ASPB News

Volume 36, Number 4 THE NEWSLETTER OF THE AMERICAN SOCIETY OF PLANT BIOLOGISTS July/August 2009

President’s Letter

Inside This Issue Bridging the Culture Gap

Three ASPB Members Elected to NAS Although I had known times I have been pres- for some time of C. P. ent at gatherings of peo- PB 2009 Education Booth Competition Snow’s idea of “the two ple who, by the Winners cultures”—science on standards of the tradi- one side of a “language tional culture, are Plant Biology Videos from ChloroFilms barrier” and arts on the thought highly edu- other—only recently did cated and who have Tributes I actually read the origi- with considerable gusto • Bernie Phinney • Dmitry Belostotsky nal 1959 Rede Lecture been expressing their (1) in which C. P. Snow incredulity at the illiter- laid out his thoughts. I “Personal biosphere” at the Massachusetts acy of scientists. Once encourage all of you to Museum of Contemporary Art. or twice I have been fi nd and read a copy of this essay, which discusses provoked and have asked the company how many some very interesting ideas not only about the two of them could describe the Second Law of cultures—the topic I’ll focus on here—but also Th ermodynamics. Th e response was cold: it was about the potential of science, including agricul- also negative. Yet I was asking something which is ture, to improve the basic human condition. about the scientifi c equivalent of: have you read a Baron Charles Percy Snow (1905–1980) was work of Shakespeare’s? I now believe that if I had both a scientist and a writer. He described his basic asked an even simpler question—such as, What do premise in the Rede Lecture as follows: “I believe you mean by mass, or acceleration, which is the the intellectual life of the whole of western society scientifi c equivalent of saying, Can you read?—not is increasingly being split into two polar groups…. more than one in ten of the highly educated would Literary intellectuals at one pole—at the other have felt that I was speaking the same language. So scientists…. Between the two a gulf of mutual the great edifi ce of modern physics goes up, and incomprehension….” (As Snow explains later in the the majority of the cleverest people in the western lecture, his use of “literary intellectuals” is meant to world have about as much insight into it as their be iconic of the educated non-scientist—the writer, Neolithic ancestors would have had.” artist, historian, and so on.) As could be imagined, Snow’s words fomented Without reading Snow’s original Rede Lecture, it quite a debate both among his peers at Cambridge might not be recognized that in the main he was University and in the popular press, resulting in a exhorting the non-scientifi c community to become large volume of commentary. In 1963, Snow wrote more scientifi cally literate, rather than the reverse. a follow-up article to his Rede Lecture entitled “A Here is a quote from his lecture that is amusing, yet Second Look”(1). In this article, Snow addressed also sobering, because, I believe, it remains as accu- some of the controversy that his lecture had rate in 2009 as it was 50 years ago. “A good many continued on page 4 The ASPB News is delivered online as well as in print. Members will be alerted by e-mail when a new issue is posted. The ASPB News welcomes member feedback. Contact the editor at [email protected]. ASPB Executive Committee & Staff CONTENTS

President Sarah M. Assmann 814-863-9579 President-elect Tuan-hua David Ho 314-935-4632 1 President’s Letter Immediate Past President C. Robertson McClung 603-646-3940 Secretary Danny Schnell 413-545-4024 Treasurer Mark R. Brodl 210-999-7246 5 People: NAS Class of 2009 Chair, Board of Trustees Dan Bush 970-491-2442 Chair, Publications Committee Sally Mackenzie 402-472-6997 7 Women in Plant Biology Chair, Women in Plant Biology Committee Judy Brusslan 562-985-8133 Chair, Minority Affairs Committee MariaElena B. Zavala 818-677-3342 Chair, Education Committee Jane Ellis 864-833-8416 10 Membership Corner Chair, International Committee Leon V. Kochian 607-255-2454 Chair, Membership Committee Mel Oliver 573-882-9645 11 Public Affairs Chair, Committee on Public Affairs Gary Stacey 573-884-4752 Elected Members Steven Huber 217-265-0909 15 ASBP Education Forum Alan Jones 919-962-6932 Katherine W. Osteryoung 517-355-4685 Sectional Representatives 25 Obituaries Midwestern John Kiss 513-529-5428 Northeastern Lawrence Smart 315-470-6737 Southern Timothy D. Sherman 251-460-7529 Mid-Atlantic Robert Donaldson 202-994-6094 Western Anireddy S. N. Reddy 970-491-5773

Deadline for November/December 2009 Executive director Crispin Taylor, ext. 115 [email protected] ASPB News: October 5, 2009 Executive and governance affairs manager Donna Gordon, ext. 131 [email protected] Assoc. director of fi nance & administration Kim Kimnach, ext. 140 [email protected] Accounts receivable specialist Stephanie Liu-Kuan, ext. 143 [email protected] Junior accountant Jotee Pundu, ext. 144 [email protected] Director of meetings, marketing, & membership Jean Rosenberg, ext. 110 [email protected] Manager of marketing and web services Wendy Sahli, ext. 123 [email protected] Membership and marketing research assistant Shoshana Kronfeld, ext. 122 [email protected] Subscriptions manager Suzanne Cholwek, ext. 141 [email protected] Subscriptions assistant Linda Palmer, ext. 142 [email protected] Director of public affairs vacant Education foundation assistant Katie Engen, ext. 116 [email protected] Director of publications Nancy A. Winchester, ext. 117 [email protected] Publications assistant Diane McCauley, ext. 133 [email protected] Managing editor John Long, ext. 119 [email protected] Science writer, Plant Physiology Peter Minorsky, 845-878-4570 [email protected] Production manager, Plant Physiology Jon Munn, ext. 130 [email protected] Manuscript manager, Plant Physiology Leslie (Ash) Csikos, ext. 125 [email protected] Senior features editor, The Plant Cell Nancy Eckardt, 970-495-9918 [email protected] Features editor, The Plant Cell Mary Williams [email protected] Production manager, The Plant Cell Susan Entwistle, ext. 118 [email protected] Manuscript manager, The Plant Cell Annette Kessler, ext. 120 [email protected]

