Table Of ContentMadrono, Vol. 51, No. 4, pp. 404-405, 2004
PRESIDENT'S REPORT FOR VOLUME 51
Reflecting on last year's report for Volume 50, I im- lecture seriesorganizedby SecondVicePresidentStefania
mediately notice abig difference. No snow on theground. Mambelli. These free lectures are held in the Valley Life
In fact, summer isjust ending and we have not yetpassed Sciences Building at UC Berkeley (7:30 p.m. on the third
the fall equinox. Volume 51(4) will likely arrive before Thursday of every month, excluding February and the
the snow flies, a milestone indeed. Last year, we were summer months). Thanks to our speakers: WalterKoenig,
ecstatic to be almost back on time. This year. Madrono Jeff Corbin, Gretchen LeBuhn, Michael Loik, Will Rus-
actually is ahead of schedule. This achievement is the sell, Jean Langenheim, and Nishi Rajakaruna, for sharing
culmination of years of dedicated effort, led by Editor the fruits of their stimulating research. All of the talks
JohnCallaway andreinforcedbyasuccessionofMadrono were both informative andenjoyable. ElizabethZacharias,
editorial contributors including Editorial Assistant Laura our student representative, organized delightful post-lec-
Wainer, Book Editor Jon Keeley, Noteworthy Collection ture sessions in the Jepson Herbarium where numerous
Editors Dieter Wilken and Margriet Weatherwax, and all thoughtful and pleasant discussions were held between
of the members of the Board of Editors. It also reflects guest speakers and attendees. Many thanks to Elizabeth
the effort ofourpastcouncil, ledby the vision andenergy forherdeft touch in creating such aconducive (andtasty)
of past president Bruce Baldwin. And, lastly, it under- setting.
scores thefactthatMadrono is stillattractingqualityman- This next year promises to be equally exciting if not
uscripts andthatthepracticeofbotany, inthebroadsense, more so, becausethis will be the alternating yearinwhich
is still alive and well. Ultimately, it is the work of all of the California Botanical Society's 21st Graduate Student
you that keeps Madrono a viable scientificjournal and an Meeting will be held. The meeting will be held at San
indicatorofthe health ofthe California Botanical Society. Francisco State University's Romberg Tiburon Centerfor
Nonetheless, John Callaway deserves recognition and Environmental Studies (TiburonCenter). ItwillbeonSat-
our enduring appreciation for his exemplary work as Ed- urday, February 19, 2005. The Tiburon Center is a re-
itor during this past three years. And, in fact, he got it! search and educational facility occupying a spectacular
One ofthe highlights ofsociety activities in 2004 wasour bay view settingontheTiburon PeninsulainMarinCoun-
annual banquet in February held at the historic LogCabin ty. There is limited lodging on site and plenty ofparking.
facility at the Presidio in San Francisco. During the even- We will be arranging transportation shuttles for visitors
ing's festivities, John was given a beautiful framed print from out of town from the airport to the Tiburon Center.
of the Sierras as a token of our appreciation for his con- Vicente Garcia, this year's new student representative on
tribution as Madrono editor. Mark Brunell, past second the council, Elizabeth Zacharias, last year's student rep-
vice president, is to be commended for his excellentjob resentative, and Diana Benner, a San Francisco State Uni-
in organizing this event. Our hosts were members of the versity graduate student, will coordinate the logistical
natural resource management staffofthe Presidio Trust. I challenges of organizing the meeting. This is an oppor-
particularly wish to thank Terry Thomas of the Presidio tunity to showcase the diversity and quality of research
Trust forherhospitality and support forthis function. Ear- that is currently underway by our next generation ofbo-
lierintheday. PresidioTrustbiologistsKatrinaStrathman, tanical scientists. These scientists represent the future of
Mark Frey, and Michael Chassez hosted a tour of state- our society and I hope that faculty and members of the
of-the-art habitat restoration and sensitive species man- society encourage student participation and do everything
agement activities that are taking place in this urban bio- possible to attend the meeting itself.
