Botany for the Next Millennium:
Goals | Actions | |
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Vigor of Profession: To maintain botany's record of achievement and discovery | Guide national research agenda in the botanical sciences | All plant societies should pursue a heightened profile for botany, or plant biology, within the National Academy of Sciences and the National Research Council and encourage members to serve on review panels and as rotating panel directors for NSF, NIH, USDA. |
Maintain the diversity of disciplines in the botanical sciences | Granting agencies should award small grants to support research in fields that require relatively small amounts of money or are currently viewed as unfashionable | |
Achieve effective use of human and technological resources among institutions | The Botanical Society of America should build a national inventory of scholars and specialized research facilities representing all botanical disciplines in order to facilitate sharing of expertise and resources. The list of scholars, according to expertise, should be provided to granting agencies for their use in selecting panel members | Promote an integrative approach to the study of plants that draws upon all levels of organization | Funding agencies should pursue programs that facilitate the exchange of personnel and sharing of resources among academic communities |
Encourage the development of research programs on plants that take advantage of their special properties to answer questions fundamental to all biological research | The American Journal of Botany should require that manuscript introductions integrate the work at hand within a larger context -- biological, historical, and/or conceptual -- and explore the possibility of publishing pedagogical articles | |
Maintain the highest scientific standards for evaluation of research (journals, panels, institutions) | Societies should sponsor symposia that cross botanical disciplines |
Goals | Actions | |
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Continuity of Profession: To attract and support the training of future botanists | Ensure that future botanists are broadly trained and that all disciplines are represented | Societies and faculties should provide recognition and awards for effective teaching that infuses awareness of plants throughout the curriculum. |
Advance the botanical sciences through our own teaching and infuse an awareness of plants throughout the curriculum | The Botanical Society of America should develop a model curriculum and national standards for undergraduate training in botany that emphasizes an integrative approach | |
Promote excellence in teaching and its recognition as the coequal of research | Faculties should:
All botanists as individuals should maintain a whole-plant perspective in teaching, research, and communication, whether the emphasis is on molecules or ecosystems Funding agencies, professional societies, faculties, and individuals should encourage the production of innovative multimedia resources devoted to plants and encourage support and improvement of botanical collections and libraries |
Goals | Actions | |
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Integration into the Community: To broaden the relevance of botanical knowledge beyond academia | Enhance public awareness of the fundamental importance of plants to society | Societies, faculties, and individuals should disseminate the results of botanical research broadly -- to businesses, government, and private organizations |
Enhance public awareness of the fundamental importance of plants to scientific advancement | Societies, faculties, and/or individuals should promote effective botanical education of K-12 by:
The Botanical Society of America should improve outreach by:
To improve public understanding of plants, botanists should:
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