The annual meeting 2011 of CAS Botanical Gardens and Herbaria Education Network was held at XTBG during April 4-11. The meeting brought together 60 representatives of botanical gardens and herbaria of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS).

Summing up the sciecne popularization activities over the past year, the botanical gardens and herbatia palyed an important role and contributed a lot.

The meeting discussed the strategic planning of the CAS Botanical Gardens and Herbaria Education Network for the next five years, focusing on capacity improvement and team building.

What impressed the participants in the meeting most were four invited lectures. The invited speakers themselves were prominent reprentaives who have contributed significantly to science popularization.

Prof. Dr. Chen Jin of XTBG, who won the title of “Top 10 National Outstanding Science & Technology Workers” in 2010, talked about the linkage between scientific research and science popularization.

Prof. Fei Xinbei from Beijing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics, who focused on studies of new media, delivered a reported entitled internet-based science popularization.

Prof. Zhang Shuyi from East China Normal University, gave an overview of his interesting experiences in conducting field studies in the Amazon tropical forests.

 Dr. Fang Shimin (better known as Fang Zhouzi), a popular science writer and blogger, talked about some problems in science popularization.