XIX International Botanical Congress

From Plant Press, Vol. 20, No. 3, July 2017.

A good number of our research staff, research associates, and graduate students attended the recent International Botanical Congress held from 23 – 29 July 2017 in Shenzhen, China. It was deeply satisfying to see the department play a prominent role in all aspects of this international gathering. Certainly, the most prominent of our many departmental participants was Jun Wen who was one of the deputy presidents of the organizing committee as well as one of the scientific program committee members. She deserves congratulations and thanks for taking on these important duties. Not content merely to assist in organizing a conference of 7000 participants she also presented a keynote lecture (“Developing integrative systematics in the informatics and genomic era”), helped organize two scientific sessions, co-authored seven papers, and co-authored ten posters presented during the congress. In addition, as co-editor in chief of the Journal of Systematics and Evolution she managed to release days before the congress began an “IBC 2017 special issue: Frontiers in plant systematics and evolution”.

John Kress also gave one of the keynote lectures (“Tropical plant-animal interactions: Coevolution in the Anthropocene”) and co-organized two sessions on DNA barcoding. Vicki Funk likewise co-organized two sessions: one on Compositae and the other on “Systematic Agenda 2050”. Paul Peterson co-organized a single session entitled “Poaceae: Systematics and phylogeny of major lineages” and Warren Wagner, who was unable to attend the congress, organized a session with Marc Applehans, a former postdoctoral student, on “Biogeographic patterns and adaptive radiations in the Pacific”.  A.J. Harris, a Buck Fellow in the Department of Botany, organized two sessions with Research Associate Stefanie Ickert-Bond on “New insights on the assembly and biodiversity of the flora of North America”. Curators Ashley Egan, Eric Schuettpelz, and Elizabeth Zimmer presented papers in one or more of the hundreds of sessions offered during the congress. Similarly, resident Research Associates Konstantin Romaschenko, Robert Soreng, and Carl Taylor also presented papers, as did current post-doctoral fellows Morgan Gostel and Marcelo Pace. Graduate student Matthew Haynsen collaborated with other departmental colleagues on a poster.

International botanical congresses and the ICN (International Code of Nomenclature for Algae, Fungi, and Plants), formerly the ICBN (International Code of Botanical Nomenclature), are intimately associated. This congress was no exception. The Shenzhen Nomenclature Section preceded the congress proper and was held from 17 – 21 July 2017 at the Peking University HSBC Business School (PHBS), University Town, Shenzhen. Smithsonian representation at the Nomenclature Section has always been strong and this year was no exception. Four curators (Laurence Dorr, Vicki Funk, Paul Peterson, and Eric Schuettpelz), two resident Research Associates (Konstantin Romaschenko and Robert Soreng), and one non-resident Research Associate (Alina Freire-Fierro) participated in the discussions, debates, and votes. There were no especially contentious issues debated at the sessions of this nomenclature section. Perhaps the most radical change to the ICN was a revision of Division III of the Melbourne Code and the codification of a number of procedures that previous nomenclature sessions adopted by tradition. The Nomenclature Section continues to be ambivalent with respect to registration of names and nomenclatural acts. Registration is required for fungi, but the Shenzhen section created a special committee to report to the next congress on registration for algae and plants.

One of the less easily quantified aspects of participation at a congress of this magnitude is the facility each participant has to meet colleagues and collaborators scattered across the globe while simultaneously meeting new people and hearing or reading about new ideas. It was well worth the effort to send as many staff, associates, and students as we did. It is a wonderful investment in the future.

Comments

[ALBERTO GOMEZ-MEJIA]

Where can I find the International Code of Botanical Nomenclature?

[Gary Krupnick]

The International Code of Botanical Nomenclature (Shenzhen Code 2018) is available here:
https://www.iapt-taxon.org/nomen/main.php