Future Sessions

Planning for 2008 APS Centennial Celebration

The 2008 national APS meeting will be an historic occasion as the society celebrates its 100th year.  All members are encouraged to attend this “long planned for” meeting as the society takes a retrospective look at its history of excellence and a look forward to its future of promise.  The meeting will be held July 26-30 at the Minneapolis Convention Center in downtown Minneapolis, Minnesota.

The special format for the centennial meeting will result in somewhat fewer special sessions/symposia than normally held at APS national meetings.  However, committee members have been very active in developing the traditional, pre-meeting Forest Pathology Field Trip and two symposia. 

• During the two day field tour, urban and rural forest disease problems will be presented and discussed as participants visit the Teaching/Research/Extension Nursery on the St. Paul Campus of the University of Minnesota and then embark on a series of stops to and from Duluth, MN.  Logging history and riparian tree diseases will be viewed during the return trip via the St. Croix River Valley.  An optional 4 hour canoe trip on the river may be offered following the last field stop.  Contact person:  Joe O’Brien, email: jobrien@fs.fed.us
• George Hudler, gwh2@cornell.edu, has been planning a special symposium on “Major Invasive Forest Epidemics: What Lessons Have We Learned?”
• Bryce Richardson, brichardson2@fs.fed.us, has been working with several other committee members to develop a symposium on “Potential Impacts of Climate Change on Diseases in Natural Ecosystems.” 

The symposium organizers are currently awaiting final word as to whether the revised versions of their proposed sessions have been officially accepted.

Forest Pathology Family Tree Project – Interest was expressed at the committee meeting in documenting or commemorating our forest pathology legacy in the USA.  The topic was not deemed suitable for a special session, but the discussion led to a post-meeting offer by Kim Camilli and her University of Nevada colleague (Chandalin Bennett) to construct a family tree of forest pathologists.  Kim has started by obtaining similar family trees developed in at least two regions in past years.  She has also solicited input from forest pathologists via an announcement on ForPath.  For further information and to submit your history, please contact Kim by email (kcamilli@cabnr.unr.edu).  The goal is to have a reproducible version of the tree ready by the 2008 APS meeting.