Call for Papers: "Spatial Phylogenetics" Systematic Botany Special Issue

Spatial phylogenetics is an emerging discipline that combines spatial data with encompassing phylogenies, and employs various hypothesis tests to assess patterns of biodiversity on the landscape, both for academic studies in ecology, evolution, and biogeography as well as for applied purposes such as conservation (for a brief review, see Mishler, 2023, Spatial Phylogenetics, Journal of Biogeography, https://doi.org/10.1111/jbi.14618). A special issue of Systematic Botany will be published in 2024 on this topic, handled by guest editors Brent Mishler and Israel Borokini.  We encourage submission of papers dealing with methodology, new empirical analyses from anywhere in the world, or both.  Papers can be on any group of organisms, plants, animals, fungi, or microbes.

To be considered for this issue, submitted papers should relate phylogenies to spatial data and incorporate appropriate hypothesis tests to match its stated goals.  Within these boundaries, we are open to innovative ideas for sourcing/building the phylogenies, sourcing/cleaning spatial data for terminal taxa, and developing statistical tests for hypotheses.

The deadline for submission of papers is May 1, 2024.  Please follow the author guidelines available at: https://www.aspt.net/publications/sysbot#.ZGMEjexBw0Q —all papers will be evaluated using the normal Systematic Botany peer review process.  For questions on this special issue, please contact bmishler@berkeley.edu or iborokini@berkeley.edu.

Call for Proposals for the 2024 Annual ASTC Conference in Chicago

Call for Proposals for the 2024 Annual Conference in Chicago (September 28–October 1) includes a special call for sessions relevant to work happening in natural history museums and other natural history settings. Although we traditionally have strong participation from many departments at natural history museums—such as education, programs, and exhibits—we are hoping to make the conference even more relevant for those who focus on natural history collections and research. For example, this could include sessions on authenticity, research and critical content, and repatriation and decolonization.

The Association of Science and Technology Centers (ASTC)—the U.S.-based membership organization for science centers and museums—has included a special call for sessions relevant to work in natural history museums and related settings in the Call for Proposals for the ASTC 2024 Annual Conference, which will be held September 28–October 1 in Chicago. ASTC is especially interested in sessions relevant to those working with natural history collections, research taking place in natural history settings, and content focused on natural sciences.

Affiliation with an ASTC-member organization is not required to submit a session proposal nor to be a presenter. ASTC especially welcomes first-time submissions and proposals from people who have not previously attended an ASTC conference.

The deadline for submission is February 16, 2024. We’ll be holding a webinar (February 5 at 2 p.m. ET) for tips on how to build a successful proposal. See the Call for Proposals for details and a link to the submission form.