Ambispora, the only genus in Ambisporaceae and one of three deeply rooted families in Archaeosporales, Glomeromycetes, is amended. Analysis of the morphology of specimens from types and living cultures and 28S ribosomal DNA (rDNA; LSU) sequences resulted in two major changes that redefined Ambispora to include only species with the potential for spore dimorphism (acaulosporoid and glomoid). First, species described as producing only glomoid spores (Ambispora leptoticha, Ambispora fecundispora, and Ambispora callosa), only acaulosporoid spores (Ambispora jimgerdemannii), or both spore morphotypes (Ambispora appendicula) were synonymized with a redefined dimorphic species, A. leptoticha. LSU sequences and more conserved SSU gene data indicated little divergence between genotypes formerly classified as separate species. Second, Ambispora fennica was synonymized with Ambispora gerdemannii based on morphological and LSU sequence variation equivalent to that measured in the sister clade A. leptoticha. With this analysis, Ambispora was reduced to three species: A. leptoticha, A. gerdemannii, and Ambispora granatensis. Morphological and molecular characters were given equal treatment in this study, as each data set informed and clarified grouping and ranking decisions. The two inner layers of the acaulosporoid spore wall were the only structural characters uniquely defining each of these three species; all other characters were shared. Phenotypes of glomoid spores were indistinguishable between species, and thus were informative only at the genus level. Distinct subclade structure of the LSU gene tree suggests fixation of discrete variants typical of clonal reproduction and possible retention of polymorphisms in rDNA repeats, so that not all discrete genetic variants are indicative of speciation.

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The tragic murder of Mr. George Floyd brought to the head long-standing issues of racial justice and equity in the United States and beyond. This prompted many institutions of higher education, including professional organizations and societies, to engage in long-overdue conversations about the role of scientific institutions in perpetuating racism. Similar to many professional societies and organizations, the Society for the Advancement of Biology Education Research (SABER), a leading international professional organization for discipline-based biology education researchers, has long struggled with a lack of representation of People of Color (POC) at all levels within the organization. The events surrounding Mr. Floyd’s death prompted the members of SABER to engage in conversations to promote self-reflection and discussion on how the society could become more antiracist and inclusive. These, in turn, resulted in several initiatives that led to concrete actions to support POC, increase their representation, and amplify their voices within SABER. These initiatives included: a self-study of SABER to determine challenges and identify ways to address them, a year-long seminar series focused on issues of social justice and inclusion, a special interest group to provide networking opportunities for POC and to center their voices, and an increase in the diversity of keynote speakers and seminar topics at SABER conferences. In this article, we chronicle the journey of SABER in its efforts to become more inclusive and antiracist. We are interested in increasing POC representation within our community and seek to bring our resources and scholarship to reimagine professional societies as catalyst agents towards an equitable antiracist experience. Specifically, we describe the 12 concrete actions that SABER enacted over a period of a year and the results from these actions so far. In addition, we discuss remaining challenges and future steps to continue to build a more welcoming, inclusive, and equitable space for all biology education researchers, especially our POC members. Ultimately, we hope that the steps undertaken by SABER will enable many more professional societies to embark on their reflection journeys to further broaden scientific communities.

Evidence for evolution, a natural phenomena about patterns of descent from common ancestry and relatedness of "kinds", speaks for itself. For those who overlooked it in the Bible: "Then God said, 'Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb that yields seed, and the fruit tree that yields fruit according to its kind, whose seed is in itself, on the earth'; and it was so. And the earth brought forth grass, the herb that yields seed according to its kind, and the tree that yields fruit, whose seed is in itself according to its kind. And God saw that it was good." Genesis 1: 11-12 (NKJV). The evolution of plants, ancestor descendant relationships, brought forth from this earth, "according to its kind." Most importantly, I would like to thank God. His grace has been my source of strength, peace, love and safety. My faith in Him has made this accomplishment possible. I am especially thankful to Rick and Debbie Mullens. They opened their home, shared their faith and made me a part of their family. They are two of the most generous and selfless people I have ever met. They showed me what it means to love, forgive, share, and the freedom that comes from serving others.

The majority of academic institutions were underprepared for a global pandemic, leading to spikes in instructor anxiety and drops in student engagement with STEM courses. With many STEM professors teaching online for the first time, they independently sought out training in distance education and inclusive teaching practices.