwork, so my plans were not interrupted, only modi ed. However, the By Shelly Gaynor and Imeña Valdes focus of my research has changed from being BSA Student Representatives

236 PSB 66 (3) 2020 more about conservation, which would have involved the eldwork, to more about testing newer analytical methods with the increased number of phylogenetic analyses. Despite these changes, I expect to graduate within the normal 2-year MS timeframe. Fortunately, I am still able to use all the funds from the grants I was awarded this winter/spring because I didn’t budget for any travel. During these times, it has been very important for me to be exible and adaptable and to maintain open, honest communication with advisors and peers. Every day I remind myself of the things for which I am grateful and that I am learning new things, even if they are not what Bryan MacNeill I expected to be learning before COVID-19.” University of Alabama

“I was going to start my eld work in Mexico this last summer with a single collaborator from National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM). I had to cancel my eld work completely because of travel restrictions. However, I’ve been able to get in contact with multiple herbarium curators and professors at institutions across Mexico to get specimen samples for my molecular work. Never be afraid to “cold email” someone to ask for help—you would be surprised how willing people are to help! Now I have cultivated Diego Paredes-Burneo collaborative relationships with professors Louisiana State University and curators from across Mexico, and look forward to meeting with them when I “I had a trip to Peru for this past September, eventually get to go!” but it got cancelled. Since it was a collaboration with the New York Botanical Garden, it gets more complicated (especially in the future) due to this institution’s budget administration. I am currently doing lab work, but I am doing everything (beginning with DNA extractions) from scratch: no one could guide me. Because of this, my learning process has become longer than planned."

237 PSB 66 (3) 2020 BENCHWORK AND GREENHOUSE Allison Miller

“We developed separate standard operating procedures, schedules, and maps to space people out in the lab. In the eld, we put together detailed standard operating procedures for each individual eld site. e Plant Growth Facility at my institution constructed detailed schedules, spacing plans, and protocols for safe greenhouse work. e result has been that we have fewer people Sara Johnson working at any one time, the hours people are University of Illinois: working have moved to earlier and later in the Urbana-Champaign day to accommodate the most work at lower densities, people are spaced out in dierent “When COVID-19 stay-at-home orders were areas of the lab/ eld, and everyone is wearing put in place, I had just returned home from masks at all times.” a conference in Georgia. I was in the stage of preparing models for eld validation during my eld season from June to August. We put o the decision to cancel the eld season as long as possible, but lodging was continually dicult to nd, work permissions were challenging to get, and long-distance travel and coordinating safe logistics was consistently risky throughout the summer. Fortunately, this was the second year of data for my MS project, and essentially extra data; however, it was disappointing to miss out on a year of eldwork, data collection, and experiences. Fortunately, I have been able to adapt my project and formulate a plan for wrapping up my thesis work mostly uninterrupted. Also, Bethany Zumwalde we were fortunate to have our grant extended University of Florida for continued and ongoing work. I am grateful for the extra time it has given me to focus “Although my research was stunted by the on restructuring my thesis goals, work on a pandemic, I was able to adapt my work and manuscript, and begin writing earlier than set reasonable goals to move forward. When I had anticipated, as well as the time to take COVID-19 began, I had just started to collect care of myself during these stressful times.” data for my project. When stay-at-home 238 PSB 66 (3) 2020 mandates were implemented, I utilized that graduate, I was just nishing my lab work time to work on writing grants and papers. and starting my bioinformatics work, plus Access to campus became heavily restricted writing. I was lucky because I could continue and I had to quickly improvise by transforming with my work mostly from home. Sadly, we my small apartment into a greenhouse and lab. did have to leave a few experiments out of my My porch became jam-packed with cacti sent dissertation, since for the rst few months of from collaborators, and I was able to purchase lockdown, entry to the lab was completely a cheap phase contrast microscope to set up in restricted. Of course, all our lab meetings had my living room for chromosome counts and to be online, which made work a bit harder. epidermal peels. Fieldwork was the trickiest Only one person was permitted into the lab at part to navigate during the pandemic. I had least for the rst months, so he had to make originally planned to recruit an undergraduate sure everything was still working. Since we student to assist me with eldwork in Texas, have plants in our lab, they all had to be taken but this was simply not an option at that time to our PI’s home to be taken care of, but our since most students had moved home to aquatic plant (Aponogeton madagascariensis) quarantine. Luckily, a good friend and fellow could not be transferred. I think my biggest researcher volunteered to help me in the eld. tip is to keep communicating with your lab We prioritized collecting at remote roadsides mates and to try to make the most of your time and limited our interactions in public spaces. at home by writing, reading, or learning new Ultimately, my research was able to progress skills. I also found a great science community with resourceful solutions, maintaining on Twitter during quarantine, so I would reasonable expectations, and a huge amount suggest you join!” of help from others!” MUSEUMS Anonymous

“Before COVID-19 I was starting to conduct lab work on the plant fossils. Due to COVID-19, I cannot conduct the collection visits I had planned to do at the Field Museum in Chicago and European Collections. I also planned using SEM to study my specimens at the Field Museum, which is no longer possible. Regarding collection visits, that part Sarita Muñoz-Gómez of my project is no longer possible, and I have University of Antioquia decided to remove that aspect of my project. Instead of conducting SEM, I am attempting “By the time the pandemic started in Colombia, to take close up photographs on my own or I was in my last semester. Since we are required pay to have my specimens scanned at different to do an undergrad dissertation before we institutions.”

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health disorders were found to have doubled MENTAL HEALTH AND among graduate and professional students in MOVING FORWARD 2020 compared to 2019 (see Chirikov et al., 2020). If you are currently struggling with Tracey Simmons mental health, know that you are not alone. We do recommend reaching out for help: “I graduated in December [2019], right before the pandemic. is put me in a • Mental Health America, resources for dicult position. Because I’ve graduated, nding the right mental health care for my aliation with the lab at my undergrad you: https://www.mhanational.org/ nd- institution is dierent. I would like to continue ing-right-mental-health-care-you on to a graduate degree, but the pandemic has • ULifeline - mental health resources by impacted my mental health in such a way that university: http://www.ulifeline.org/stat- I do not feel I could be successful before a ic/must_select_a_school vaccine is available. I have tried to apply for • Active Minds (chapters at many univer- jobs, but strict protocols in my area mean sities) - resources for students: https:// there are almost none available. I’m essentially www.activeminds.org/ unable to do anything, despite wanting very ough we recommend seeking out a much to be working or doing research.” professional to discuss your mental health, we want to share apps designed to help with anxiety, stress, and mindfulness:

Unfortunately, this is only one example of how • Shine: https://www.theshineapp.com/ COVID-19 is negatively aecting students. ºFor calming anxiety and stress It should be noted that COVID-19 aects • Headspace: https://www.headspace.com/ dierent marginalized groups in a myriad of ºFor meditation, sleep, stress, and ways and to be conscious that your experience mindfulness during this pandemic is not universal. We As students, we play many roles in our thank those who have openly shared their communities and have the ability to shape the struggles with us and on social media and future of academia. erefore, there are many shed light that we are not alone in this. ways we can support our peers, mentees, and community now and in the future. Below It is essential to destigmatize mental health in we summarize just a few and provide some academia, to create an inclusive environment, relevant literature. and support those in our community struggling with mental health. Depression and anxiety are about two to six times more Support Your Peers likely in graduate students compared to the general population (Levecque et al., 2017; Mental health resources have historically Evans et al., 2018). e pandemic has most been limited. Do you know if your university likely increased the prevalence of mental provides mental health services? Know your health issues among students; as noted above, options and share them with your lab mates it has already greatly impacted career and and peers. At the University of Florida (UF), research trajectories. Speci cally, mental a Biology graduate student mental health 240 PSB 66 (3) 2020 committee reviews the graduate student health insurance and UF options each year, Build an Inclusive Lab providing the rest of us a list of resources we As we continue in our careers, we hope to see can take advantage of. Setting up informal the academic culture shi to be healthier and support networks is an amazing way to more inclusive (of mental health and more). support your peers. Evans et al. (2018) highlighted the need to enhance access to mental health support and cultural changes. e papers below discuss Support Your Mentees creating environments that support the To briey summarize Cooper et al. (2020), mental health of students, post-docs, and lab mentors can support undergraduate members. researchers with depression by: 1. recognizing students depression as a Suggested Reading: valid illness, • Maestre, F. T. 2019. Ten simple rules 2. encouraging a positive supportive towards healthier research labs. PLOS lab environment, Computational Biology 15: e1006914. 3. developing personal relationships, 4. treating undergraduates with re- • Ålund, M., N. Emery, B. J. Jarrett, K. J. spect and praising them, and MacLeod, H. F. McCreery, N. Mamooza- 5. normalizing failure. deh, J. G. Phillips, et al. 2020. Academic ecosystems must evolve to support a sustainable postdoc workforce. Nature Ecology & Evolution 13: 1-5. Suggested Reading: • Cooper, K. M., L. E. Gin, M. E. Barnes, • Dewa, C. S., K. Nieuwenhuijsen, K. J. and S. E. Brownell. 2020. An exploratory Holmes‐Sullivan, A. K. Singh, and G. study of students with depression in un- Drakakaki. 2020. Introducing plant dergraduate research experiences. CBE— biology graduate students to a culture of Life Sciences Education 19: ar19. mental well‐being. Plant Direct 4: e00211.