ASPB News is distributed to all ASPB members and is published six times ASPB News annually, in odd-numbered months. It is edited and prepared by ASPB staff from material provided by ASPB members and other interested Headquarters Offi ce parties. 15501 Monona Drive Rockville, MD 20855-2768 USA Copy deadline is the 5th day of the preceding even-numbered month Phone: 301-251-0560 (for example, December 5 for January/February publication). Submit not Fax: 301-279-2996 copy by e-mail whenever possible; submit all other copy by mail, by fax. Contact: Nancy A. Winchester, Editor, ASPB News, 15501 Monona Drive, Rockville, MD 20855-2768 USA; [email protected]; 301-296-0904. © 2009 American Society of Plant Biologists Quality research chemicals at a

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Gold Biotechnology (U.S. Registration No 3,257,927), Goldbio (U.S.Registration No 3,257,926) and GBT (U.S. Registration No 3,258,073) are registered trademarks of Gold Biotechnology, Inc. President’s Letter www.aspb.org/education/). For example, Second, in addition to factual informa- continued from page 1 ASPB has developed “Th e 12 Principles tion, absolutely vital as it is, I think there is engendered, clarifi ed some of his positions, of Plant Biology” (http://www.aspb.org/ also a need to educate the non-scientist (and and mused on some of the changes in science education/12Principles.pdf). Th ese basic especially the young, potential future scien- that had struck him since his original lecture concepts—starting with “Plants contain the tist) about the process of science, that sci- in 1959. One point that he makes in “A same biological processes and biochemistry ence is itself a type of art. What I mean by Second Look” will be of interest to many as microbes and animals. However, plants this is that the process of scientifi c discovery, ASPB members: he wishes that instead of the are unique in that they have the ability to use at the highest level, is at least as creative as Second Law of Th ermodynamics, he had used energy from sunlight along with other chemi- the process of painting a portrait or writing a the fi eld of molecular biology to query the cal elements for growth. Th is process of pho- novel. What could be more creative than tak- educated non-scientist as to his/her knowl- tosynthesis provides the world’s supply of ing available knowledge and deriving from it edge of fundamental scientifi c ideas. As Snow food and energy.”—encompass fundamen- some entirely new idea, and then imagining writes, “I should now treat the matter diff er- tal knowledge about plants that (analogous how one could experimentally test that new ently, and I should put forward a branch of to the Second Law of Th ermodynamics in concept? It is the excitement of exploration science which ought to be a requisite in the physics) we believe any educated person and discovery that is so important to convey common culture….Th is branch of science at should possess. ASPB Education Committee to K–college learners, and it is this aspect of present goes by the name of molecular biol- members Jeff rey Coker and Jane Ellis, along science that is oft en lamentably absent from ogy….Th is branch of science is likely to aff ect with Mary Williams (who recently became traditional textbooks. the way in which men think of themselves a features editor for Th e Plant Cell) have Last, the third type of information that I more profoundly than any scientifi c advance an Education Foundation GAP award (see would like to convey to Snow’s “literary since Darwin’s….” I expect that many of us http://www.aspb.org/education/foundation/ intellectuals” is that art is—or is based on— would be inclined to agree with Snow’s analy- gap.cfm) to develop activities at the K–12 science. To continue for a minute with exam- sis of the impact of molecular biology on both level that will accompany and illustrate each ples from the world of color, I think it would the practice and the philosophy of science. of these principles. be equally intriguing to an artist as to an One of my own personal encounters with One further notion to think about when ecologist to learn how the red dye cochineal the “two cultures” is a conversation I had conveying factual information, especially to is produced (2,3). Cochineal, historically when I was an undergraduate, and it has adult non-scientists, is whether it is worth used in oil paints and as a fabric dye and also stuck in my mind to this day. I was speaking trading off some specifi cs in order to convey used today in foods and cosmetics (it is also with one of my friends, who was majoring in information using more accessible language. known as “carmine,” “crimson lake,” “natural political science. When I mentioned that I For example, as plant biologists, we could red 4,” “C.I. 75470,” and “E120”), is derived was planning to go to graduate school in give a fairly technical explanation of how from the body of a particular species of scale plant physiology, she replied “Oh. I didn’t fruit ripening occurs, and an educated adult insect (Dactylopius coccus) when those even realize that plants had a physiology.” would likely be able to grasp the general insects feed on prickly pear cactus, giving And so the culture gap continues, and I am idea. However, we can ask ourselves whether rise to a whole industry of insect farming in sure that we have all encountered it. that explanation, or the following explana- parts of Central and South America. What is to be done? In his lecture, C. P. tion, taken from Victoria Finlay’s absorbing A second example of how art is (or can be) Snow argued for changes in the educational book, Color: A Natural History of the Palette interwoven with science is conveyed by the system at the university level; I think most of (2), is more likely to resonant and remain photograph that I chose to accompany this us would contend that education and out- with a painter, a singer, or a dancer: article: unique, interactive terrariums such as reach eff orts aimed at K–12 students and at “Th e atoms in a ripe tomato are busy the one featured in the photo were part of an the general public are of at least equal value. shivering—or dancing or singing: the meta- art exhibit at the Massachusetts Museum of But, while it seems obvious that the answer phors can be as joyful as the colors they Contemporary Art (Mass MoCA) that my is better education, what sorts of education describe—in such a way that when white family and I visited last summer. To be more would address this issue? light falls on them they absorb most of the accurate, Mass MoCA described these instal- First, one indubitable need is factual blue and yellow light and they reject the lations by artist Vaughn Bell as “Personal education: Yes, Virginia (not the real name red—meaning paradoxically that the “red” Biospheres which give gallery visitors their of my undergraduate friend), plants do tomato is actually one that contains every own miniature landscapes to experience by have a physiology! Th is is the type of edu- wavelength except red. A week before, those popping their head into Plexiglas domes fi lled cation that many of us off er in our own atoms would have been doing a slightly dif- with small working ecosystems” (4). college- and university-level courses, and ferent dance—absorbing the red light and Such information provides a path to ASPB has made a number of valuable con- rejecting the rest, to give the appearance of a reach out to those people who, by nature, by tributions toward this aim (see http:// green tomato instead.” continued on page 9

