The 2014 Smithsonian Botanical Symposium, 24-25 April, to Explore Biogeography

Presented by the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History Department of Botany in collaboration with the United States Botanic Garden with support from the Cuatrecasas Family Foundation:

Location, Location, Location…New Advances in the Science of Biogeography
April 24-25, 2014
Washington, D.C.
http://botany.si.edu/sbs/

Sequoia is prominently featured in Asa Gray’s 1872 theory about the relationship between the similar floras of North America and Asia (Am. Nat. 6: 577-596). This chromolithograph from E.J. Ravenscroft’s Pinetum Britannicum (1884) depicts the California endemic "giant sequoia" (Sequoiadendron giganteum).

The distribution of the earth’s biodiversity is not random in space and time. Individual species ranges and entire ecosystems are uniquely shaped by the intersection of ecological and geographic constraints, opportunity, and evolutionary history. Scientists have long sought to recognize these distribution patterns and to understand their underlying processes. Significant advances have been made in the science of biogeography, which weaves together biology and geosciences, as knowledge of our planet’s geologic history has improved and as new analytical tools and sources of data have become available. We anticipate even greater discoveries and major syntheses in the future and this exciting scientific discipline is more relevant today than ever, especially in the face of global climate change that will drastically reshape the biogeography of life on earth.

The Symposium will celebrate the past contributions of biogeography and look toward future ones that bring a deeper understanding of the relationship between our planet and its biota. The invited speakers will address why “location” matters with a wide range of modern studies and applications on the geography of life.

The event will kick-off with a reception and poster session at the U.S. Botanic Garden on the evening of Thursday, April 24. A full lineup of speakers will present their talks on Friday, April 25 at the National Museum of Natural History’s Baird Auditorium.

In addition, the 12^th José Cuatrecasas Medal in Tropical Botany will be awarded at the Symposium. This prestigious award is presented annually to an international scholar who has contributed significantly to advancing the field of tropical botany. The award is named in honor of Dr. José Cuatrecasas, a pioneering botanist who spent many years working in the Department of Botany at the Smithsonian and devoted his career to plant exploration in tropical South America.

Abstracts for poster presentations may be submitted online at botany.si.edu/sbs/. The deadline for abstract submission is March 18.

Sponsors of the Symposium are the Department of Botany, the Office of the Associate Director for Research and Collections, the United States Botanic Garden, and the Cuatrecasas Family Foundation.

There will be no registration fee this year, but attendees must register online at botany.si.edu/sbs/. Visit the website, call 202-633-0920, or email sbs@si.edu for more information.