Tropical Botany, Florida
The University of Florida, Department of Botany and the National Tropical Botanical Garden-Kampong, in collaboration with Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden, will offer an intensive, in-residence course/workshop on the systematics of tropical plants, in Miami, Florida, from 30 June – 21 July 2008. Instructor: Dr. Walter S. Judd (Course Director, Department of Botany, 214 Bartram Hall, PO Box 118526, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32611-8526; e-mail <wjudd@botany.ufl.edu>; phone: 352-273-1983; fax: 352-392-3993). Dr. Scott A. Zona, Research Scientists at F.T.G., will lecture on the systematics of Palmae. The Course: Tropical Botany is an intensive course of study in the biology and systematics of tropical plants. Subject matter will be largely based on the extensive holdings of tropical vascular plants at Fairchild Tropical Garden, National Tropical Botanical Garden-Kampong, and the Montgomery Botanical Institute. These gardens have the largest living collections of tropical plants in the United States. Additionally, field trips will be made to the Florida Everglades, the Florida Keys, and adjacent natural areas. The natural vegetation of South Florida, which includes littoral and dry land habitats, mixed tropical hardwood hammocks, pinelands, and mangrove communities, will introduce students to the diversity of tropical vegetation. The object of the course is to provide advanced students and/or professionals with a detailed coverage of the systematics, phylogeny, diversity of structure, and economic botany of tropical vascular plants. Questions concerning the course should be addressed to Dr. Judd. Credit-hours: Tropical Botany is taught as a workshop sponsored by the National Tropical Botanical Garden-Kampong, with the collaboration of Fairchild Tropical Garden. If academic credit is desired students may enroll in either BOT 6935 (graduate), BOT 4935 (advanced undergraduates) and receive 2 semester credit-hours, or BOT 5685 (Botany students, with permission) and receive 5 semester credit-hours. These courses are offered by the Department of Botany, University of Florida, and they can be taken by non-U.F. as well as by U.F. students. Students may also arrange for academic credit from their home institutions. Enrollment: Limited to 12 participants, with preference given to upper-level students or professional biologists/teachers. Application: Individuals should apply by 16 April 2008 (to Dr. Judd, see address above). Applications should include the following: a letter stating reasons for taking the course, a curriculum vita, and a letter of recommendation (sent separately). Applicants will be notified of acceptance by 5 May 2008. Accommodation: Students will be housed at the Kampong (superintendent's cottage/dormitory), but, if desired, housing is also available at a hotel near Fairchild Tropical Garden; cost of room is $25 per day. Fees/tuition: A course fee of $1300 is required to cover garden and course/workshop costs. In addition, if U.F. academic credit is desired, tuition costs are $311.60/ credit (in-state, graduate), $108.55/ credit (in state, undergraduate), $941.79/ credit (out-of-state, graduate), or $594.70 /credit (out-of-state, undergraduate). Three scholarships (covering a portion of the course fee) will be available. [Posted 14 December 2007]