• Cooper, K. M., L. E. Gin, and S. E. We hope to continue to recommend “Papers Brownell. 2020. Depression as a conceal- to Read for Future Leaders” to BSA Student able stigmatized identity: what inuences members. If you have papers you would like whether students conceal or reveal their us to include, please share it with us via this depression in undergraduate research ex- Google form: https://tinyurl.com/y5dp8r4m. periences? International Journal of STEM Education 7: 1-18.

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Levecque, K., F. Anseel, A. De Beuckelaer, J. LITERATURE CITED Van der Heyden, and L. Gisle. 2017. Research Chirikov, I., K. M. Soria, B. Horgos, and D. Policy. 46: 868–879. Jones-White. 2020. Undergraduate and Grad- uate Students’ Mental Health During the CO- Vandebroek, I., A. Pieroni, J. R. Stepp, N. VID-19 Pandemic. UC Berkeley: Center for Hanazaki, A. Ladio, R. R. N. Alves, D. Pick- Studies in Higher Education. ing, et al. 2020. Reshaping the future of eth- nobiology research after the COVID-19 pan- Cooper, K. M., L. E. Gin, M. E. Barnes, and demic. Nature Plants 6: 723–730. S. E. Brownell. 2020. An exploratory study of students with depression in undergradu- Weng, J.-K. 2020. Plant solutions for the CO- ate research experiences. CBE—Life Sciences VID-19 pandemic and beyond: Historical re- Education. 19: ar19. flections and future perspectives. Molecular Plant 13: 803-807. Evans, T. M., L. Bira, J. B. Gastelum, L. T. Weiss, and N. L. Vanderford. 2018. Evidence for a mental health crisis in graduate educa- tion. Nature Biotechnology 36: 282.

242 PSB 66 (3) 2020 Getting Started in Tropical Field Research Hi again everyone—this is your former BSA student I have about a decade of experience doing rep, Minya. I hope you’re staying safe and healthy, and tropical eldwork, which began with in 2010 taking good care of your physical and mental health. as an undergraduate. It is now 2020 (I nd it Back in 2019, Shelly and I decided to do a eldwork- related student section for the Plant Science Bulletin hard to believe), and in the past year I nished to help everyone prepare for all the eldwork that was grad school and started a postdoctoral supposed to happen in 2020. But then, as we know, fellowship. Despite not being exceptionally COVID changed our world and we had to postpone the outdoorsy as a child—I grew up in a fairly eldwork issue. Now, as we are trying our best to improve urban part of New Jersey and spent far more the current situation, we are happy to nally publish the essay that we invited Dr. Kadeem Gilbert to write. time reading about biology than I did actually going outside—I had always fantasized When I was trying to nd a friend who has a lot of about going to distant countries to explore eldwork-related insights to share, Kadeem came to my tropical ecosystems. How does one actually mind immediately. Surely, Kadeem has done eldwork get started doing tropical eldwork as part of many times, particularly in Southeast Asia, but I also believed that we can learn so much more from him their career? If you’re an undergrad and like besides the logistics of how to do eldwork. He travels me didn’t do much camping as a kid, I would around the globe not just to study the pitcher plants in recommend gaining some eld experience dierent places, but his curiosity about the histories and (any eld experience) as soon as possible to the cultures of the regions are also infectious. He embraces determine whether eldwork is truly for you dierent cultures fully, learns the languages (he speaks six languages!), becomes a strong advocate for them back in before fully committing to it as a career. the U.S., and shows the beauty of them to everyone. e idea of eldwork may sound exciting and is eldwork essay comprised two parts. In the rst glamorous in the abstract, but there are many part, Kadeem gave some practical tips and guides for diculties involved: strenuous climbs, hot and students who plan to do eldwork. In the second part, muggy temperatures, torrential downpours, Kadeem told us a vivid and thrilling story during one of his eldworks that made even him have the thought of “I and biting mosquitoes. ere are many great will stop doing tropical eldwork.” programs out there that oer experiences in tropical eld biology for undergraduates, Enjoy! including Operation Wallacea and the Organization for Tropical Field Studies (OTS). It is a great idea to apply for programs like these if you think you may want to do a lot of eld research in your career, By Dr. Kadeem Gilbert whether in or outside of academia. USDA-NIFA To get my feet wet as a junior, I did Postdoctoral Research Fellow both an NSF REU (National Science Pennsylvania State University, Foundation Research Experiences University Park, PA for Undergraduates) program based E-mail: [email protected] in Indonesia, as well as a Drexel-run

243 PSB 66 (3) 2020 study abroad program, which is open to permit application process. It may also be students from all universities and incorporates possible to initiate your eldwork more eld research in addition to classes, in immediately by getting added to their Equatorial Guinea. In my case, this was aer existing permit and joining an upcoming I got acquainted with doing local temperate expedition they’ve planned. eldwork. • e longer or more remote the expedi- tion, the more important it is to have a e best way to do eldwork as a graduate team of people with you, including expe- student is to apply to work with an advisor rienced eldworkers who understand all who has experience doing eldwork in the of the logistics. speci c country you are interested in. Know • e most successful eld expeditions will that the exact process for getting all of the include local guides on the team; they necessary permits to do research in a foreign know the land better than any visitor country depends on the country, and it can be could ever hope to, and they are the most quite long and arduous—for some countries prepared to respond to any emergencies moreso than others. So, if you have a speci c that result from run-ins with dangerous country in mind, it’s de nitely to your ora or fauna. e cultural exchange that advantage to keep that in consideration and comes from interacting with local people factor it into your application process if you’re is also one component that makes eld- currently thinking about applying to grad work enjoyable and exciting. You might school. If you’re already a grad student and it’s consider learning the local language to not the case that you’re working with someone enhance this experience. who has an active research program in your • Always be prepared for challenges at speci c country of interest, your advisor every step. is can refer to the research can at least help you nd another researcher itself (you might sadly nd that forces to connect with who knows the speci cs of beyond your control impede data collec- your target country. It may also be important tion, maybe you get to your site and nd to keep an open mind and be exible about out that a drought has caused your plants where to work. I went into graduate school to dry up and die), but it also applies even strongly desiring to work in Indonesia, but I more to personal safety. Be mindful of ended up doing projects in Singapore and the your steps (literally) when climbing pre- Philippines instead because it was easier to get carious slopes or walking through thick permits to do the work that I wanted (I work vegetation. Wear long sleeves and pants on Southeast Asian pitcher plants) in a more to protect your skin from insect bites convenient time frame. and spiny vegetation, and make sure it’s a breathable quick-dry material. A wide- All in all, my major tips for eldwork brimmed hat can protect you from the (especially tropical eldwork abroad) boils oppressive heat of the equatorial sun, and down to having a network of people to support wearing a bandana is useful for keeping you: sweat out of your eyes. • Keep a resolved constitution in the face of • Make connections with researchers al- an emergency. ready working in your region of interest; they can help you with the speci cs of the

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I initially wanted to talk about my eldwork (How surprised I was to still see such sharp experience overall to expound upon some of relief in the landscape at that point, aer all these points above. I wanted to give a brief we had already scaled.) e site was absolutely summary of an incident in 2014 to illustrate breathtaking—some of the most gorgeous, the principle of keeping a resolved constitution awe-inspiring, unspoiled tropical forest that in the face of an emergency, but once I began I’ve had the pleasure of seeing (and fortunately writing, I felt compelled to go into more detail I’ve experienced a few such places both before about the experience—a story that I have and aerwards). recounted many times to friends in person, yet up until now neglected to write down (I When we had arrived at part of the caldera, lament my constant failure to keep a journal). it was late aernoon and we had time to rest I decided to write out this entire narrative. I and plan for the morning. You see, this was will preface this by saying that I don’t want to meant to be our home base for a few days, but scare anyone out of doing eldwork, but this is not the nal point—there was more climbing a tale of extreme danger and fear. It recounts to do to nd what I wanted. I mentioned I was a life-threatening event that did make me with other researchers, but our goals were not reconsider continuing to do eldwork, but the same. We (me, two other scientists, and it did not stop me. It also, I believe, touches our local eld guides) had already broken upon how some of the points above can keep apart from the larger group we had arrived at you safe and secure in the eld. I hope you Bulusan with; the rest of the group remained enjoy. at a lower elevation site. I was then going to break o from the other two scientists the next morning to work in a dierent part of the site FIELDWORK: (though of course the plan was for us to meet back up at the home base each evening for BOTH PLEASURE AND PAIN the 3 to 4 days we planned to be there). ese It is June of 2014, and I am in a small clinic in two invertebrate zoologists quickly identi ed a small town almost in the middle of nowhere which of the surrounding slopes they would in the southern tip of the island of Luzon, the use to search for ants and harvestmen. I was Philippines. My entire body is in pain like actually kind of tagging along on this big I’ve never felt before (or since). It’s dicult to expedition made up mostly of entomologists, even describe how intense it was at the time; I and I as a fairly early grad student was just think my brain refuses to let me remember the scouting the site as a possible new project site. full extent of the sensation. It was as if jolts of I was looking for Nepenthes, and I asked one lightning were electrocuting my muscles, and of the guides where I might nd some of the I could barely move. How did I get here? Just a plants (I pointed to photos in my Field Guide to few hours ago, I actually was in the middle of the Pitcher Plants of the Philippines). Whereas nowhere, up on a ridge of a caldera on Mount the invertebrate zoologists had decided on a Bulusan. My expedition team had hiked up relatively at slope to the le of where we were something like 8 or 10 hours to get up to facing, the guide pointed to a slope on the the point where we pitched our tents, in the exact opposite side—it looked almost vertical at crater surrounded by ridges on all sides, in its ascent. He said that they (some other towering in a 360-degree panoramic view. park rangers were already stationed up here in