4 • ASPB News, Vol. 36, No. 4 People

ASPB Members Fischer, Hake, and Weigel Elected to National Academy of Sciences Class of 2009

ASPB members Robert Fischer, Sarah Hake, and Detlef Weigel have been elected to the National Academy of Sciences (NAS). Th eir elections were announced on April 28, 2009, at the Academy’s 146th annual meeting. Each nominee was elected individually for distinguished work and original research in plant biology. Robert Fischer Robert (Bob) Fischer was educated in the University of California system: San Diego Robert Fischer Sarah Hake Detlef Weigel for his BS in biology, Berkeley for his PhD in molecular biology, and Los Angeles for his postdoctoral work in plant biology. Th e DNA methylation and demethylation in development. Although we still have much Golden State continued to suit Bob well as Arabidopsis, as well as the links between to learn, I have greatly appreciated our sus- he became an assistant then an associate pro- DNA glycosylases and cancer. Th ese projects tained endeavor over many years, the shar- fessor in UC Berkeley’s Department of Plant are just the most recent of the many dozens ing of data, new approaches, and ideas. Biology. In 1995, he became a professor in of studies that he has had published in peer- During this time, a wonderful collaboration the Department of Plant and Microbial reviewed journals, some of which have gen- was created between our universities and Biology at Berkeley, a position he currently erated additional academic commentary also Ceres, Inc., whose support allowed us to maintains. deemed worthy of publication in selective explore many aspects of plant reproduction Bob’s professional activities include journals. Despite the wealth of expert knowl- with greater freedom than ever before. coediting Th e Plant Cell and serving on the edge Bob has generated in his fi eld, he did “In addition, I am very grateful to my editorial boards of Plant and Cell Physiology not anticipate this honor from NAS. He graduate adviser, Harrison Echols, and my and Epigenetics and Chromatin. He also has reports: “To be honest, I was quite surprised lab mates in the bacteriophage lambda lab, held advisory roles for the National Science when I discovered that I had been elected to who taught me the fundamentals of genetics Foundation Developmental Biology the National Academy of Sciences. Receiving and how to design experiments. I very much Program and the International Society for a telephone call at 5:45 a.m. on April 28, appreciate my current collaborations with Plant Molecular Biology. Bob joined ASPB hearing all the excited voices and congratu- Steve Henikoff and Daniel Zilberman on the in 1987 and later served on its Publications latory remarks, I felt like I had just passed study of DNA methylation. Finally, this Committee (2001–2007). my qualifying exam, become a tenured pro- award goes to the wonderful undergraduate Since his postdoctoral Chaim Weizman fessor, and celebrated my birthday all at the and graduate students, postdoctoral fellows, and National Institutes of Health (NIH) fel- same time! and research assistants who have worked in lowships, Bob has been recognized with “My being elected refl ects, to a great my lab and contributed so much. Although many additional honors. For example, he is extent, the outstanding colleagues with there are simply too many people to name also a Japan Society for the Promotion of whom I have had the privilege of working. them all, I especially thank Leonore Reiser, Ramin Yadegari, Nir Ohad, Tetsu Kinoshita, Science fellow and a Sir Frederick McMaster First and foremost, I thank Robert Goldberg, Yuki Mizukami, Yeonhee Choi, Mary fellow. Most recently preceding his election my mentor when I was a postdoctoral fellow Gehring, Jin Hoe Huh, Wenyan Xiao, to NAS, he became a fellow of the American at UCLA. He taught me the value of persist- Tzung-Fu Hsieh, and Jon Penterman.” Association for the Advancement of Science ing, of tackling a big question and address- in 2007. ing it with all the technologies and resources Sarah Hake A prolifi c research and publication record one can bring to it. Together with John Sarah Hake grew up in Iowa, moving to forms the cornerstone of Bob’s career. Harada and Gary Drews, we set out to California with her family at the age of 10, Currently he is studying the basic biology of understand the regulation of seed continued on page 6

