Preparing Leaders and Nurturing Tomorrows Scientists: Botany and Beyond (PLANTS III)

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The PLANTS III program will establish a series of annual workshops and activities to foster a mentoring network and community of interactions among faculty, and students, researchers, and career professionals in botany and allied disciplines with the goal of broadening participation in those disciplines. The Botanical Society of America (BSA) will lead this effort in support of a diverse and inclusive botanical community. By addressing plant awareness and cultivating a diverse and inclusive community of scientists, these activities can accelerate discovery, research and applied botanical sciences. These activites will engage the botanical community and professional botanical societies (e.g., BSA, the American Society of Plant Taxonomists, the Society of Herbarium Curators) in a collaborative effort to engage a diverse community of undergraduates, early career professionals, and faculty to affect a more inclusive scientific community. The program will provide financial support for underrepresented students to engage with botany at multiple levels; provide several access points for students and faculty that have been historically excluded, to engage with the botanical sciences; and create a program and series of inclusive and accessible experiences that provide sustained personal and social connections supporting a diverse, inclusive and equitable botanical community. In addition, professional development workshops will provide faculty with evidence-based best practices of botanical science education, training for identifying barriers to equity and inclusion in a science classroom, and methods for engaging a diversity of students in the study of botanical science. All of these activities are critical to creating a diverse and inclusive 21st century workforce that will be charged with finding creative solutions to global challenges.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.