245 PSB 66 (3) 2020 addition to the ones who climbed up with us) is that there is always a risk of unexpected had just started cutting a trail up that section incidents in eldwork like this; I had accepted recently, and it might be a bit dangerous that risk by choosing to do tropical eldwork, because the potential trail is still nonexistent but experiencing a real emergency actually and the slope is thickly covered in spiny rattan solidi ed my perception that the risks are (Calamoideae). However, they caught sight worth it. Today, I do not regret making the of some Nepenthes during their initial bush- decision to climb up that slope, even though it whacking. He asked if that’s the spot I wanted was the singular event when I most feared for to climb in the morning, even though it might my life. My climb that morning was cut short be a bit dangerous, and I, keen to nd my by a vicious bee attack. It came unprovoked, plants, thought about it seriously for a few without warning; I never even saw their nest. seconds and answered, “Yes, de nitely”. I did We had climbed maybe only about an hour not know it, but the next day I would end up and had just gotten to a relatively at point at the clinic. and took a brief pause, when the rst one suddenly appeared ying toward me and With our respective plans in place, we rested bombarded me in the forehead. that evening and did a little exploring of our immediate surroundings. I tracked the sound I turned to my guide who was behind me at of a calling frog and located him (possibly a the moment to say, “I think I just got stung!?!” Platymantis) calling from his perch in a water- (with a tone of puzzlement), but in that very lled Pandanus leaf axil. On that same plant, I instant the rest of her swarm descended down found a crab nestled in the furrow of another upon us. Puzzlement then instantly became leaf—quite interesting to nd a crab so far pure terror as bees entirely covered my view. from the sea! I wondered if that species was ere were literally hundreds of them (a fully terrestrial like the neotropical bromeliad conservative estimate) and dozens of them crab; it would make sense, considering that (again, a conservative estimate) proceeded to the pockets of water in Pandanus de nitely sting me all over my face and head throughout host frogs as bromeliads do. I am all about the course of this attack. I could smell the studying the tiny ecosystems in plant-held astringent scent of their pheromones as the waters (phytotelmata), which is the main stings continued. e sound of their loud thrust of what I continue to focus on with buzzing lled the air (to this day, any buzzing Nepenthes. sound can make my heart skip a beat), and at one point I felt one actually crawl into my ear. Anyway, I realize I probably have held you From the start of this attack, the guide shouted readers in suspense for too long. First thing that we have to get down and urged me to in the morning, the other two scientists and move quickly, but aer being stung several a couple guides headed to their slope, and I times that very rst minute—they came one with one guide headed up mine. It was not aer the other—my body immediately felt the anticipated dangers that brought me weak. Numb is not the right word, as I felt to the hospital: the steepness didn’t end up the intense bodily pain, but I mean I was bothering me that much, and my long sleeves numb in that it became hard to li my limbs. and pants protected me from the rattan spines On top of that it was a very steep descent and (I even had on thick work gloves, as suggested gravity could overtake me even if I were in full by my guide). My point in telling this story 246 PSB 66 (3) 2020 control of my limbs. Furthermore, I could not in the middle of nowhere. I’m not sure, but see where I was going due to my eorts to keep I think it was luck that eventually a vehicle the bees away from my eyes at least (I swung passed by, and eventually one with the capacity my bandana in front of my face and angled to take me in as a passenger. (It was one of my head down), but on top of that there was those motorcycles with an attachment in the no trail to even see—it was thick vegetation all back—not a comfortable ride, but thankfully around. I did not throw up again as I did going down the mountain). We were both getting stung, but I was apparently bearing the brunt of the attack as I So, to return to where I began the story: the was the larger target and less able to navigate doctor gave me an antihistamine shot at away. Also, I had never been stung before the clinic and said that my swelling should in my life—I didn’t truly know that I wasn’t subside and that I’d recover in a few days. I allergic. I owe my life to several brave guides asked if she could remove the bee from my ear. who worked together to get me to safety. The Puzzled, she looked in with an otoscope and one guide with me on the slope at this time didn’t see anything at rst (it must have been got on his walky-talky to call up some more deep in there), but then succeeded getting who were at the base camp. They helped that dead Apis dorsata breviligula worker me get back down to the tents as quickly as out with forceps. We were all shocked to see possible. The bees continued to sting me until just how large the insect was—it was dicult we made it back to the tents, after maybe 30 to imagine how it could t in my ear. I kept minutes that felt like an eternity. (Adding to the specimen in a vial of ethanol and carried the puzzlement of this unprovoked attack: it around with me throughout the rest of the if they were defending a hive, why continue trip like a trophy. I initially intended to bring attacking me long after moving away from it back to America with me to keep it always the place that it started?) A couple of guides as a memento, but I ended up donating it to lay me down in a hammock and pulled the science when I ran into a bee taxonomist in stingers out of my face and head. I said, “I Singapore who, aer IDing the species for me, think I may need to go to a hospital”; I could stated that he was working on doing a species barely even move a finger and my entire body delimitation for the Apis dorsata complex (he was on fire with pain. Also, I could not hear suggested that several subspecies might need out of my right ear since there was a bee to be elevated to species status) and asked me lodged in it. I told the guides about the bee if he could keep the specimen. in my ear, but they couldn’t see it and said I might be mistaken—maybe the hearing loss is might all sound like an unimaginable was an effect of all that venom. nightmare to you, reader, and it certainly was to me at the time. However, my point is not Using the hammock as a stretcher, a cadre to dissuade anyone from eldwork; it did not of guides carried me down all the way to the discourage me. While I was being attacked, I base of the mountain (in apparently a fraction honestly thought I was going to die and felt of the time that it took us to climb up, since fear like I never felt before or since. One of the sun had not yet set when I left the hospital) the many thoughts that ashed in my head and down further to the nearest road out here was that if I got out of this situation, I would

247 PSB 66 (3) 2020 never decide to do eldwork again. While I the natural world and so love every moment was being carried down the mountain in the of being out in the wilderness that it drives hammock-stretcher, I amended this thought me to take these calculated risks. Even the to, “I will stop doing tropical eldwork.” Laying negative experiences are worth the chance to on the actual stretcher in the clinic, I thought, experience nature’s grandeur, which is truly “I’ll never do eldwork in a really remote site awesome in the classical sense of the word. e again, but I want to continue doing tropical good and the bad, the pleasure and the pain, eldwork.” I felt unable to climb back up are two sides of the same coin that imparts Bulusan to complete the plan of staying at the upon me the intense, ineable emotion that caldera site for the remainder of the week— can only come from Nature. Nature to me the attack happened on the rst morning at is like living art, and while eldwork has the caldera, and sadly I didn’t even see any inspired me to write stanzas like “Only the pitcher plants on that slope—but I chose not cleansing/Rays of the sun upon me/Can distill to leave the Philippines. my pain,” it has inspired many more stanzas of pure awe and wonder like “e mountains Aer recovering for 2 or 3 days, I was ying exhale/Ethereal white breath spews/Forests over to the next island that my main expedition join with sky” or “Countless insects scream/In team had planned visiting, and I happily (if polyphonic chorus/Wondrous night music.” slightly apprehensively) climbed yet another remote mountain. I am actually not a “thrill- All in all, I sincerely hope that any student seeker-type.” Despite such adventures, I reading this with the passion to do so gets to don’t see myself as an Indiana Jones rushing experience amazing eldwork like I have— headlong into danger. I’m just so fascinated by and stay safe!

248 PSB 66 (3) 2020

FROM THE PSB ARCHIVES 60 years ago Wilson Stewart discusses recent controversies in paleobotany: “For the past ve years I have become increasingly perplexed by the frequency of articles supporting the claim that vascular plants with lycopsid anities occurred in the Cambrian. If the evidence justi ed the conclusion, then this would be one of the most spectacular paleobotanical nds since Lang and Cookson’s (1935) discovery of bona de vascular plants in the Silurian rocks of Australia.” --Stewart, Wilson N. “More About the Origin of Vascular Plants” PSB 6(5): 1-5.

50 years ago “Harlan Banks presents the Address of the Retiring President of the Botanical Society of America, pre- sented at the Society’s annual banquet, August 26. 1970, at Bloomington, Indiana. “Yes, I visualize the day when we’ll know many Devonian plants as plants rather than as isolated organs, when we’ll be able to speak intelligently about habitats and associations, when we’ll know the length of time that was required to evolve new species, and the algae from which vascular plants did evolve. I think we’ll learn whether the origin of vascular tissue was related to the origin of metabolic pathways for the manufacture of lignin (perhaps in the Silurian). I think we’ll know much more about the possible role of O2 concentration in the atmosphere, its role in the formation of ozone, and their role in shielding Earth’s surface from lethal ultra-violet radiation, thus permitting the occupation of dry land. And of course I’ll be watching for con rmation of my wildest statement, actually a primitive attempt at precision, that all the phylogenetically important innovations among vascular plants are found during the 50-million-year adaptive radiation of land plants that occurred in the Devonian Period. Ted Delevoryas has picked me up on this one and allowed as how all the evolution aer Devonian time was just ‘frosting on the cake.’” --Banks, H. P. ”Chipping Away at Early Land Plants: Of People, Places, and Perturbations” PSB 16(4): 1-6.