ASPB News, Vol. 36, No. 4 • 5 People

People award made note of her contributions to our developer of and instructor for the under- continued from page 5 fundamental understanding of plant devel- graduate course “Plant Genetics and then back to Iowa to attend Grinnell College opmental biology that span the scientifi c dis- Molecular Biology.” (BA, biology, 1975). An inspiring botany ciplines of evolution, genetics, cell biology, Sarah summarizes her reaction to the professor, Vern Durkee, took her on a fi eld and plant molecular biology. NAS election by saying: “Even though I trip to the botanical gardens in St. Louis that Sarah has made professional activities an knew Peter Quail was heading to D.C. for led to her decision to enter the plant biology important priority. From 1991 to the present the annual NAS meeting, it never occurred program at Washington University in St. she has helped manage NSF, USDA, and to me that I would be part of that meeting. Louis, Mo. (Wash U). Although she was DOE panels. She also has worked as editor, Th e garbled messages on the machine focused on going to Wash U to do botanical chair, steering committee member, and sec- sounded like someone’s cell phone misbe- fi eld work, it was the evolution of maize that retary of various biological science organiza- having. Listening to the messages a couple of interested her, and she carried out her PhD tions within her areas of expertise. ASPB times, I wondered whether I was imagining with Virginia Walbot, receiving her graduate benefi ted particularly from her membership they were congratulating me, so checking the degree in plant biology in 1980. When since 1995 and her tenure on the Publications e-mails assured me that this was not just a Virginia left Wash U to take a position at Committee (2003–2007) and as a member of dream.” Stanford, Sarah executed a similar move— the editorial board of Th e Plant Cell Detlef Weigel but to Berkeley and work in the lab of Mike (1996–2003). Freeling. Th ere she was the fi rst to clone a Sarah off ers these insights about her Detlef Weigel currently is the executive developmental gene using transposons, and career: “I have always felt lucky. What a great director of the Max Planck Institute for she has worked in the area of developmental life to be a scientist and teacher, surrounded Developmental Biology in Tübingen, biology ever since. Aft er a six-year postdoc by energetic youth, puzzling over data, work- Germany, a position he has held since and two children, she took a position at the ing with plants and using my hands. Don 2007. For six years prior to that, he was the USDA–ARS Plant Gene Expression Center Kaplan would oft en tell me that it is the pro- director of the institute’s Department of in the nearby town of Albany. In 1998, Sarah cess, how and whom you mentor, that is Molecular Biology. Weigel also has been an became full adjunct professor of the UC important, not the product. I must have associate adjunct and adjunct professor at Berkeley Department of Plant and Microbial taken that to heart, as the careers of my stu- the Department of Biology, UC San Diego in Biology, a position she still holds. Th at same dents and postdocs have been most impor- La Jolla, and the Plant Biology Laboratory at year, Sarah was named director of the Plant tant to me and because of their success, I Th e Salk Institute for Biological Studies, also Gene Expression Center, which operates have also succeeded. So, this awesome recog- in La Jolla. under a cooperative agreement between nition goes to the many undergraduates, Trained as a Drosophila developmen- USDA–ARS and UC Berkeley. Sarah’s graduate students, and postdocs who tal biologist with an MS in biology from the research continues to focus on maize and became enamored with developmental University of Cologne, Germany, Weigel development. With the recent sequencing of genetics when in my lab. Many names could earned his PhD in genetics in 1988 at the many plant genomes, including maize, the be mentioned, but certainly George Chuck, Max Planck Institute of Developmental years of genetics are now being rewarded Erik Vollbrecht, and Dave Jackson deserve Biology and Eberhard Karls University. with rapid gene discovery that will allow recognition. I also want to recognize Ginny He switched to the study of plants during improvements not only in maize but other Walbot, who guided me as a graduate stu- his postdoctoral career as a research asso- cereal crops. dent in her lab, and Michael Freeling, for ciate (Institute of Genetics, University of Sarah’s research eff orts have been well giving me the knotted project and inspiring Munich) and a research fellow (Division of recognized. Since 1978, she has garnered in me a love of developmental biology. Th e Biology, California Institute of Technology– nine notable research grants from NSF, NIH, Plant Gene Expression Center (PGEC) has Pasadena). As an independent investiga- DOE, and USDA for her work in genomics. been a wonderful incubator for research, and tor, analyses of fl oral patterning led him Several of these grants have been renewed thanks go to my colleagues at the PGEC and to become interested in how the onset of multiple times, underscoring—along with the support of ARS.” fl owering is controlled. Because fl ower- her several dozen research publications—the Th irteen graduate students and 23 post- ing is a quintessential adaptive trait in the ongoing importance of her studies. Sarah doctoral fellows since 1987 have received wild, Weigel, with his Salk colleague Joanne joined ASPB in 1995. Among other profes- training and research guidance from Sarah. Chory, started in the late 1990s to investi- sional awards, she received the 2008 ASPB She has been an active educator since 1975, gate natural genetic variation in Arabidopsis Stephen Hales Prize. Th e citation for that most recently as at UC Berkeley as the continued on page 9

6 • ASPB News, Vol. 36, No. 4 Women in Plant Biology

Following Your Heart by Elisabeth Schussler Assistant Professor, Department of Botany, Miami University; [email protected]

When I entered graduate a strong interest in science short attention span of university students, school at Louisiana State education, so I worked but it also makes you wonder why the University in 1992, I had briefl y at the campus 18-year-olds can’t retain the same amount of every intention of getting a Museum of Natural information as the third graders! In the fi ve PhD in botany with a History coordinating its years we were in South Carolina (oh yes . . . research focus in ecological education program, and it’s important to remember that two-year physiology and (I think…) then worked for two years postdocs can mysteriously become fi ve-year getting a job in academia. as an instructor of intro- postdocs . . .), I had fi ve job interviews and Five years later, I had ductory biology courses at four job off ers, so fi nding a job never turned acquired a PhD in plant biol- LSU. Th ose years shaped out to be impossible. ogy with a focus in anatomy, me as a teacher (thanks to Every good postdoc should come to an a love of teaching and learn- all my friends there!), and end, however. Charlie was applying for jobs, ing, an academic signifi cant Elisabeth Schussler when it was time for us to with the agreement that I could veto any I other (in the same depart- move on, I left that job chose, when he ran across a job ad for me. ment), and a fairly hazy view of my career with regret. Miami University (Ohio) was looking for an prospects. What I quickly had to come to Charlie, however, had acquired a two- assistant professor of biology education in a terms with was the fact that, by gaining an year postdoc in South Carolina. I remember science department. He handed the ad to me academic partner, “my” career decisions had driving there thinking, “What am I going to and I laughed. Th en I thought, “Why not?” become “our” career decisions, and that nav- do in South Carolina?” I went with literally Two months later I had a job off er in igating science career paths in tandem was no job prospects. My favorite part of the trip hand, and we were amused by the coinci- not for the faint of heart. Today my husband, was when the car broke down in Atlanta, dence of Charlie also getting a job off er “at” Charlie, and I both have tenure-track jobs in and my husband, I, our cat, and our dead car Miami—sadly, though, his was in the city of academia (I as an assistant professor at ended up at a Saturn dealer, but that’s Miami, Fla., and not at the university in Miami University and he as an assistant pro- another story…. My point is that there are Ohio. Deciding between the two positions fessor at Wittenberg University), but our path two emotions you will most likely experience was extremely diffi cult because neither job to these positions was neither linear nor quick as part of an academic couple: (1) One of off er came with anything other than vague and, along the way, I gained a new career. you will follow the other with nothing but assurances that something would “come up” My fi rst realization of the diffi culty of faith that things will “work out” at the new for the other one of us. We ended up head- being part of an academic couple came as I location, and (2) whomever is heading ing for Ohio, and so my husband got to was approaching my dissertation defense in toward a job will feel guilty for asking their experience the leap of faith and I got stuck 1997. My adviser was encouraging me to partner to take that leap of faith. with the guilt. What goes around comes pursue postdoctoral opportunities, but What I discovered in South Carolina was around, I guess. Charlie was still collecting data and antici- that PhDs can fi nd jobs outside academia! I At Miami, my research focuses on how pated being in graduate school for at least contacted museums, science centers, and people learn about plants and how students two more years. I had a decision to make, nature parks (and even toyed with the idea learn about the nature of science. My tenure and I chose to step out of the academic of working at a coff ee shop), and ended up home is in a science department, botany, career path to stay in Baton Rouge with him. landing a job as the education director at a which suits my graduate school origins per- We’ve all heard of the leaky pipeline for nature park . . . a swamp nature park. Later, I fectly. Looking back, I can see how my career women in science—as a founding member worked as the education coordinator at a sci- path led to this job, but I would not have of the Association for Women in Science ence center affi liated with a university. Both guessed this outcome. For Charlie, there was chapter at LSU, I was particularly well aware jobs entailed designing and delivering school no tenure-track job at Miami, so he acquired of it—and yet I found myself dripping from fi eld trip programs on science topics to a part-time visiting assistant professor posi- the pipe! I fi gured I wouldn’t be heading for (mostly) kindergarten through fi ft h-grade tion. We preferred it to be part-time because a tenure-track job in academia anymore, so I students. Working with young students will we knew that full-time teaching jobs oft en sought an alternative career in science. I had quickly help you appreciate the allegedly continued on page 8

