Annual Systematics Symposium, 2005-2009, St. Louis, Missouri

摘要为美国国家科学基金会拨款建议0515933 50多年来，密苏里州植物园主办的年度系统学研讨会。七位左右的知名科学家被邀请到圣路易斯与大约400名观众交谈，其中包括许多本科生和研究生。大多数观众来自圣路易斯五小时车程内的学院和大学，但这里通常有来自35个州的人。他们来听一个关于植物和动物生物学各个领域正在发生的事情的进展报告，即这些生物如何分类以及我们如何研究它们之间的关系。这些谈话发表在《密苏里州植物园年鉴》上，它们已经成为一种有用的教学工具。国家科学基金会的资金已经资助了52个专题讨论会中的50个，用于支付发言者的旅费和住宿费、一部分秘书费和会议记录的一部分出版费。演讲者男女混合，目的是尽可能匹配听众的性别比例。听众通常在星期五到达，会谈在星期六举行，人们在星期天离开。今年的系统学研讨会在周末的星期天上午有计算机软件的演示，对许多观众来说，系统学研讨会是他们第一次大规模接触系统学（研究生物的分类和关系）。他们可以与来自各个学校的科学家会面，安排实习，为研究生工作选择导师，并发展未来的工作关系。他们还首次有机会参观世界上主要的植物收藏之一并使用世界一流的植物图书馆。对于一些年轻的演讲者来说，系统学研讨会也是他们学术生涯的一个重要转折点。许多观众在较小的学校和大学任教，研讨会是他们与具有相似科学兴趣的同事见面和交谈的机会，建立新的合作，并与潜在的研究生和实习生见面。总而言之，系统学研讨会是国家中心科学互动的主要催化剂。

Abstract for NSF grant proposal 0515933 For more than 50 years, the Missouri Botanical Garden has hosted the Annual Systematics Symposium. Seven or so well-known scientists are invited to St. Louis to talk to an audience of about 400, including numerous undergraduates and graduate students. Most of the audience comes from colleges and universities within a five-hour drive of St. Louis but there are usually people here from about 35 states. They come to hear a progress report on what is happening in various areas of plant and animal biology, namely how these organisms are classified and how we study their relationships with one another. The talks are published in the Annals of the Missouri Botanical Garden, and they have become a useful teaching tool. NSF funding, which has already supported 50 of the 52 symposia, is used to pay the travel and housing costs of the speakers, a portion of the secretarial costs, and a portion of the publication costs of the proceedings. There is a mix of male and female speakers, with the aim of matching the gender ratio of the audience if at all possible. The audience usually arrives on a Friday, the talks take place on Saturday, and people depart on Sunday. This year, there are demonstrations of computer software on the Sunday morning of the symposium weekend.For numerous members of the audience, the Systematics Symposium is their first exposure to systematics (the study of classification and relationships of organisms) on a grand scale. They get to meet scientists from a wide array of schools, to arrange internships, to choose mentors for graduate work, and to develop future working relationships. They also get their first chance to visit one of the major plant collections in the world and to use a world-class botanical library. For some of the younger speakers too, the Systematics Symposium is a major turning point in their academic careers. Many members of the audience teach at smaller schools and colleges and the symposium is their chance to meet and talk with colleagues with similar scientific interests, to strike up new collaborations, and to meet with potential graduate students and interns. Altogether, the Systematics Symposium is a major catalyst of scientific interaction in the center of the nation.