40 years ago Paul B. Conant, President of Triarch, Inc., a supplier of microscope slides since 1926, has asked that members of the Botanical Society write to him to assist in the decisions relating to the continuation of the rm. e squeeze between rising costs and reduced educational budgets has placed the company in the position where it is unable to meet increased salary requirements. Mr. Conant would like to hear from members as to their needs for prepared slides in years to come and other information on the problems associated with Triarch. --HELP!. PSB 26(4): 29.

249 ANNOUNCEMENTS

Brian describes his early school years as a time when he was not an especially good student. In Memoriam But his curiosity about nature drove him to places where he collected snakes and frogs, but in a limited number because his mother was not particularly fond of having to share space with these creatures in her house. His interest in fossils and collecting them began at an early age. As is somewhat typical of kids, the captivation of dinosaurs and their ancient remains fueled his imagination and no doubt had some bearing on his interests in studying the ancient remains of the Earth. At this point, he had little interest in the fossil remains of plants, but it is apparent by his life’s work that his choice to focus on these important organisms became far greater than he could have possibly imagined.

Brian graduated high school (St. Pius X, Pottstown, PA) in 1980, and from there moved BRIAN JOSEPH AXSMITH on to Millersville University of Pennsylvania in Millersville, PA. One of his professors at (1963–2020) Millersville University, where Brian developed It is with great sadness that we share that our a curiosity for fossil plants, became his friend and colleague Brian Joseph Axsmith, mentor. In fact, he published his rst paper 57, of Mobile, AL, passed away on May 5, before even contemplating graduate school, 2020. Brian contracted the COVID-19 virus describing Triassic fossil plants from the and in combination with other health issues Stockton Formation in Pennsylvania with his succumbed to its virulence. His battle with the good friend Peter Kroehler (who now works virus was brief but valiant. on fossils at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, DC). His botany classes with Brian was born in Pottstown, PA on June Millersville professors Dr. David Dobbins and 3, 1963. He was the son of the late Joseph the late Dr. James Parks played a key role in J. Axsmith. He is survived by his mother his interest in living plants. Kathryn Boyer Axsmith; son Jerey Tristan Axsmith, who oen visited while he worked; His early educational experiences at his companion and loving wife Jennifer; and Millersville University, Pennsylvania, where sister Doreen Axsmith Inmon, with whom he he received his Bachelor of Science degree, no remained close. doubt set a course for his continued interest 250 PSB 66 (3) 2020 in biological sciences, a direction that would Axsmith, a title he achieved with honors. Aer steer him toward paleobotany. is love of a short post-doc, Brian secured a position paleobotany subsequently guided him to e as an assistant professor at the University of Ohio State University, where he would begin Southern Alabama in Mobile in 1999 and his pursuit of a doctoral degree under the rapidly rose through the ranks to become full guidance of omas N. Taylor. Apparently one professor. of the reasons that Taylor accepted him into his lab was something Brian oen related in Over the next 20 years, he built an impressive a post-graduation story about a conversation academic career in which he played many roles between Tom and Brian’s father. It went within his department and the university. He something like this: was a committee member for multiple M.S. students in both the Biology Department Joseph Axsmith: What did you see in Brian to at University of South Alabama and at the accept him into your lab? University of Mobile. He served as chairperson to three graduate students (Debra Stults, M.S., Tom Taylor: His intense work ethic—he is a 2003, and Ph.D., 2011; Elizabeth Creen, M.S., hard-working S.O.B. 2006; and Patrick McAnerny, M.S., 2019) who completed projects focusing on various His time at e Ohio State University was paleobotanical questions. Additionally, he cut short and a sudden change of venue sent provided guidance and mentorship to at him to the University of Kansas, where he least 10 undergraduate students involved in completed the requirements for his degree. In numerous paleobotanical topics. He also had 1998 his status ocially changed to Dr. Brian the opportunity of hosting a post-doctoral

Axsmith collecting near Monroeville, AL.

251 PSB 66 (3) 2020 palynologist from Nepal (Farhat Iqbal) in His academic activities were just a part of what which they explored Mesozoic and Neogene made Brian tick. He enjoyed participating in localities. His work with colleagues from various activities in and around the Mobile the U.S., South America, Europe, and China area. He also loved to get others involved in the produced several signi cant publications, collecting of fossils, be it students, interested which are cited frequently. local collectors, or local groups of teachers or geologists. His passion for his research and Early in his career (1990), Brian received the studies was reected by the crowds he drew Outstanding Biology Student Award from the and his popularity among students. He was Commonwealth of Pennsylvania University gied with a talent for explanation and oen Biologists, which is given to a student who could accept a sudden request for presentation best exempli ed scienti c scholarship and without much preparation because he could achievement. is extraordinary honor develop the topic “on the y.” He became of distinction is given to one student. e involved in the Evolution vs. Creationism award represents the qualities and knowledge debates presented on campus, which were also possessed by students who attend the State open to the public. He adeptly presented the System of Higher Education Universities. In facts and handily countered the opposition 1993 he received the prestigious Isabel Cookson so much so that he was asked to serve in this Award, presented by the Paleobotanical capacity several years in a row. Section of the Botanical Society of America. is award is given to the student who delivers At all times Brian was on the lookout for the best contributed paper in paleobotany or new and previously discovered sites with palynology at the Society’s annual meeting. In fossil oras. His early research centered on 2003 he received the Arts & Sciences Junior Mesozoic oras and included those from Faculty Award for Excellence in Scholarship multiple continents including Antarctica, and Academic Achievement. His many Asia (northeastern China), and North accomplishments were further recognized America (Chinle Formation and Newark by the national honor society Mortar Board, Supergroup). When he moved to Alabama, which is made up of college seniors from he became involved with one of the oras around the country. Mortar Board members that Edward Berry had worked on during the select outstanding educators for their devotion early 20th century. is “rediscovery” began to academia, teaching style, accessibility, a two-decade revival of the Citronelle Flora knowledge of their subject, and other special (late Pliocene). He continued collecting and qualities unique to the educator. He received working on other localities including eastern this honor in 2007, 2009, 2013, and 2014. In North American Cenozoic oras extending the 2014–2015 academic year, Brian received from the Oligocene and into the lower the Dean’s Lecture Award, which is presented Pliocene. He was particularly interested in for excellent scholarship or academic these areas due to the lack of a good published achievement throughout the faculty member’s fossil record for the region. His interests career. It was also at this time that he received extended into the Pleistocene ora along the Olivia Rambo McGothern Outstanding the Mobile River. ese oras are currently Scholar Award, given by the USA National awaiting further investigation. Alumni Association for excellence and high achievement in an academic discipline. 252 PSB 66 (3) 2020

By now his reputation and the fact that he was be so lucky. At times, his research challenged local (now from Alabama) opened additional the ideas of his colleagues, which he thought doors for research, which included the Ingersoll was necessary to keep the eld of paleobotany Shale ora (Cretaceous). With the help of moving forward. His academic contributions Mississippi paleontologist George Phillips and will remain etched in stone, which ultimately Mississippi geologist James Starnes, he was show a legacy of career success through hard able to acquire local material, and Mac Alford work and commitment. from the University of Southern Mississippi helped with the acquisition of material from Brian represented the best within us, and he middle Miocene Hattiesburg Formation. knew that hard work and perseverance would ultimately provide rewards that few people Brian’s love of paleobotany and the many could ever achieve. His role as a husband, rewards that came with it provided father, scientist, colleague, and friend will opportunities for him to discover the treasures forever be remembered and occupy a place in of past life. His love for eldwork, whenever our hearts where it will live on. He will be most and wherever the opportunity arose, never dearly missed by his wife Jennifer and son wavered and his enthusiasm for removing Jerey and by those who had the opportunity tons of rock, which, on some occasions would to cross paths with him. His kindness and witty reward him with a bounty of fossil plants or humor will remind us that life is a precious gi teach him the value of wearing gloves and that allows us a eeting moment to pursue our digging in the right place, remained ever dreams and to make the world a better place. present. Working in the eld with a diverse For the short time that Brian was with us, he group of prominent or amateur collectors gave earned the trust, respect, and friendship of Brian a great sense of paleontological history countless individuals from many walks of life. and of those who contributed to it and to new As we go forward, let us remember to use his types of collection techniques. e values of many contributions and examples as a guide hard work and observation were subsequently to enrich our own lives and the lives of others passed on to his colleagues and students we know. May our friend rest in eternal peace alike. He knew the bene ts of teaching, and never be forgotten. especially when the facts were presented in an understandable and unbiased way. To keep --Rudolph Serbet, University of Kansas, and science simple and interesting meant that he Debra Stults, University of Southern Alabama could reach a larger group of people where the bene ts would be far reaching. His research and professional career allowed him to travel the world collecting material, from the back Note: A special fund has been set up roads of Alabama to the remote wilderness of in honor of Brian by the University of China. e collection of material, especially Southern Alabama. All contributions will from the Mobile area, allowed him to publish be used to support the Brian Axsmith numerous scienti c papers representing his Memorial Scholarship in Biology: https:// ideas and interpretations on various groups giving.southalabama.edu/axsmith. of fossil plants. Some of these papers will ultimately stand the test of time; others may not

253 MEMBERSHIP NEWS

YEAR-END GIVING THIS IS THE SEASON OF BSA is proud to provide over $125,000 in GIVING awards and grants to our members every year. Most of these are funded directly by GIFT MEMBERSHIPS! the generosity of our members via donations Do you know a student or developing to speci c award funds. Professional nations colleague that would bene t from members are also given the opportunity of being part of the BSA community? BSA increasing their annual dues by $25 in order oers gi memberships for these two to support the Graduate Student Research membership types for only $10 each! You Award fund. We are pleased to say that over can purchase gi memberships during 60% of our Professional members opted in your renewal process or go to www.botany. to support the GSRA in this way, allowing org, click on Membership on the top for over $24,400 in additional funds for menu, and then click Gi Memberships. the GSRA in the last scal year. ank you!