ASPB News, Vol. 36, No. 4 • 7 WIPB continued from page 7 sacrifi ces to quality-of-life sacrifi ces—a para- might not be doing research in biology edu- leave little time for research, and if his dox confronted by many academic couples. cation if I had felt free to pursue a postdoc research went away, so would his opportuni- As an academic couple, we understand aft er graduation. Th at career shift allowed ties for a tenure-track job. We were lucky we that we gain by understanding the other’s me to fi nd my way back into the pipeline had the fi nancial fl exibility to make that academic fi eld and lifestyle. As such, we can that I fell out of in 1997. Navigating a career choice, however. In the fourth year of my each provide a unique professional and per- path for two necessitates patience, faith, and position, Charlie started his tenure-track job. sonal support system to the other. But both the self-awareness to know what you are However, because his university is located an of us have experienced sacrifi ces in our quest willing to sacrifi ce and what you aren’t, and hour and a half away, he spends four nights a to have satisfying jobs while also living for one or both of you, career fl exibility may week there and comes home on weekends. So together (or at least in close proximity). I am be a necessary component as well. now we have shift ed our concerns from career lucky that my sacrifi ces were also gains; I

CALL FOR PROPOSALS WSSA Undergraduate Research Award—2010

The Weed Science Society of America has developed an Undergraduate Student Research Grant designed to encourage and involve exceptional undergraduates in agricultural research. Interested faculty members are encouraged to identify potential award candidates and discuss the possibility of sponsoring a research project. Awards may be used as a stipend, for research budget expenses (travel, supplies, etc.), to defer fees, to defray living expenses for summer research, or any combination of these items. AWARD Up to $1000 for support of undergraduate research to be conducted over a minimum of one quarter/semester during 2010. This award may be used to defray the cost of research supplies or as a stipend. Support of a faculty sponsor is required. Awards will be made to the student, to be administered by the faculty sponsor’s department. APPLICANT The applicant is an Undergraduate student with a strong interest in weed science. Students majoring in all related disciplines may apply. TO APPLY Applicants should prepare a 2-3 page research proposal including name, address, phone number, e-mail address, title, objective, experimental approach, discussion, budget and references. The discussion section of the proposal should describe the expected results and their possible signifi cance to weed science. The student should provide a cover letter in which general academic and career goals are discussed. A copy of the student’s academic transcripts must also be provided. FACULTY SPONSOR Any faculty member who is actively engaged in weed science research is qualifi ed to be a sponsor. The faculty sponsor should review the research proposal with special attention to the budget; the distribution of funds should be approved by both the student and sponsor. In addition, the sponsor should provide a letter of reference including a statement of his/her willingness to supervise the proposed research and to provide needed space, equipment and supplies above those requested in the proposal. The sponsor is encouraged to assist the student in presenting his/her results at a regional weed science meeting. HOW TO APPLY The completed proposal, academic transcripts, cover letter and faculty letter of support should be forwarded to: Dr. John Jachetta, Dow AgroSciences, 9330 Zionsville Road, Indianapolis, IN 46268-1054; Phone: (317) 337-4686, Fax (317) 337-4649, e-mail: jjjachetta@ dow.com. Proposals should be received no later than November 16, 2009. Funding decisions will be made by January 22, 2010 and presented at the 2010 WSSA National Meeting Awards Ceremony.

8 • ASPB News, Vol. 36, No. 4 People continued from page 6 contributions to one of the most challenging naturalized citizen living abroad, this is a thaliana. While initially geared toward prob- problems in developmental biology: the very special honor indeed. It is both a refl ec- lems of fl owering and responses to light, this induction of fl oral development. tion of the wonderful coworkers who I have research has expanded to include a project Professional activities have also been an been lucky enough to have had in my lab on hybrid fi tness and reproductive isolation, integral part of Detlef’s career. He has served during the past 16 years, and of the fantastic as well as to close relatives of A. thaliana. on numerous biotechnology advisory boards work environments at the Salk, where I got Although Detlef’s work on genetic varia- and grant advisory panels in the United my start as an independent investigator, and tion has a major focus on generating whole- States and Europe. He has applied his exper- at the Max Planck Institute. And I am very genome resources, his laboratory continues tise to organizing and directing various pro- proud to be in the company of so many col- to be active in hypothesis-driven analyses of fessional meetings, networks, and steering leagues and friends who have fundamentally plant development. To date, these ongoing committees within his fi eld. At least a dozen infl uenced my research, from Elliot and studies have resulted in 44 published papers diff erent editorial boards, including that of Joanne to Marty Yanofsky, Caroline Dean, and one book, Arabidopsis—A Laboratory Th e Plant Cell, have benefi ted from Detlef’s Maarten Koornneef, Steve Kay, Joe Ecker, Manual (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory insights on genes, cells, plant development, and Jim Carrington, to name but a few.” Press, 2001), which Detlef coauthored with and the fi eld of plant biology. Jane Glazebrook. Weigel had this to say about learning of Bob, Sarah, and Detlef were among the 72 Detlef’s work has been recognized con- his election to the NAS: “My assistant came members and 18 foreign associates from 15 sistently throughout his career. Prior to his running down the hall, and told me that a countries elected this year. Election to NAS election to NAS, he has been elected to vari- Professor Meyerowitz was on the phone with is one of the highest honors a scientist or ous prestigious international academies. He an urgent message. What followed was one engineer can receive. Potential NAS mem- also has received awards and six diff erent fel- of the most memorable moments in my sci- bers can be nominated only by an existing lowships since his days as an undergraduate. entifi c career. First my postdoctoral mentor, NAS member. Membership is achieved only Of particular note to the ASPB membership Elliot, congratulated me on being elected to through a formal and confi dential election is Detlef’s receipt of the Charles Albert Shull the NAS, followed by many other plant col- process. Award in 2001 in recognition of his seminal leagues whose work I greatly admire. As a