diversityhot-spot. CouncilmembersDeanKelchandStaci On the evening ofthe Graduate StudentMeeting, atthe
Markoscreatedelegant floraltable settingsthatmuchcon- beautiful Tiburon CenterConference Center, we will hold
tributed to the festive atmosphere. Along with John Cal- our annual banquet. Our honored guest speaker for the
laway, we also acknowledged the great job that Bruce evening will be the distinguished Dr. ArturoGomez-Pom-
Baldwin did during his tenure as ourimmediate pastpres- pa. Dr. Gomez-Pompa is a recipient of the 1994 Tyler
ident. Bruce's professionalism and generous spirit lifted Prize forEnvironmental Achievement, memberoftheNa-
the society through some challenging times and we are tional AcademiesofScience, anddistinguishedUniversity
very fortunate to have had Bruce as president of the so- Professorin the Department ofBotany and Plant Sciences
ciety. at UC Riverside. Dr. Gomez-Pompa has focused on the
Our distinguished speaker at the banquet was Dr. Hal floristic relationships of economically important tropical
Mooney. Hal spoke on "A Personal View of California plant groups in his native Mexico. He was one ofthe first
Plant Ecology: Past, Present, and Future." Although hard scientists todraw the world'sattention toourdisappearing
to imagine given his youthful appearance andenthusiasm, tropical forests in a classic 1972 paper in Science. In a
Hal chronicled his personal observations of some of the recent paper in Bioscience (March 2004), Dr. Gomez-
great ecologists in California history and highlighted a Pompa outlined the challenges facing biodiversity scien-
past tendency for them to move east once their careers tists and ethnobotanists and ways that traditional cultural
became established. Times have changed. Today, centers practices ofindigenous people might provide solutions to
ofecology in California, such as the "wilderness" at UC our current biodiversity crisis. Dr. Gomez-Pompa will
Davis, have become magnets for some ofthe world's fin- speak about his latest initiative to promote tropical forest
estecologists, as are numerousotherUC institutions,CSU conservation, the Center for Tropical Research (CITRO),
campuses, non-profit organizations (such as the Nature acollaborativeeffort between the UniversityofVeraCruz
Conservancy), andnaturalresourcemanagementagencies. and UC Irvine. I am hoping that the banquet is well at-
Ecology is alive and well in the Golden State. tended by student participants who may well be excited
Other highlights of 2004 included an excellent public by the inspiring work that Dr. Gomez-Pompa has accom-
2004] PRESIDENT'S REPORT FOR VOLUME 51 405
plished, and is still accomplishing, in the arena of biodi- function ofbiological diversity in western North America
versity conservation. and sister regions to the south. I personally thank all of
Also, once again, Stefania Mambelli has organized an you for your continued engagement in this effort. I also
outstanding public lecture series. Raymond Cranfill ofUC want to particularly acknowledge the dedication of the
Berkeley led off on September 16, 2004, with a talk on editorial staff of Madrono and our California Botanical
"The secret life of ferns"; James Wanket ofCSU Sacra- Society council members. Bruce Baldwin continues to
mento will talk about "Relicts and refugia: late Quater- make important contributions to the society as past pres-
nary forests of the Klamath Mountains" on October 21, ident. Sue Bainbridge, our corresponding secretary, pro-
2004. Susan Lambrecht, UC Santa Cruz, will speak on vides invaluable service. It is difficult to imagine the so-
"The cost offlowers in ecological currencies" on Novem- ciety functioning without her. Staci Markos, ourrecording
ber 18, 2004;JamesShevock, CaliforniaCooperativeEco- secretary, took the lead in getting the Annetta Carter
system Studies Unit and council member, will talk about Scholarship Fund off the ground, among her many other
"Bryogeography of California: what can we learn from important contributions. Roy Buck continues to do fine
the mosses about past and future climate changes?" on work in his capacity as the society's treasurer. Jim Shev-
January 20, 2005; Scott Stephens, UC Berkeley, will re- ock provides exemplary work as an at large member, not
view the "Dynamics of the last, intact, Jeffrey pine eco- to mention his monumental work on the mosses ofwest-
system from northwest Mexico: U.S. restoration implica- ern North America along with Dan Norris in the first two
tions" on March 17, 2005; Elizabeth Wenk, UC Berkeley, issues ofMadrono this year. I again thank ElizabethZach-
will make a presentation on the "Effect of differing sub- arias for her wonderful support of the lecture series last
strates on plant physiology and distribution in the alpine year, and we welcome Vicente Garcia and Diana Benner
Sierra Nevada" on April 21, 2005; and Michelle McMa- who will work with Elizabeth in organizing this year's
hon, UC Davis, will speak on "Diversification of floral Graduate Student Meeting. Also thanks to our web mas-
development in the papilionoid legume tribe Amorpheae" ters, Curtis Clark and John LeDuke. Finally, a farewell
on May 19, 2005. We are all looking forward to this ex- thanks to Anne Bradley, former at large member, who
cellent line up ofquality presentations. served well for much of her term, and welcome to Jeff
Everyone who supports the California Botanical Soci- Corbin whowill replaceherasanew memberofthecoun-
ety is helping to keep our public lecture programs, the cil. Thanks to all of your collective efforts, we can cele-
annual banquet, graduate student research in the botanical brate an excellent year ofaccomplishments, and look for-
sciences, and ourjournal Madrono a vital part ofthe fab- ward to yet another year of outstanding achievements in
ric of our increasing knowledge of the composition and 2005.