We are giving back! Any gi membership We hope that you will consider making recipient who starts their membership before a donation to our many funds including January 31, 2021 will be entered into a drawing student, professional, and sectional award for a free registration for Botany 2021! funding when you renew your membership this year. You can also visit www.botany.org Got questions about your membership? and click Donate to start giving. Email Amelia Neely at [email protected].

By Amelia Neely BSA Membership & Communications Manager

E-mail: ANeely@ botany.org

254 BOOK REVIEWS

Around the World in 80 Trees Fruit from the Sands: The Silk Road Origins of the Foods We Eat Green Growth That Works: Natural Capital Policy and Finance Mechanisms Around the World Plant Anatomy: A Concept-Based Approach to the Structure of Seed Plants Plant Names: A Guide to Botanical Nomenclature, Fourth Edition Trees, Shrubs, and Woody Vines in Kansas (revised and expanded edition) Vanishing Beauty, Native Costa Rican Orchids Wild Plants for a Sustainable Future: Multipurpose Species

Around the World in 80 the mundane, Brooklyn’s Tree of Heaven Trees (Ailanthus altissima), to Missouri’s majestic Jonathan Drori; illustrations Black Walnut (Juglans nigra). Trees as diverse by Lucille Clerc as the bulky long-lived, fruitful Baobab First published 2018. Paper- back rst edition 2020. ISBN (Adansonia digitata), are juxtaposed with 9781786271617 hardcover; delicate domatia-bearing whistling thorn 978-1-78627-606-3, paper (Vachellia drepanolobium), featured together Hard cover, $24.99; paper, in this compact volume, packed with botanical $19.99; Kindle $16.25; details. £12.99; 240 pp. Laurence King Publishing Drori’s writing is dense with facts and Ltd., London. entertains on each page. Every tree Adapting Jules Verne’s title of Around the biography is lled with dynamic writing (e.g., World in Eighty Days, Jonathan Drori’s Pomegranate: “e turgid grains interlock fantastic adventure—his metaphorical satisfyingly with one another—a triumph of circumnavigation—introduces reader to ecient packing” and “Perhaps we shouldn’t a selection of trees that are prominent dismiss the psychological bene ts of a fruit to the cultures of each named country, whose consumption requires our undivided organized geographically: Northern Europe, attention”). Sir Jonathan’s endeavors earned Southern Europe and North Africa, eastern him the prestigious award in December Mediterranean, Africa, Central and South 2006—Commander of the Order of the British Asia, East Asia, South East Asia, Oceania, Empire (CBE), the highest-ranking Order South America, Mexico, Central America and of the British Empire award—rewarding Caribbean, North America. contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organizations, What a winning combination! e stunning and public service outside the civil service. illustrations by Lucille Clerc illuminate the rich text by Drori about iconic trees, from 255 PSB 66 (3) 2020

Drori brings decades of expertise to Trees, leaves in Morocco’s Argan trees, Argania as a BBC Executive Producer and Director, spinosa, oblivious to their thorns. ereaer, responsible for more than 50 popular BBC the goats excrete or spit out the nuts of argan science and technology documentaries and fruits, which can later be retrieved from the series. He prepares short lms for plant- goats’ manure, for processing into a precious and seed-collecting expeditions and is also edible oil, which is also utilized in expensive known for several TED talks on pollen, seeds, cosmetics. and owers that have been viewed more than 3 million times. He is Trustee of e e book opens with the English London Eden Project, a member of the Council of Plane, Platanus acerifolia, “a tree of pomp Ambassadors of the World Wildlife Fund, and and circumstance,” rst planted in Berkeley a former trustee of e Woodland Trust and the Square, Mayfair, in 1789. A hybrid of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. He is Chairman American sycamore and the Oriental plane, of Ravensbourne University London, a Fellow it has been adopted by urban planners of the Linnean Society and the Zoological worldwide; in fact, it’s the most common Society of London, a full voting member of street tree in New York City. India’s sacred British Academy of Film and Television Arts, Banyan tree, Ficus benghalensis, revered in and a Visiting Professor at Bristol University, temples, oers sanctuary and inspiration; specializing in science misconceptions. Berlin’s best-known boulevard, Unter den Linden, is named aer Tilia europaea with its Clerc is a meticulous illustrator with seasoned intoxicating, sweetest, most powerful perfume artistic ability strengthened by intelligence known to the plant kingdom. that informs every stroke she places, applying subdued browns and green colors. She is book’s paper cover is heavy, thus durable; works within the eld of editorial design and the book is well bound and stitched, and the illustration and produces most of her work pages are sturdy to withstand being thumbed using hand-drawn images, with considerable through oen. e script, which reads like a attention to detail. She is also well known love letter to Mother Earth, should be required for her inuential graphics of broken pencils reading in biology classes, introducing a following the Charlie Hebdo attack. Together, semester’s worth of environmental science Drori’s essays and Clerc’s sketches present a study in delightful form. I am completely visually rewarding travelogue crammed with won over by this collaboration. It may seem botanical and cultural information. unusual to gush over visual aids in a reader about trees, but this beautiful volume is a Associations of animals with the trees that page-turner, propelling readers forward with support them are also featured, e.g., the imaginative drawings of each tree, and its mopane worm intrinsic to Colophospermum folklore and uses. mopane, a large caterpillar in the Emperor moth lifecycle that feeds primarily on –Dorothea Bedigian, Research Associate, Mis- mopane tree leaves and is a popular snack souri Botanical Garden, St. Louis, Missouri, in Namibia and Zimbabwe, which is a food USA staple in rural areas and regarded as a highly nutritious delicacy. Goats graze fruit and

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Fruit from the Sands: grapes and apples, leafy vegetables, roots The Silk Road Origins of and stems, spices, oils, and tea. Spengler the Foods We Eat devoted considerable research to expanding Robert N. Spengler III. information about the domestication of the 2019. ISBN 9780520303638 “charismatic” apple, sucient to result in Hardcover, $34.95; £29.00; eBook, $34.95; £29.00. 392 pp. additional extended scholarly publications University of California Press, (Spengler, 2019, 2020). One of the most Oakland economically and culturally signi cant e Nobel Peace Prize 2020 awarded to the temperate fruit crops, apple provides the World Food Program for its eorts to combat opportunity to study the domestication hunger and its contribution to bettering process in trees. e number and identity of conditions for peace in conict-aected areas the progenitors of the domesticated apple and sparked my interest to read Fruit from the Sands. the erosion of genetic diversity associated with Robert Spengler’s interdisciplinary endeavor the domestication process have been debated. refers to a broad array of archaeological, e Central Asian wild apple has been botanical, and historical evidence as he traced identi ed as the main progenitor, but Spengler crop movement from every direction: north, examines other closely related species along south, east, and west across the regions of the Silk Route. Beyond originating in the Central Asia. rough the preserved remains Tien Shan Mountains, along the core artery of plants found in archaeological sites, his of the ancient Silk Road, the trade routes eld exploration, revealed through photos, themselves gave rise to our modern fruit. encompasses Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Genetic studies have demonstrated that the Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan, apple is a hybrid of at least four wild apple along with Central Eurasia, adjacent regions species. ree of these wild apples had large to the north and east: western Mongolia, the fruits before humans came along, and they Tuva region of Russia and Xinjiang, Qinghai, represented easy targets or “low-hanging and Tibet in China. e focus of previous fruit” for early foragers. People were likely renowned scholars (e.g., Vavilov and Harlan) maintaining the populations of these wild has been on major agricultural centers of crop apple trees for thousands of years before they origin: the Near East, the Far East, etc. Here, started moving the seeds along the Silk Road. Spengler introduces the vast region between Eventually, as people started planting apple these centers, the core of a complex network trees across Eurasia, they brought these four of interaction and exchange. Central Asia was wild populations into contact. Bees naturally the crossroads of the ancient world for ve pollinated them, and the resulting ospring millennia; some of the largest empires in the represent distinct hybrids with desirable ancient world were located there. traits, notably larger fruits. Spengler, Archaeobotany Laboratory Spengler depicts a surprising concentration Director of the Max Planck Institute for of archaeological remains across the fertile the Science of Human History, presents the mountain foothills of Inner Asia. Increasingly, subject with a geographic introduction to the as archaeobotanical nds become more region and chapters tackling many regional prevalent in these regions, the sites are foods: millets, rice, barley, wheats, legumes, providing evidence for crop cultivation and,