President’s Letter in an unforgettable way” (5). I encourage all eff orts may have at least as large an infl uence continued from page 4 of you to take a look at these and other win- on the future of our discipline as our eff orts nurture, or by some G×E interaction thereof, ners of the ChloroFilms contest. to identify and train the next generation of lack, or believe they lack, any interest in or Aft er composing most of this article, I plant scientists. predilection for science. We can feel that we was gratifi ed to read in Snow’s “A Second Sally Assmann have successfully reached across the “culture Look” a passage that parallels some of the [email protected] gap” if we provide opportunities for such thoughts I’ve been trying to develop here. In References individuals to develop an appreciation for describing the fi elds of crystallography and 1. Snow, Charles Percy. (1965). The Two plants, even if we do not convey any factual structural biology, Snow noted, “What one Cultures and A Second Look: An Ex- knowledge about plant biology. ASPB is also needs most of all is a visual and three- panded Version of The Two Cultures and supporting endeavors in this arena; for exam- dimensional imagination, and it is a study The Scientific Revolution. Cambridge, ple, the ASPB-sponsored plant biology where painters and sculptors could be U.K.: Cambridge University Press. YouTube video contest, ChloroFilms, con- instantaneously at home.” 2. Finlay, Victoria. (2002). Color: A Natural ceived and led by ASPB member Daniel As C. P. Snow wrote in Th e Two Cultures, History of the Palette. New York: Random Cosgrove, has two artistic videos—La and as is still true in this, the golden anniver- House. Bloomba and Fertile Eyes—as major prize sary year of his lecture, for better or for 3. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cochineal. winners (see http://www.chlorofi lms.org). As worse, the dominant or “common” culture of described in the ChloroFilms press release, our time is not the culture of science. 4. http://www.massmoca.org/event_details. Fertile Eyes, “a collaboration with Anna Accordingly, if we can imagine new ways to php?id=369. Edlund of Spelman College, combines music, make painters and sculptors (not to mention 5. “Winners of Plant-Biology Video dance, sensual imagery, and puns to tell the journalists and political leaders) feel “at Contest Announced by ChloroFilms” story of pollination and fertilization in plants home” in the fi eld of plant biology, those http://live.psu.edu/story/39826.

ASPB News, Vol. 36, No. 4 • 9 Membership Corner

ASPB members share a common goal of promoting the growth, development, and outreach of plant biology as a pure and applied science. Th is column features some of the dedicated and innovative members of ASPB who believe that membership in our Society is crucial to the future of plant biology. If you are interested in contributing to this feature, please contact ASPB Membership at [email protected].

3. What would you tell colleagues to 7. What do you think is the next “big encourage them to join? thing” in plant biology? I tell my colleagues that the American Biofuel. With less and less fossil fuel Society of Plant Biologists is a very resources, it is urgent for us to fi nd an supportive community and that they alternative energy source now. can always fi nd someone to exchange 8. What person, living or deceased, do and share research ideas. Being a you most admire? member also gives you other perks I don’t have a particular person that I such as reduced fees for the ASPB admire most. I think everyone is worth annual meeting and access to Th e Plant admiring if you look carefully enough. Cell and Plant Physiology. 9. What are you reading these days? 4. Have you enhanced your career using Name: Hui Kang Besides the books that are related to ASPB job postings or through Title: PhD candidate my career, I like to read about lots of networking at an ASPB function? Place of Work or School: Biological diff erent topics, such as psychology, Yes. I have attended two ASPB annual Sciences Department, Northern Illinois philosophy, spirituality, and Eastern meetings now. I am very glad that I University and Western culture comparison. Research Area: I am doing research on had the opportunity to get to know the relationship among plant MADS-box some researchers in my fi eld and estab- 10. What are your hobbies? genes, plant hormones, and plant devel- lish connections with them. Also, I like reading a lot. I also like to travel opment by using tomato JOINTLESS gene because I am graduating as a PhD to see diff erent places and meet as a model. By understanding this rela- student, I am paying very close diff erent people. Th ese activities enrich tionship, I am hoping to fi gure out why attention to the job postings from the my life. ASPB website. Although I am still MADS-box genes play important roles in 11. What is your most treasured looking for my ideal position, I can say diverse plant development processes such possession? that the ASPB website is the best place as abscission zone development, fruit My books. More accurately, I should to look for job postings that are related ripening and development, meristem say it is the knowledge from the books to plant biology. determinacy, and fl ower development. that I have read because it stimulates Member since: 2007 5. Have you had any success at fi nding my imagination and extends my candidates as a result of a job posting experiences. 1. Why has being a member of ASPB at the meeting or via our online Job 12. What do you still have left to learn? been important to you? Bank? To be myself. It gives me a sense that I am connected No, I am not in that position now, but to the professional network. Plus, it it would defi nitely be helpful to those also gives me access to two of the most people who are in a hiring position. important journals in plant biology: 6. Do you read print journals? If so, Th e Plant Cell and Plant Physiology. where do you usually read them? 2. Was someone instrumental in getting I seldom read print journals now you to join ASPB? unless the paper I am interested in is No, I found it myself and immediately too old to have an online version. In joined online. that case, I will go to the library to make a hard copy of it.

