BRIT Research Represented at the XII Latin American Botanical Congress in Quito, Ecuador

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1 MONTHLY NEWSLETTER DECEMBER BRIT Research Represented at the XII Latin American Botanical Congress in Quito, Ecuador Speakers and organizers of the IAPT Early Career Investigator Symposium: Systematics in Latin America. Speakers and organizers of the symposium The Evolution of Compositae in a Global Context. BRIT Research Botanists, Drs. Alejandra Vasco and Morgan Gostel, traveled to Quito, Ecuador to present their research at the 12th Latin American Botanical Congress from October 20 28, Held every four years, this is the largest meeting of botanists from around the world, whose research focuses on plants from Latin America. Both Drs. Vasco and Gostel were invited to speak in special symposia during this meeting. Dr. Vasco was invited to present on The fern genus, Elaphoglossum: systematics and molecular genetics of leaf development as part of a symposium organized by the International Association of Plant Taxonomists (IAPT) highlighting exceptional early career researchers in Latin American systematics. Dr. Gostel was invited to participate in a symposium organized by The International Compositae Alliance (TICA) and presented part of his research entitled, Leveraging phylogenomics to improve resolution of the evolutionary history of Moquiniastrum and the tribe to which it belongs, Gochnatieae (Compositae). Dr. Gostel also participated in a side meeting for TICA on October 20, 2018 and hosted at the Pontífica Universidad Católica del Ecuador (PUCE). Meet Christie Eckler BRIT's new Vice President of Advancement A special welcome to Christie Eckler, BRIT's new Vice President for Advancement. Ms. Eckler brings more than 20 years of experience in the nonprofit sector to BRIT s newly named Advancement Department, where she will oversee development, fundraising, membership, and marketing programs and help to guide the Institute into its next phase of growth. Most recently, Ms. Eckler served as Development Director for UT Arlington s College of Science. Before her time in the university setting, Ms. Eckler demonstrated great success in the philanthropic side of social service. In the last ten years, she has raised more than $20 million federally and privately for some

2 of the most vulnerable populations in our community. She has served as Vice President of Development for Samaritan House, as well as Program Manager for Asset Development at Catholic Charities of Fort Worth and Director of Housing for SafeHaven of Tarrant County. I am excited to welcome Christie as the new Vice President for Advancement, said Dr. Ed Schneider, BRIT s President, and Executive Director. She brings an excellent strategic approach to building awareness and building support from our varied constituents and will play a valuable role in advancing BRIT s mission. In addition, her ability to truly live her life s motto of helping those who help others is inspirational. BRIT s search for a new head of development began in July 2018 after long-time Vice President of Development Cleve Lancaster announced his retirement. The selection was made after an exhaustive national search and selection process. Save the Date Wednesday, April 17, 2019 Enjoy wine and alfresco seated dinner by celebrity chefs. Gala Chairs: Gina and Bob Ravnaas Honoring: BRIT 2019 International Award of Excellence in Sustainable Winemaking Recipient. Winner to be announced in January Contact Sara Richardson at Shop at BRIT Many thanks to those that came to the recent Sip & Shop at BRIT event launching our new retail space! Shop at BRIT includes a small array of locally made goods and signature BRIT items. Located on the windowed wall within our very own welcome center, the Shop is now open during business hours and special events. Sales support BRIT and artisan neighbors. For more information contact Katherine Campbell at ext Journal of the Botanical Research Institute of Texas 12(2) published BRIT Press published Volume 12, Number 2 of the Journal of the Botanical Research Institute of Texas (JBRIT) on 20 Nov The 354-page issue contains 22 scientific papers with new genera, new species, and new names for already described plants as well as research in classical and modern systematic botany. This 12(2) issue is available in the BRIT library, through subscription, and online at Shop at BRIT.

3 Volunteers Impact GROW All GROW volunteers and their accomplishments are celebrated by the Fort Worth Botanic Garden and BRIT staff every day. We are grateful to have wonderful volunteers who help spread our love of plants to the community by gardening in our many gardens, greeting our guests, leading tours in the Japanese Garden, engaging families at education programs, curating specimens, cataloging books in the library, cultivating begonias, creating indexes for press books, transcribing labels remotely, and much more. Your hours of dedication to our combined mission have made an impact and we are sincerely thankful for the time you spend with us. Number of active volunteers: 1196 Hours donated by volunteers: 27,969 hours Value of donated hours: $689,162. To join the fun and contribute to our shared mission of Cultivate, Conserve, Engage, and Explore, please sign up online to volunteer or contact Julie Donovan at or Montana Williams at

4 A Book Signing Celebration in West Texas BRIT Press officially published on 1 November 2018 the monumental flora Flowering Plants of Trans-Pecos Texas and Adjacent Areas by A. Michael Powell, Richard Worthington, and Shirley A. Powell. To celebrate this 20 year botanical research project on one of the most biologically and topographically diverse ecoregions of Texas, four BRIT staff (Ed Schneider, Cleve Lancaster, Chris Chilton, and Barney Lipscomb) attended two book signings, one in Fort Davis and the other in Alpine. Flowering Plants of Trans-Pecos Texas and Adjacent Areas is available online at Shop at BRIT Calendar of Events DECEMBER 1st Holiday Floral Arrangements 10th Volunteer University 12/24 1/1 Closed to the Public JANUARY 1/15 Teacher Tuesday 1/28 Homeschool Day BRIT Tours: December 12/6, 12/13, and 12/20 at 1:30 p.m. Shop at BRIT Many thanks to those that came to the recent Sip & Shop at BRIT event launching our new retail space! Shop at BRIT includes a small array locally made goods and signature BRIT items. Located on the windowed wall within our very own welcome center, the Shop is now open during business hours and special events. Sales support BRIT and artisan neighbors. For more information contact Katherine Campbell at kcampbell@brit.org or , ext. 243.

5 Botanical Research Institute of Texas 1700 University Drive Fort Worth Texas Phone: Fax: BRIT.org Copyright 2018 Botanical Research Institute of Texas to be added to the distribution of this newsletter.