Smithsonian Botanical Symposium 2012 — Presented by the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History Department of Botany in collaboration with the United States Botanic Garden with support from the Cuatrecasas Family Foundation:

"Transforming 21st Century Comparative Biology using Evolutionary Trees"

Over the last 20 years great progress has been made toward assembling a phylogeny of life on Earth and our expanding knowledge of evolutionary relationships is transforming 21st century biology. This is especially true in comparative biology where phylogenetic methods and trees - usually based on molecular data which is increasingly of genomics scale - are proving effective tools to reveal new and often unexpected insights into how organisms evolve and adapt to their environments. These advances span new important questions and enable a fresh look at old questions that include: diversification, role of extinction, response to climate change, co-evolution, the influence of genetic architecture on morphological evolution, and patterns of community assembly and interaction.

The 10th Smithsonian Botanical Symposium, hosted by the Department of Botany and the United States Botanic Garden, will address the question: How do we put the knowledge of evolutionary relationships to work to better describe and understand the diversification of life on Earth? The invited speakers will cover a wide range of organisms and topics to illuminate how molecular phylogenetics can be used to understand evolutionary and ecological processes.

Program and Schedule

Friday, April 20, Evening Events
The United States Botanic Garden
6:30 p.m. Opening Reception, The United States Botanic Garden, Washington, DC.

Saturday, April 21
Morning Session
NMNH Baird Auditorium
8:30 a.m. Registration and Coffee, Evans Gallery (enter through Constitution Avenue Lobby)
9:00 a.m. Opening Remarks, Warren L. Wagner, Chair of Botany, Smithsonian Institution, and Jonathan Coddington, Associate Director for Research and Collections, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution. Presentation of the José Cuatrecasas Medal for Excellence in Tropical Botany, Laurence J. Dorr, Department of Botany, Smithsonian Institution.
Symposium Convener: Kenneth Wurdack, Department of Botany, Smithsonian Institution
9:30 a.m. Scott V. Edwards, Harvard University
10:15 a.m. Coffee Break, Upper Level of the Museum Rotunda
10:45 a.m. Charles F. Delwiche, University of Maryland
11:30 a.m. James W. Horn, Department of Botany, Smithsonian Institution
12:15 p.m. Boxed Lunch, Upper Level of the Museum Rotunda

Afternoon Session
NMNH Baird Auditorium
2:00 p.m. Karen Osborn, Department of Invertebrate Zoology, Smithsonian Institution
2:45 p.m. David D. Ackerly, University of California, Berkeley
3:30 p.m. Coffee Break, Upper Level of the Museum Rotunda
4:00 p.m. Richard Ree, The Field Museum
4:45 p.m. Michael Donoghue, Yale University

Evening Events
NMNH Rotunda and Exhibits
5:45 p.m. Reception
7:00 p.m. Symposium Dinner, Museum Rotunda

Sponsors

United States Botanic Garden of Washington DC

Cuatrecasas Family Foundation

Office of the Associate Director for Research and Collections, NMNH

Hosted by the Department of Botany of the Smithsonian Institution.

Contact the symposium coordinator at sbs@si.edu.