10 • ASPB News, Vol. 36, No. 4 Public Affairs

Basic Research to Enable Agricultural Development (BREAD)

Th e advances made over the past decade of new ways of thinking about the major prob- by existing programs. BREAD is not just the Plant Genome Research Program (PGRP) lems facing developing country agriculture. focused on plant genomics and, in fact, have led to the development of resources Th e National Science Foundation and the the scope of the program is quite broad: with potential benefi t far beyond U.S. agri- Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation are part- from research aimed at new ways to con- culture. Th e potential for international nering to off er a new research program to trol parasitic plants to the development of impacts was recognized from the beginning foster these collaborations and the transfor- nanoparticle-based approaches to fertiliz- of PGRP, and its activities are coordinated mative research that will emerge from them. ers and more. Although the emphasis is on through the National Plant Genome Th e goal of this new program, called Basic research that would be of downstream ben- Initiative (NPGI), which also includes the Research to Enable Agricultural Development, efi t, BREAD is not focused on translational U.S. National Science Foundation, U.S. or “BREAD,” is to build on the accomplish- or applied research. Th e program is look- Department of Agriculture, U.S. Department ments of the NPGI, extending the opportu- ing for truly novel, basic research with the of Energy, and U.S. Agency for International nities to include international partners in potential to address the needs of developing Development. eff orts to generate innovative, science-based country farmers. Th e NSF urges you to bring A variety of mechanisms are available to solutions to problems of smallholder agricul- your best ideas to BREAD. If you are not support the downstream applications ture in developing countries. Th rough new sure your project would be a good fi t, you derived from advances in science and tech- partnerships and projects, it is anticipated are invited to contact the program director, nology to improve developing country agri- that BREAD will change parts of the Deborah Delmer, at [email protected]. culture. But there have been fewer funding research culture to one that is more broadly Additional information about the opportunities to support development of inclusive of these needs. BREAD provides BREAD Program, including the Program cutting-edge and creative new approaches the opportunity to engage international part- Solicitation, is at http://www.nsf.gov/ that extend from basic discovery to the ners and for their activities to be funded. funding/pgm_summ.jsp?pims_id=503403& needs of smallholder agriculture. New col- BREAD is looking for new and fresh org=DBI&more=Y#more. laborations among a broad range of scien- ideas—not extensions of ongoing basic tists and engineers are needed that lead to research projects that could be supported

ASPB Members Well Represented in EFRC Competition

Th e White House recently announced the international partners. Th e participants • six EFRCs will focus on energy effi ciency award of 46 new Energy Frontier Research include universities, DOE national laborato- (clean and effi cient combustion, solid Centers (EFRCs) to accelerate scientifi c break - ries, nonprofi t organizations, and private state lighting, superconductivity); throughs to develop new energy technologies fi rms. DOE reports that the EFRCs will • six EFRCs will focus on energy storage for the 21st century. Th e U.S. Depart ment of involve nearly 700 senior investigators and (hydrogen research, electrical energy Energy (DOE) will invest $777 million in the employ (full- and part-time) over 1,100 storage); and 46 EFRCs over the next fi ve years, supported postdoctoral associates, graduate students, • 14 EFRCs will focus on crosscutting sci- in part by funding made available in the undergraduate students, and technical staff . ence (catalysis, materials under extreme American Recovery and Reinvestment Act Many centers will use DOE scientifi c facili- environments, other). (economic stimulus legislation). ties for their research. Th e administration announcement, a list Th e 46 EFRCs will be funded at $2 million A review of the 46 awards shows that of awards, and synopses (including research to $5 million each per year for an initial fi ve- • 20 EFRCs will focus on renewable and partners) of the 46 EFRCs can be found at year period. Th e centers were selected from carbon-neutral energy (solar energy uti- http://www.er.doe.gov/bes/EFRC.html. approximately 260 proposals and will engage lization, advanced nuclear energy sys- Several of the awards were made to ASPB over 110 institutions from 36 states and the tems, biofuels, geological sequestration members (please see http://www.er.doe.gov/

District of Columbia, as well as some of CO2); bes/EFRC_Synopses.pdf): continued on page 13

ASPB News, Vol. 36, No. 4 • 11 You have the gene... now what does it do?

Now you can easily add physiology measurements to your assay toolkit. You know the reasons that make Arabidopsis thaliana an excellent model for gene expression studies (short generation time, sequenced genome, mutant collection, ease of cultivation, etc.). It is essential to add physiological assess- ment of in situ function to validate regulatory or functional genes identified by genomic, molecular or bioinformatics results. Regulation or loss/gain of function effects on photosynthetic and/or respiratory pathways can be measured through gas exchange with the LI-6400XT Portable Photosynthesis System and the new 6400-17 Whole Plant Arabidopsis The 6400-17 can be combined with the new 6400-18 RGB Light Source to form a Chamber. Gas exchange measurements are rapid, non-destructive and powerful tool for measuring whole plant gas repeatable over the life span of the plant. exchange and light response on Arabidopsis or other plants with small growth habits.

