Workshop Agenda

Tuesday 23 February 2016.

8:30am-11:00pm. Registration, Yanling Hotel Lobby
12:30am. Lunch, Chinese Restaurant, Yanling Hotel (the first floor)
4:00pm-6:00pm. Informal mixer. Western Restaurant, Yanling Hotel (the first floor), Informal gathering for those who will arrive by late afternoon

6:30pm-7:30pm. Welcome Banquet. Western Restaurant, Yanling Hotel (the first floor)

Wednesday 24 February 2016. The First Meeting Room, South China Botanical Garden

8:15-8:45. Bus from hotel to botanic garden

8:45-10:00. Welcome, introductions, goals
Why are we here? What is a “workshop”? What do we want to accomplish?Introductions of participants from China and US
Introductions of program officers from NSFC and US NSF

Each participant should briefly explain: name, position, institution, taxonomic group or habitat ofinterest, methods used in research, geographic area of focus, what would do you hope to get out ofthe workshop.

10:00-10:30. Break and group photo

10:30-11:30. Short presentations on active US-China collaborations. Focus of the presentationsshould be on who is involved, how did the collaboration begin, how is the research supported,what are most positive outcomes, what problems had to be solved? What were the importantlessons learned. (6 presentations @ 10 minutes each; 3 from US, 3 from China)

o Anthony Cognato, Michigan State University.
o Ying Huang, Institute of Microbiology, Chinese Academy of Scienceso Karl Kjer, University of California Davis
o Xi-jun Ni, Department of Paleomammalogy, Beijing
o Greg Mueller, Chicago Botanic Garden
o Jian-quan Liu, Sichuan University

11:30-12:00. Discussion

12:00-1:00. Lunch. Informal discussions.

1:00-2:00. Small group discussions (form four groups): Benefits and challenges of international collaboration. Each group should discuss benefits and challenges. Think about communication, funding, sharing data, training, permissions

Four meeting room: The Second Meeting Room, The Third Meeting Room, The 427 Meeting Room,The 527 Meeting Room

2:00-3:00. Small discussion groups report to full workshop group (15 minutes each), The First MeetingRoom

3:00-3:30. Break

3:30-5:00. Small group discussions (form four groups): What are the most exciting questions andrapidly developing fields in systematics that would benefit from collaboration? Possible topicscould include:

•   Environmental genomics, integration of environmental data in systematics and taxonomy

•   Phylogenomics

•   Single cell genomics, phylogenetic taxonomy,

•   Collections-based bioinformatics (collaboration between iDigBio, and Chinese counterparts)

•   Monography in the bioinformatics era

•   The "microbial black box" - how do we get from metagenomics to cultivated species and back?

•   Combining molecular and morphological data (and extant and fossil)

•   Macroevolutionary analysis of traits. How to capture and analyze diverse data in sensible ways to address evolutionary questions

•   Expanding the role and relevance of ecological and historical biogeography in understanding climate change

  Four meeting room: The Second Meeting Room; The Third Meeting Room; The 427 Meeting Room;The 527 Meeting Room

  5:00-6:00. Small discussion groups report to full workshop group. General discussion.Preview for Thursday (panel discussions). The First Meeting Room

  6:00. End of discussions for today, bus from SCBG to Yanling Hotel6:30-7:30. Dinner. Western Restaurant, Yanling Hotel (the first floor)

  Thursday, 25 February 2016. The First Meeting Room, South China Botanical Garden

  8:15-8:45. Bus from hotel to botanic garden

  8:45-9:30. Panel discussion on data and collections, including methods and toolsfor data sharing.Collaborative projects depend on the ability to share data and collections among members ofthe team. This is more challenging for long distance collaborations. How have you solved these challenges in collaborative research? (not necessary to be US-China collaborationexample)

o Rüdiger Bieler, Field Museum
o Paul Marek, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University
o Fabiany Herrera, Chicago Botanic Garden
o Xin Zhou, China National GeneBank, BGI-Shenzhen
o Chao-Dong Zhu, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences
o Fumin Lei, Key Laboratory of Zoological Systematics and Evolution, Beijing

All workshop participants: What are the big challenges that your discipline faces for datasharing? What formats and repositories should be used for character data, publishedphylogenies, specimen vouchers and records to ensure their re-use potential? What are thebest tools for sharing data within the research team?