257 PSB 66 (3) 2020 in many cases, elaborate farming systems. e LITERATURE CITED past residents of this region fostered the spread Bedigian, D. ©2011. Introduction. History of the culti- of innovations along the Silk Road, along vation and use of sesame, pp. 1-31. In D. Bedigian (ed.) with advances of their own, including the Sesame: the genus Sesamum. Medicinal and Aromatic domestication of a series of fruit trees. Parts Plants - Industrial Profiles series. CRC Press, Taylor & of Central Asia were centers of intellectual Francis Group, Boca Raton, FL. thought during the Islamic Golden Age, and Bedigian, D. 2014. A new combination for the Indian vast luxurious palaces with elaborate gardens progenitor of sesame, Sesamum indicum L. (Pedalia- were erected for various Turkic rulers. ceae). Novon 23(1): 5-13. However, increased nautical trade in the 13th Bedigian, D. 2015. Systematics and evolution in Sesa- century, clinched by the Mongol invasions, mum L. (Pedaliaceae), part 1: Evidence regarding the origin of sesame and its closest relatives. Webbia: caused overland trade via Central Asia to Journal of Plant Taxonomy and Geography 70: 1-42. gradually lose its prominence. e destruction Bedigian, D. 2020. An extended commentary about of irrigation systems, salination of soils, and Mulberry by Peter Coles [2019. Reaktion Books, Lon- the deforestation of the mountain foothills don]. Plant Science Bulletin 66: 145-150; 164. likely contributed to the fall of Inner Asia. Qiu, Z., Y. Zhang, D. Bedigian, X. Li, C. Wang and H. e nal defeat was undoubtedly colonial Jiang. 2012. Sesame utilization in China:New archaeo- advances from Europe—starting with Russian botanical evidence from Xinjiang. Economic Botany conquests. 66: 255-263. Spengler, R. N. 2019. Origins of the Apple: The role Together with my admiration for this work, of megafaunal mutualism in the domestication of Ma- I have a few slight criticisms. e index is lus and Rosaceous trees. Frontiers in Plant Science 10: incomplete; it omits entries that I located 617. during careful searches for speci c terms. Spengler, R. N. 2020. Anthropogenic seed dispersal: Surprisingly, some crops of importance in Rethinking the origins of plant domestication. Trends the region were omitted (e.g., Spengler barely in Plant Science 25: 340-348. mentions mulberry, widely consumed in –Dorothea Bedigian, Research Associate, Mis- the region [Bedigian, 2020]). Assessing the souri Botanical Garden, St. Louis, Missouri, book by way of his single page on the subject USA of sesame, it is disappointing to note that Spengler fails to cite any primary source (e.g., Bedigian 2011, 2014, 2015), referring instead, twice, to a secondary source. He reports no archaeobotanical investigation, omitting our archaeobotanical evidence from Xinjiang (Qiu et al., 2012). e unique contribution of this book is its ability to bring evidence from archaeological plant remains to life, in a style that could be readily appreciated by readers with a variety of interests.

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Green Growth That e editors and authors of Green Growth Works: Natural Capi- at Works are experienced practitioners tal Policy and Finance of the natural capital approach. ey are Mechanisms Around experts from the government, nancial, and the World research sectors that, along with civil society Lisa Mandle, Zhiyun Ouyang, organizations, compose the partnerships James Salzman, and Gretch- necessary to implement “nature-based en C. Daily (eds.) 2019. solutions” to the main challenge of our time: ISBN: 978-1-64283-003-3 How will we raise the standard of living for Paperback, US$35.00. all humans while securing the irreplaceable 336 pp. bene ts of nature for future generations? Island Press, Washington, DC Green Growth at Works is intended Amidst the dire news about environmental to function as “a practical guide to how degradation and climate change, an policies and nance mechanisms have been international network of scientists and implemented… across a diversity of contexts” social leaders has been steadily generating (p. 7). A tone of optimism pervades the book positive change in the way we perceive and and inspires action in an arena notoriously use natural resources. Building on the idea dicult to navigate. that ecosystems provide services essential to human life—for example, fresh water, soil e book is organized into three parts: an fertility, climate and air quality regulation— overview of the natural capital approach, the 1992 United Nations Conference on descriptions of successful nance and policy Environment and Development (UNCED), mechanisms, and examples of system- also known as the Earth Summit, called wide change and innovation. Each chapter for nature valuation, or the integration of includes case studies illustrating the diversity environmental and economic value, as a of geographic contexts, scales, and ecosystem component of sustainable development services involved. A standard format for the case (Potschin and Haines-Young, 2016). A decade studies includes details such as: the ecosystem later, a tremendous eort resulted in the service(s), bene ciaries and providers, terms Millennium Ecosystem Assessment, a series and mechanism for the transfer of value, of global-scale status and trends reports and key lessons learned. is feature is the that document the links between economic book’s key strength; it demonstrates how to development, ecosystem impacts, and human transform a tangle of location-speci c details well-being. ese two steps, nature valuation into an approachable problem and provides and ecosystem assessment, are at the heart practitioners with a framework for dialogue of the natural capital approach to “inclusive and action. Capacity-building, for example, green growth” described in Green Growth at emerges as a precondition to nancing in Works: Natural Capital Policy and Finance cases as diverse as Indonesia’s Readiness Mechanisms Around the World. e book is an Fund and Belize’s Integrated Coastal Zone edited collection of case studies that highlight Management Plan. How to redesign existing the many ways that cities, watersheds, and policies is demonstrated across dierent even nations have utilized spatial data and geographic scales by a catchment-scale study innovative partnerships to design policies of the Fowey River in England and an analysis that acknowledge the true costs of natural resources extraction. 259 PSB 66 (3) 2020 of forest conservation mechanisms in Costa public, but the funding mechanism is private: Rica. both the farmers paying for certi cation and the consumers purchasing certi ed coee Green Growth at Works uses standardized support the enhancement of natural capital. ow diagrams to depict the ow of money and e RFA standards also include social bene ts assignment of tasks for six nance mechanisms such as fair treatment of workers. e CRP and their modi cations. e diagrams enable case study highlights the role of government a quick comparison of the mechanisms and in both securing and monitoring water quality function as reference points for navigating improvement, whereas the RFA example the case studies. Government subsidies, for demonstrates the use of third-party certi ers example, ow from the government to the to evaluate compliance. providers of an ecosystem service needed by the public, while eco-certi cation is a market- Additional case studies in Part II explain based mechanism that relies on consumers regulatory mechanisms, voluntary paying for services directly. In both cases, the mechanisms, water funds, and multilateral and public bene t originates on private land, and bilateral mechanisms. e chapter on water quality is determined by land management funds is especially insightful; it demonstrates practices. e Conservation Reserve the synergy resulting from coordination Program (CRP) in the U.S. and the Rainforest of diverse stakeholders and the range of Alliance (RFA) coee certi cation program bene ts secured by implementing long- illustrate these two approaches to agricultural term investments. For those new to nature payments. valuation, the two tables describing the Upper Tana-Nairobi Water Fund explain bene ts in e CRP recognizes that securing public goods both environmental and economic terms. In derived from private land requires landowner fact, Green Growth at Works includes many support. Private landowners may resist gures and maps that, although small and absorbing the cost of improved management grayscale, serve to communicate the types of that lowers yield, such as reducing fertilizer data that are generated during an ecosystem to improve downstream water quality. e assessment and reveal why this approach alternative is that society must bear the cost of is crucial for empowerment, inclusion, and treating water through higher payments to a discussion of alternatives. water utility. e CRP incentivizes improved management by paying farmers an annual e systemwide application of the natural rental fee to convert sensitive croplands to capital approach in China and Costa Rica, natural vegetation. described in Part III, provides a glimpse of a future in which we prioritize the preservation e RFA program is an example of of socio-ecological systems and stem the tide commodity, or supply chain, certi cation of environmental degradation. Opportunities that uses performance standards to generate remain for proactive planning and greater a premium price for sustainably produced inclusion of poor and marginalized people coee. Agricultural commodity certi cation who oen live in areas with high-value can secure a number of ecosystem services natural capital. Green Growth at Works related to soil, water, land cover, and is an excellent sourcebook of ideas and biodiversity. Again, these services bene t the demonstrates that the acquisition of natural capital through inclusive and life-enhancing 260 PSB 66 (3) 2020 strategies is no longer theory but a real zooming into the microscopic, internal world possibility. e writing is accessible, and of plant structures and their function (Chapter reference lists at the end of each chapter can 2: Microscopy and Imaging, through Chapter further guide readers who are unfamiliar 8: Phloem). Quite fortunately, historical with the philosophy and science of ecosystem context is described throughout these sections, assessment. is book should be added to highlighting seminal studies that have shaped the toolkit of anyone directly involved in the plant sciences over the past 300+ years. natural resources policy, including educators e book includes an overview of the and science communicators who seek to fascinating diversity of the major plant share information about developments in groups, stunning microscopic images that conservation nance. scienti cally and artistically present the comparative shapes and structural proportions LITERATURE CITED across groups. My attention was focused on Potschin, M. and R. Haines-Young. 2016. Ecosystem photos and microscopy images so much (e.g., services in the twenty-first century. In: M. Potschin, R. Fig. 2.9 of autouorescence of a blade of grass) Haines-Young, R. Fish, and R.K. Turner (Eds.), Rout- that I almost missed some of the interesting ledge Handbook of Ecosystem Services (pp. 1-9). Rout- biographical sections of founders of the ledge. eld. For example, Katherine Esau was an —Andrea G. Kornbluh, Member, Botanical immigrant due to war who worked to develop Society of America a disease-resistant sugar beet before being recruited to graduate school, aer which she wrote multiple, foundational textbooks Plant Anatomy: A in plant anatomy and received the National Concept-Based Ap- Medal of Science in 1989. Plant anatomy proach to the Structure students will easily engage with this historical of Seed Plants Richard Crang, Sheila Lyons- overview and introductory material but Sobaski, and Robert Wise should be encouraged to focus on microscopy 2018. ISBN: 978-3-319- images and ensure they understand them early 77208-0 on since they are a prominent component e-book: 51 €. 725 pp. Springer throughout the textbook. Plant Anatomy: A Concept-Based Approach e vegetative structures section (Chapter to the Structure of Seed Plants by Crang, 9: Epidermis, Chapter 10: Roots, Chapter Lyons-Sobaski, and Wise is a beautifully 11: Stems, Chapter 12: Leaves) includes illustrated, 600+-page textbook highlighting contemporary studies and goes deeper into the wonderful diversity of anatomical form function than similar textbooks in plant in plants. e layout of the chapters follows anatomy. Each chapter includes colorful many traditional plant anatomy textbooks, as photographs to show living examples of the one would expect from a book designed for anatomical characteristics and functions the classroom. Plant Anatomy begins with an being described. Most chapters also include overview of plant morphology and proceeds diagrams and microscopy images of major through evolutionary time and across systems characteristics and important, sometimes (Chapter 1: e Nature of Plants) before recent ndings in the eld. All readers

