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Botany360

Botany360 is a series of programming that connects our botanical community during the 360 days outside of Botany Conferences. The Botany360 event calendar is a tool to highlight those events. The goal of this program is to connect the plant science community throughout the year with professional development, discussion sessions, and networking and social opportunities.

To see the event calendar click here. 

Do you want your event to be on the Botany360 calendar? Email aneely@botany.org for more information.

Past Botany360 Event Recordings

Many of the Botany360 virtual events will include recordings that you can access below once the event is over. Check back often to see which events are ready to be viewed.

  • Ace It! - Write a Better Title (March 2, 2022)
    Workshop presented by Dr. Bruce Kirchoff, University of North Carolina at Greensboro, and Dr. Eliezer Cocoletzi, University of Veracruz.
  • Ace It! - Write a Better Abstract (March 23, 2022)
    Workshop presented by Dr. Bruce Kirchoff, University of North Carolina at Greensboro, and Dr. Eliezer Cocoletzi, University of Veracruz.
  • De-mystifying the MS submissions process: Before you submit (Part 1) (May 11, 2022)
    Resources for this event can be found here.
    Part 1 of a 2-Part workshop to help navigate all stages of the peer review process. This workshop was presented by Dr. Briana Gross, University of Minnesota-Duluth, Editor-in-Chief, Applications in Plant Sciences, and Dr. Brittany Sutherland, George Mason University.
  • De-mystifying the MS submissions process: Before you submit (Part 2) (May 18, 2022)
    Resources for this event can be found here.
    Part 2 of a 2-Part workshop to help navigate all stages of the peer review process. This workshop was presented by Dr. Pamela Diggle, University of Connecticut, Editor-in-Chief, American Journal of Botany, and Amy McPherson, Director of Publications, Botanical Society of America and Managing Editor, American Journal of Botany.
  • So you want to get involved with section leadership... (June 5, 2022)
    Presented by Kyra N. Krakos, Maryville University, 2022 Chair of the BSA Teaching and Outreach Section. A walkthrough of the roles, responsibilities, and benefits of being in section leadership: Have you thought about section leadership? How does one get elected? What is involved in the different positions? How can it benefit your professional development? During this session the group walked through the different roles and responsibilities and answered questions about the process.
  • Applying to Grad School - A Q&A Session (September 20, 2022)
    Presented by the Early Career Professional Development Committee. This event was aimed at providing helpful information and guidance for students thinking about applying to graduate school in plant sciences. Panelists have a range of experience and come from a variety of institution types. After brief introductions and some initial questions from the host, an open and moderated Q&A was conducted.
  • Utilizing Botany Conference Content in Your Teaching (November 2, 2022)
    Resources for this event can be found here.
    Co-hosted by the BSA Education Committee and Teaching Section. Through the pandemic our annual Botany Conference has changed to allow virtual and asynchronous participation, hosting for a year our online talks and other materials. Our students, classrooms, and labs could benefit from engaging with Botany conference content throughout the year. We will consider ideas and perspectives about using these materials both from the perspective of educators and content creators.
  • Intro to Reviews and Meta-Analysis (November 7, 2022)
    Hosted by AJB Reviews Editor, Kasey Barton. Writing reviews can be a great way to delve into a body of literature, synthesize evidence, identify new connections among topics/taxa, and identify knowledge gaps for future research. Deciding when a review is needed in a field or to answer a question is the first step. Deciding whether to pursue a quantitative review, such as meta-analysis, or an integrative review is the next step. In both cases, reproducible literature searches to compile the body of evidence is important. Inclusion criteria helps avoid meandering focus, and tests of publication bias provide check of reliability of the results. We'll introduce all of these concepts, providing references for further reading, answering questions about why or how to write a review, and hopefully, clarifying this approach as an important component of biological research.
  • How to be a Successful BSA Student Representative (January 18, 2023)
    (The above link is to the event slideshow - no recording was made of this event.)
    Student Representatives, Ioana Anghel and Eli Hartung, led a Q&A on the position description, requirements, the election process, and examples of candidate bios submitted.
  • Prepping for PLANTS: An Informational Webinar about the PLANTS Travel Awards for Underrepresented Undergrads (March 10, 2023)
    Want to know more about the PLANTS Undergraduate Travel Awards and a mentored Botany conference experience? This webinar allows you to hear about the program from past PLANTS scholars and get direction about the application process.