9:30-10:30. Discussion of sharing data and collections

10:30-11:00. Break

11:00-12:00. Panel discussion on field work and permits. Many projects require field work and permits.In addition material use agreements are often required. The panel discussion should explorechallenges and solutions to field work and permission challenges.

o Melanie Hopkins, American Museum of Natural History (paleontology)o Ken Halanych, Auburn University
o Zhiwei Liu, Eastern Illinois University (insects)
o Zhu-Liang Yang, Kunming Institute of Botany

o Gongle Shi, Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology
o Shunping He, Institute of Hydrobiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wuhan

12:00-1:00. Working lunch. Small group discussion of field work and permits. Form six groups fordiscussion.

1:00-2:00. Breakout groups report to full workshop group (10 minutes each)3

2:00-3:45. Panel discussion on publishing and sharing credit. It is very important in collaborativeresearch to discuss how the team will publish the results of the research and how the team members will share credit and be listed in the authorship of the publications. This is especiallyimportant for graduate students and postdocs, who need to be recognized for theircontributions so that they can find jobs!

o Aaron Bauer, Villanova University
o Debashish Bhattacharya, Rutgers University
o Petra Sierwald, Field Museum
o De-Zhu Li, Kunming Institute of Botany
o Jing Che, Kunming Institute of Zoology
o Chao-Dong Zhu, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences

3:45-4:00. Break

4:00-4:30. Discussion on training opportunities. Collaborative projects provide great opportunities forteam members to learn new skills. This open discussion session will focus on examples oftraining opportunities in collaborative projects.

o AJ Harris and Yundong Gao (early career collaboration)

o Patrick Herendeen, graduate training in the US
o Wenjun Bu, graduate training in China

4:30-5:30. Discussion on funding opportunities. Discussion lead by program officers from NSF andNSFC

Funding system in USA (focus in NSF). What can and cannot be included in budget?Howdoes NSF proposal process work? Presented by NSF program officers Funding system in China. What can and cannot be included in budget? How does NSFCproposal process work? Presented by NSFC program officers

Discussion of Genealogy of Life Program (“GoLife”) at NSF
5:30-6:00. General discussion. Any subjects needing more time for discussion?

What would we like to see as products from this workshop? Should we write an article for ajournal to discuss US-China collaboration in systematics? Possible topics to consider in apaper:

o What is the value for Sino – US collaborations? What strengths does each sidecontribute?

o What are the opportunities and challenges?
o What is the role of conservation or other practical consideration?

6:00. End of discussions for today, bus from SCBG to Yanling Hotel6:30-7:30. Dinner. Western Restaurant, Yanling Hotel (the first floor)

Friday, 26 February 2016. South China Botanical Garden and Post-Workshop Excursion

8:15-8:45. Bus from hotel to botanic garden. Note: participants attending the excursion should checkout before breakfast and bring their luggage with them to the garden!

8:45-11:30. Conclusions: identify opportunities and actions that can be taken immediately andoutcomes that will require additional work.
Do we have recommendations that can be developed into a manuscript for publication?

11:30-1:00. Lunch and free time to see conservatory. Please take your delegate card with you.

1:00. Depart for excursion.
Dinghushan National Nature Reserve, Zhaoqing city (a World Network of BiosphereReserves).This reserve has been protected for 400 years as it contains the Qingyu Buddhist Temple. It is 1133 ha and the local vegetation is characterized by evergreen broadleaf forest.There are 1993 vascular plants, of which 700 woody species.

1:00. Bus from SCBG to Yanling Hotel (Who do not attend excursion), check out before 2:30pm6:00 pm. Check in to hotel in Zhaoqing city.

Saturday, 27 February 2016. Post-Workshop Excursion

After breakfast (about 8:00 am), depart for Fengkai county, Zhaoqing city. We will visitHeishiding Nature Reserve as well as the Fengkai national geological park. The HeishidingNature Reserve is located at the Tropic of Cancer and covers about 4200 ha evergreenbroadleaf forest. There are 1900 species of seed plants, 118 families, 670 genera, 1000species of insect, and 42 families, 122 species of birds.

3: 00 pm. Depart for Guangzhou
6: 30 pm, check in Guangdong Hotel, downtown Guangzhou