Karl J. Niklas became president of BSA at the July meeting in Vancouver

His presidential address was a 10 minute film entitled Botany Without Borders, which can be viewed on You Tube  or on the Botanical Society of America’s webpage. Creators of Botany Without Borders: Ed Cobb, Karl Niklas and Christopher Julian

Michael Cichan Award for 2008 goes to Maria Alejandra Gondolfo

For her paper Fossil Nelumbonaceae from the La Colonia Formation (Campanian-Maastrichtian, Upper Cretaceous), Chubut, Patagonia, Argentina, co-authored with Dr. Ruben Cuneo (Museo Paleontológico Egidio Feruglio). The award was established to encourage work by young researchers at the interface of structural and evolutionary botany. This award is given to a young scholar for a paper published during the previous year in the fields of evolutionary and/or structural botany. Dr. Gandolfo also received an International Fulbright Fellowship to teach and do research in Argentina during the Fall of 2008.

James Cohen is the new student representative on the BSA executive committee

He is one of only two graduate student representatives on the committee that decides on policies and procedures by which the Botanical Society of America operates.