  • Making the most out of Botany 2023 - A Student Conference Guide (May 26, 2023)
    Workshop presented by BSA Student Representatives, Ioana Anghel and Eli Hartung. Are you attending the Botany Conference for the first time this July? Or are you looking for tips on how to make the best of the conference as a student? This workshop goes over student-specific events, how to organize your time, how to make your trip as affordable as possible, and how to successfully network. It also goes over ways to make the best out of attending virtually.
  • Applying to Graduate School - A Q&A Session (September 26, 2023)
    This panel was organized by the BSA Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee and hosted by committee Chair, Karolina Heyduk. Early career scientists got to hear from scientists at a variety of career stages and from different institution types to learn about the process and best practices for applying to graduate school. The first part of the panel was structured Q&A, with time at the end for questions from the audience.
  • Reviewing Papers for Scientific Journals (December 13, 2023)
    This free Botany360 panel discussion and Q&A session took place on December 13, 2023, and was organized by BSA President, Brenda Molano-Flores, and the BSA Publications Team. Reviewers and editors from the Botanical Society of America's journals shared information about reviewing scientific papers. Geared particularly toward early career scientists, this virtual meeting provided an overview of the manuscript review process, addressed common questions from first-time reviewers, and included an open Q&A session. The panel included Drs. Brenda Molano-Flores, Briana Gross, Karolina Heyduk, and Stephen Weller. The discussion was moderated by BSA Director of Publications Amy McPherson.
  • Getting Involved in Service to BSA and Beyond (January 8, 2024)
    This panel discussion was organized by the BSA Education Committee, and hosted by Rachel Jabaily of Colorado College. The panel of botanists led a group discussion about how professional service has been valued in their jobs. The panelists have career experience from a variety of institutions, including several colleges, universities, and a botanical garden. The group will share practical advice about when and how to take on various service roles. Service opportunities within the Botanical Society of America were highlighted, including those available through elected and appointed committee positions. Panelists included Rachel Jabaily, Colorado College; Karolina Heyduk, Univ. Connecticut; Mackenzie Taylor, Creighton University; Eli Hartung, Kansas State University; Emily Sessa, New York Botanical Garden. BSA service opportunities were discussed by Heather Cacanindin, BSA Executive Director.
  • Fulbright US Scholar Program: Insights from an Alumni Ambassador (April 29, 2024)
    In this presentation, Dr. Nishi Rajakaruna (Fulbright US Scholar and Alumni Ambassador, and Professor of Botany at Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo) will discuss the Fulbright US Scholar Program and the process of applying for Fulbright grants. Postdoctoral fellows, early to late career faculty from community colleges, liberal arts colleges and more research-focused universities, as well as botanists from state and federal agencies and the private sector (including retired and emeriti faculty and independent applicants with no US institutional affiliation), are all eligible for Fulbright US Scholar Awards and are encouraged to attend the session.
  • Now You're a New PI, What's Next? (May 28, 2024)
    This event was hosted by Min Ya (Minya) and Ariadna Gonzalez Solís. This webinar aimed to discuss the logistics, challenges & surprises of setting up a new research group and how to navigate through one’s first year as a new PI. We recognized there is a need for this type of webinar because how to be a "manager" and a "leader" of a group is often missing in the academic training of an early career scientist. We invited four panelists, who are all assistant professors, to talk about their New PI experiences and what they learned from their first few years as group leaders. This webinar is a collaboration between the BSA Early Career Professional Development Committee and the Plant Postdocs.
  • NFS Workshop for GRFP (September 26, 2024)
    This free Botany360 workshop was organized by BSA's Early Career Professional Development Committee, and hosted by committee member, Jill Spear. This workshop includes an overview of the Graduate Research Fellowship Program (GRFP) by NSF representatives Rochelle Craven and Joel Schildback, and also included time at the end for questions and answered (not included in the recording to protect privacy). For more information visit nsfgrfp.org.
  • Applying to Grad School 2024 (October 3, 2024)
    This free Botany360 Q&A Panel took place on October 3, 2024, and was organized by the BSA Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee, and hosted by committee Chair, Karolina Heyduk. Panelists include Oluwatobi Oso, Cody Coyotee, Nora Mitchell, Jordan Dowell, and Natalie Dietz.

Previous BSA Professional Development Event Recordings

The following events took place before Botany360 was established:

All Botany360 events must abide by the Botanical Society of America Data Privacy and Transparency Policy.