261 PSB 66 (3) 2020 will appreciate the bolded text indicating use to identify species or products, possibly for corresponding de nitions in the substantial, forensics in the global furniture and lumber 20+-page glossary. economies. Readers will learn the diculty of taxonomic identi cation with ne-scale e most interesting and engaging chapter descriptions including, “Diuse-porous; describes the structural diversity of external solitary and radial multiples; large to very large and internal anatomical features that secrete pores in no speci c arrangement, very few; oil, tannins, resins, salts, etc. from trichomes, tyloses abundant; parenchyma vasicentric, cavities, ducts, and idioblasts (Chapter 13: lozenge, conuent, and marginal; narrow to Secretory Structures). is might be the most medium rays, spacing normal.” Fortunately, interesting chapter because of how easy it is to the authors make the process of learning plant anthropomorphize plants when reading about anatomy concepts non-burdensome since and seeing microscopy images of physical the layout and progression of the chapters defense structures including trichomes, allows instructors to slowly build on concepts colleters, and stinging hairs. Or maybe it’s presented in previous chapters. reading about and seeing oral nectaries of a milkweed plant, learning how they manipulate Overall, Crang, Lyons-Sobaski, and Wise pollinator behavior with complex anatomical clearly created Plant Anatomy to make the structures that force the pollinator to remain topic accessible and engaging to students at on the ower long enough to ensure pollen both undergraduate and graduate levels. e will likely transfer to the next ower it visits. gorgeous pictures and colorful diagrams draw is chapter might also be the most engaging attention to interesting patterns and processes because of the images of calcium oxalate in the plant world and act as the backdrop to crystals that are illuminated with polarized well-written, engaging, and contemporary light, showing the sharp, pointed, almost fear- text that will enable readers to enjoy learning inducing structures that, when consumed, “… about the structure of seed plants. can lead to a severe numbing of the mouth and throat and a temporary loss of speech.” Author’s note: Any use of trade, rm, or product names is for descriptive purposes only and does Each chapter concludes with a Chapter not imply endorsement by the U.S. Government. Review section including a Concept Review subsection, which does exactly that. ese -Daniel E. Winkler, Research Ecologist, U.S. sections also have standard quiz-like review Geological Survey, Southwest Biological Sci- questions, some multiple-choice answers or ence Center free response, and some with ll-in image identi cation or matching de nitions to representative images. e value of visual aids in recalling information and de nitions in the Chapter Review is clearly demonstrated when reading about diagnostic characters in wood (Chapter 15: Wood: Economics, Structure, and Composition). A challenge here is to go through microscopy images for 10 species and match the images to descriptions one would

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Plant Names: A Guide In the second section, the authors discuss the to Botanical Nomencla- naming of cultivated plants, or cultigens. is ture, Fourth Edition includes detailed de nitions (including the Roger Spence and Rob Cross dierences between “cultivated plants” and 2020. “cultigens”), as well as the details of introducing ISBN-13: 978-1486311446 Hardcover, US $29.95. and naming new cultigens, with references to 212 pp. how this process diers from wild plants. ey CSIRO Publishing, Clayton, also discuss aspects of marketing names, plant Victoria, Australia breeder’s rights, and trade designations. e e rules and requirements surrounding the fourth edition includes new information on naming of plants can be quite daunting: the intellectual rights as they relate to cultigens. language is full of jargon and terms in Latin, I enjoyed the historical illustrations found in the smallest dierence in spelling can mean a this section and learned quite a bit about the big dierence in plants, and the names seem cultigen side of plant names! to be constantly changing. Plant Names: A Guide to Botanical Nomenclature, Fourth e third part discusses the usage of plant Edition lays out the complications associated names, including a short section on writing with naming plants in a clear, concise, and and pronouncing plant names, proper usage of beginner-friendly manner. Roger Spence and capitalization, italicization, and punctuation. Rob Cross, horticultural botanists at the Royal e basic guide to Latin pronunciation was Botanic Garden Melbourne, carry on the work helpful, and I appreciated the caveat that originally started by the late Peter Lumley, to there are no strict rules when it comes to whom this latest edition is dedicated. is pronouncing these plant names. e nal book is separated into four main sections part is a list of various resources to assist that address dierent aspects of botanical the reader in future endeavors, including nomenclature. books and websites for accurate and up-to- date names, the naming codes, and guides Part one is dedicated to the naming of wild to pronunciation, classi cation, and plant plants. e authors discuss the historical and breeder’s rights. Many of these are divided cultural uses of common names as well as the and organized by region of the globe, and thus utility of Latin or scienti c names. Multiple are accessible to a broad readership. examples help the reader understand both the value and confusion that can arise with is book is extremely aesthetically pleasing, both types of names. is section moves as the authors harness their knowledge of the on to discuss the International Code of wonderful ora of Australia to highlight plant Nomenclature for Algae, Fungi, and Plants, and names and features stunning photographs of the fourth edition includes references to the some of these iconic plants. e tables are updated ICN. is section also explains the extremely helpful, and owcharts elegantly hierarchical nature of biological classi cation, outline the decision-making process for the naming of new taxa, and what to do with various questions related to plant names. name changes. Overall, part one is a great Within the main text there are also useful primer for plant systematics. “boxes” for additional information, asides, and real-world examples.

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I believe that this book is a handy resource for of 28 “other Woody Species” at the end of the anyone interested in plant diversity, including book. Even these are included in the keys to both wild and cultivated plants. It is extremely species at the beginning of the book, unless useful for both teachers and students of plant they are rare ornamentals that do not appear systematics or horticulture and is also written to be capable of reproducing and spreading. in a way that is accessible to a much broader audience of plant enthusiasts interested in e general format remains the same except gardening, house plants, or agriculture. is that color photos replace the black-and- updated fourth edition not only reects the white images of the original edition. Most most recent naming codes, but also includes species are treated in two facing pages with a conventions regarding intellectual rights and distribution map and descriptive paragraphs reading plant labels, which deal with the for key characteristics of twigs, leaves, owers, industry aspects of plant names. is book fruits, trunk, and some general comments on was a pleasure to read cover-to-cover and will the top of each page and representative images also serve as a great resource in the future. lling the lower half of the treatment. e authors updated the distribution maps and —Nora Mitchell, Department of Biology, Uni- added several useful new categories including versity of Wisconsin – Eau Claire, Eau Claire, the general Habit and Habitat, as well as Wisconsin, USA Inorescence description and the status of the plant: is it native or naturalized? With regard to the latter, the authors list four plants in the Trees, Shrubs, and introduction that have become weedy pests: Woody Vines in Kansas Elaeagnus umbellate, Euonymus fortunei, (revised and expanded Lonicera maackii, and Pyrus calleryana. It edition) Michael John Haddock and would be useful to include this in the Status Craig C. Freeman information on the respective species pages. 2019. ISBN: 9780700627684 e general comment discussions have been Paperback, US$26.95. rewritten rather than just edited. I think this 428 pp. strikes both ways. For instance, for Maclura University Press of Kansas pomifera (Osage Orange), Stephens informs H.A. (Steve) Stephens’ 1969 rst edition of this us that the early American geologist William book is well known, and well used, in Kansas McClure is honored by the genus name and and has gone through seven printings. Finally, pomifera refers to “fruit-bearing”—some we have an attractive, revised, and updated interesting “tidbits” for a general reader. edition thanks to Haddock and Freeman. Haddock and Freeman tell us that a current e authors have expanded the treatment theory is that fruits and seeds may have from the 114 species in the original to 166, been distributed by extinct megafauna— primarily by adding full treatments for the 49 again interesting to the general reader, but species Stephens speci cally excluded because also to specialists. is is actually a good they were not native. ey also provide brief representation of the main dierence in notes, within species descriptions, to nearly focus of the new vs. the older edition. e 100 additional related woody species found original de nitely targeted a lay audience and in the state and include a brief enumeration technical terms were kept to a minimum. It would be especially useful for middle school 264 PSB 66 (3) 2020 and high school biology or nature-study Vanishing Beauty: Native students. For instance, Stephen’s description Costa Rican Orchids of the shape of the leaves as “egg-shaped, with Franco Pupulin and 18 Col- long, tapered tip, rounded or bluntly tapered laborators 2020. base…” becomes “blade ovate to ovate- ISBN 978-3-946583-12-7 lanceolate or elipitic lanceolate…base cuneate Hard cover: $280. to rounded or subcordate…” in Haddock and Color and line drawing illustra- Freeman. Similarly, the only taxonomic key tions, in the original was to Kansas oaks, although pages 425-1003 (previous pages are in volume 1), there was a general guide based on a few leaf 16 unnumbered pages. characters. Haddock and Freeman provide an Koeltz Botanical Books, Oberreifenberg, Germany extensive, but very workable, key to species, Despite being a small country, Costa Rica dividing rst into major groups and providing (19,730 mi2 or 51,100 km2) is reported to genus keys where appropriate. Appended have more than 1600 orchid species. e rst to the end of the book is an extensive, but volume of this series, which I reviewed in succinct, glossary of terms and a bibliography 2006 (Arditti, 2006) covered Acianthera to of more than 80 works cited in the text. As Kegeliella. a professor at one of the state universities, I much prefer the new edition as a resource for This, the second volume [33.7 (h) × 2 (w) my students. × 3.5 (thick), 4.28 kg] covers Laeaena to Pteroglossa. It is as magnificent as the e obvious audience for this book lives first and now, like its predecessor, one of the in Kansas, but it will also be a very useful most beautiful books in my orchid library, reference for anyone living in the prairie or even when compared to the old tomes from plains region of the U.S. or Canada and an Victorian England, which are illustrated with excellent addition to herbarium libraries watercolor paintings. (Full disclosure: Franco and the libraries of botanists interested in and I have been friends since my visit to Costa taxonomy and plant distribution. Rica in 2003 to participate in an orchid lecture series.) It is certainly one of heaviest because —Marshall D. Sundberg, Department of of the very high-quality paper on which it is Biology, Emporia State University, Emporia, printed. Kansas Every genus is described clearly and in detail. e descriptions include historical information, classical taxonomy details, and, when available, recent molecular ndings. ese data are followed by a discussion of the genus in Costa Rica. Horticultural information is included for species that are in cultivation (for example, Lankesterella). e results in each case are scholarly essays of varying length and content, which should satisfy even the most demanding readers.

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Species are illustrated by at least one problem I have with it is the need for someone photograph and in some cases by line to help me lug it from my desk to a shelf in my drawings. ere are several photographs library. It is heavy! of species, which have more than one form (color, shape, size). For example, there are LITERATURE CITED four photographs of Laelia rubescens (pp. 428, Arditti, J. 2006. Vanishing Beauty. Plant Science Bul- 430, 431). letin 52: 105.

Great care was taken in photographing (for –Joseph Arditti, Professor of Biology Emeritus, details, see pp. 986-987) the orchids (with a University of California, Irvine Nikon D200 camera), which are described in this volume. e results are magni cent photographs of very beautiful orchids. Sadly, Wild Plants for a Sus- printing of some photographs does not always tainable Future: 110 Multipurpose Species do justice to their photographic excellence Tizinia Ulian, César Flores, and several illustrations are fuzzy (pp. 525, Rafael Lira, Avhatakali 598, 716, 838, 895, 957, and some others). Mamatsharaga, Kebadire K. All authors can do is provide their publishers Mogotsi, Patrick Muthoka, with high-quality photographs. If these Samodimo Ngwako, et al., Eds. 2019. photographs are not printed properly, the ISBN 9781842466735; responsibility is solely the publisher’s. e-ISBN 9781842466742 Hardcover, £40.00. 490 pp. Many of the statements in the books are well Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew referenced. Cited literature is on pages 992– https://www.kew.org/sites/default/ les/2019-04/ 995. e number of literature-cited pages Sustainable%20wild%20plants.pdf does not seem large, but due to the large page Kew’s Millennium Seed Bank Partnership has size of this book, they contain more references produced a noteworthy volume intended for than usual. practitioners in governmental institutions and e book concludes with two indexes: non-governmental organizations working in taxonomic novelties (p. 906) and scienti c Africa and Latin America. e publication names (pp. 997-1003). As a rule, I do not forms one of the main dissemination consider an index that contains only species achievements of the MGU-Useful Plants names to be sucient, but since this is a ora, Project, to conserve and use sustainably wild additional indexing is not needed. plants important for rural communities. Institutional partners led the project in For its size and quality, Vanishing Beauty is each country, involving rural communities, not expensive. It would be an excellent book local authorities, and schools. e name to acquire for private book collections or MGU reects the support provided by the coee tables, give as a present, or, at the least, philanthropist who funds the work of the recommend its purchase (and also volume Useful Plants Project. 1) by institutional libraries. It is a good book to have, give, refer to, and use as an example Since 2007, the Useful Plants Project has of what an orchid ora should be. e only been working collaboratively to conserve useful species in seedbanks, propagation

266 PSB 66 (3) 2020 in community nurseries and planting in South Africa and Zimbabwe, Africa’s south; community gardens, woodlots and forests, and Mexico represents Latin America. e addressing the UN Sustainable Development deliberations upon which species included are Goals “to end poverty, protect the planet and not stated, but the project mission provides ensure prosperity for all.” e Useful Plants the following goals: Project helps communities become better Targeting and prioritizing useful plants equipped to face such challenges by improving with local communities. Enhancing the their livelihoods and using the surrounding propagation of native useful plants in resources in a more sustainable way. communities to support income generation e book presents detailed species pro les through the sustainable use of plants or of 110 plants selected for their importance their products. Seed collections of useful to communities and livelihood for everyday plants have been made and seed lots needs such as food, medicine, fuel, and stored in-country with duplicates tested building materials. e pro les are presented in Kew’s Millennium Seed Bank (MSB). in a structured format, providing information The capacity of communities to conserve on taxonomy and nomenclature, plant and use sustainably a wide range of plant descriptions, fruit and seed structures, species has been enhanced through training distribution, habitat, uses, known hazards and workshops and the improvement of local safety, conservation status, seed conservation, facilities: useful plant gardens have been propagation, and trade, with literature established and plant nurseries enhanced references. e volume is organized into ve with the provision of materials and seeds. sections, presented by country, compiled by As a result, species have been propagated experts from each. e rationale is a response in partner countries and planted in local to the range of threats that plants face, community and school gardens involving including climate change, over-exploitation, farmers and students. shortage of water, habitat loss, and invasion of exotic species. Most are trees and shrubs, along e project generated research including with cacti, sub-shrubs, and several perennial ethnobotanical, phytochemical, plant and annual herbs. Illustrations feature images physiological, and plant population studies, of the plants in the wild, associated habitats, and DNA pro ling and in vitro propagation seed morphology, and cultivation. A glossary that has been carried out on priority species. of botanical terms completes the book, with Information about the uses, conservation, and index of botanical names, list of common and propagation of the species has been compiled vernacular names, and graphic presentation in leaets, booklets, technical information of habit and usage of each species. sheets, and posters that have been disseminated within the country, to conserve and safeguard e authors are based at universities, the associated traditional knowledge. e agricultural, forestry, and natural resource project has worked with village schools, institutes, and although the book does not leading to the establishment of environmental de ne the selection criteria about which clubs, plant nurseries, and gardens. countries were spotlighted, presumably they are the home countries of the participants. East I am personally grati ed to learn that some and West Africa exemplify Kenya and Mali; captivating plants appear here about which

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I had been told there was no known use in Sudan, such as Citrullus lanatus (unb.) Matsum. & Nakai, and Ocimum gratissiumum L. Illustrations are among the volume’s most indispensable contributions, helpful to consultants and broadly to future researchers. As species entries were written by multiple authors, there is some variation among the chapters. A few references cited are unpublished reports and theses that might not be widely available in practice; others are web resources, hence problematic in locations where internet services are unavailable or expensive. at aside, this input should help to build the capacity of local communities to successfully conserve and use these species sustainably. –Dorothea Bedigian, Research Associate, Missouri Botanical Garden, St. Louis, Missouri, USA

268 Plant Science Bulletin Plant Science Bulletin

ISSN 0032-0919 Published 3 times a year by Botanical Society of America, Inc. 4475 Castleman Avenue St. Louis, MO 63166-0299

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The yearly subscription rate of $15 is included As the pages of the Plant Science Bulletin this year have in the membership reected, the events of 2020 have had profound impacts Address Editorial Matters (only) to: on the research, the plans, and mental well-being of your Mackenzie Taylor, Editor colleagues and friends in the BSA and the botanical Department of Biology community. e lessons from this past year are still being Creighton University learned, and we hope that positive outcomes are in our 2500 California Plaza Omaha, NE 68178 collective future. Here's to uniting globally and relying on Phone 402-280-2157 each other in 2021. [email protected] In that spirit, we end the year with a splash of color from the nal American Journal of Botany of 2020: a mimosoid legume courtesy of Dr. Erik Koenen! The Botanical Society of (See his related article at https://bsapubs.onlinelibrary. America is a membership soci- ety whose mission is to: pro- wiley.com/doi/10.1002/ajb2.1568.) mote botany, the field of basic science dealing with the study & inquiry into the form, func- tion, development, diversity, reproduction, evolution, & uses of plants & their interactions within the biosphere.

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