To learn more about the 6400-17 and 6400-18, go to www.licor.com/Arabidopsis

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EFRC Competition principles by which lignocellulose is cre- funneling as applied to natural photosyn- continued from page 11 ated. An interdisciplinary team that includes thetic, biohybrid, and bioinspired antenna Center for Direct Catalytic plant and microbial molecular biologists, systems. Th e goal of this work is to elucidate Conversion of Biomass to chemists, physicists, material scientists, engi- the basic scientifi c principles that under- Biofuels (C3Bio) neers, and computational modelers will uti- lie the effi cient functioning of natural pho- Maureen McCann, Director lize advanced, cutting-edge approaches and tosynthetic antenna systems and how those Purdue University methodology to bring about desperately principles can be translated into concepts Objective: To use fundamental knowledge needed advances in the fundamental under- that will form the basis for next-generation about the interactions between catalysts and standing of the “rules of assembly” of plant systems for solar energy conversion. Th is plant cell walls to design improved processes cell wall. Specifi cally, the focus will be placed will be accomplished using structural tech- for the conversion of biomass to energy, fuels, on understanding the cellulose synthesis, lig- niques such as neutron scattering and dif- or chemicals. nocellulose assembly, and the relationship fraction at the Spallation Neutron Source Th is EFRC will combine expertise in biology, between nanoscale structure and macroscale and the High Flux Isotope Reactor at Oak chemistry, and engineering to increase much- properties such as porosity and mechanics Ridge National Laboratory, and advanced needed knowledge of catalysis pertaining to of the plant cell wall. Th is EFRC has a strong microscopy at the Center for Integrated plant cell wall chemistry. Th e EFRC includes potential for transforming bioenergy and Nanotechnology at Los Alamos and Sandia planned collaborations with scientists at the materials sciences through combined molec- National Laboratories. PARC includes University of Tennessee for development of ular, genetic, and nanomaterials engineering planned collaborations with scientists at the “hybrid” catalysts and catalytic conversion of approaches and includes planned collabora- Donald Danforth Plant Science Center, Los renewable materials; with National Renewable tions with scientists at North Carolina State Alamos National Laboratory, North Carolina Energy Laboratory for advanced, high- University and Virginia Polytechnic Institute State University, Oak Ridge National resolution biomass imaging technology and and State University. Laboratory, Sandia National Laboratories, computational modeling; and with research- Dan Cosgrove joined ASPB in 1979. In the University of California–Riverside, the ers at the Argonne National Laboratory for 1991, he won the ASPB Charles Albert Shull University of Glasgow (U.K.), the University advanced scattering and imaging techniques Award for his incisive work on the biophys- of Pennsylvania, and the University of using the Advanced Photon Source. ics of plant cell enlargement. Cosgrove Sheffi eld (U.K.). Additional scattering experiments using the served as president of ASPB in 2000–2001. Robert Blankenship won ASPB’s 2008 Spallation Neutron Source at Oak Ridge In 2008, he was an ASPB Education Charles F. Kettering Award. Th is award, National Laboratory are also planned. Foundation Grant Award Program (GAP) established by the Kettering Foundation in Maureen McCann has been a member of recipient for “A Competition for New Plant 1962, recognizes excellence in the fi eld of ASPB since 2002 and currently mentors new Biology Videos on YouTubeTM.” His follow- photosynthesis. As a major symposium members (see http://www.aspb.org/newslet- up work, “Using YouTubeTM and AnimotoTM speaker at PB05 in Seattle (see http://www. ter/marapr09/09mctwumasi.cfm). She was a to Engage Students in Plant Biology Classes,” aspb.org/newsletter/mayjun05/04pb05h. speaker at the Pan American Congress on won the 2009 ASPB Education Booth cfm), Blankenship presented Plants and BioEnergy in Mérida, Mexico, in Competition for presentation in the exhibit “Photosynthesis—From Photons to Sugar.” June 2008 (see http://www.aspb.org/newsletter/ hall during PB09 in Honolulu (http://www. He has been a member of ASPB since 2001. marapr08/03panam.cfm). aspb.org/meetings/pb-2009/). Center for Advanced Biofuels Center for Lignocellulose Photosynthetic Antenna Research Systems (CABS) Structure and Function Center (PARC) Richard Sayre, Director Daniel Cosgrove, Director Robert Blankenship, Director Donald Danforth Plant Science Center Pennsylvania State University Washington University, St. Louis Objective: To generate the fundamental Objective: To dramatically increase our Objective: To understand the basic scientifi c knowledge required to increase the effi ciency fundamental knowledge of the physical principles that underpin the effi cient function- of photosynthesis and production of energy- structure of biopolymers in plant cell walls to ing of the natural photosynthetic antenna rich molecules in plants. provide a basis for improved methods for system as a basis for man-made systems to converting biomass into fuels. convert sunlight into fuels. CABS will focus its eff orts on the model algae Chlamydomonas and the oilseed plant To achieve its objective, this EFRC will PARC proposes a program in basic scien- Camellina. Metabolic networks will be study the physical structure of lignocellu- tifi c research aimed at understanding the lose at the nanoscale level and the rules and principles of light harvesting and energy continued on page 14

ASPB News, Vol. 36, No. 4 • 13 Public Affairs

EFRC Competition precursors. Th is EFRC may lead to a trans- Aff airs. In 2008, he joined the committee to continued from page 13 formational channeling of solar energy nominate recipients of the ASPB Lawrence modifi ed to increase lipid and thus “bio- through carbon metabolism and, ultimately, Bogorad Award for Excellence in Plant oil” synthesis, and new metabolic pathways into biofuels, and includes planned collabo- Biology Research. Additionally, from 2003 to will be designed for production of hydrocar- rations with scientists at the University of 2005, he served as the elected secretary– bons from sunlight. Utilizing the skills of Nebraska, University of Missouri–St. Louis, treasurer for ASPB’s Midwestern Section. plant biochemists, biophysicists, and compu- University of Arizona, and Michigan State tational biologists, this innovative center will University. integrate all aspects of metabolism, from the Richard Sayre became an ASPB member early events in photosynthesis to the syn- in 1977. He has been a long-serving partici- thesis and accumulation of oils and biofuel pant on the ASPB Committee on Public

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14 • ASPB News, Vol. 36, No. 4 ASPB Education Forum

Plant Biology 2009 Education Booth Competition Winners A Pleasing Combination of “Virtual” and “Reality” Thank You!

Th e ASPB Education Committee is pleased to announce the winners of the 2009 DART Container Education Booth Competition. Th e winners’ dynamic projects were featured in the Education Booth at the ASPB Annual Meeting in Honolulu, Hawaii, http://www.aspb.org/ Corporation meetings/pb-2009/. Th e ASPB Education Committee brings hands-on plant biology VIRTUAL activities to science and educa- Using YouTubeTM and AnimotoTM to Engage Students tion outreach events around the in Plant Biology Classes world. A real crowd-pleasing ac- Daniel Cosgrove with Marcia Buanafi na and Gregory Richter tivity allows event booth visitors Biology Department, Pennsylvania State University to plant miniature gardens in http://www.bio.psu.edu/faculty/cosgrove/ plastic cups. Adding a lid ensures Web-based video technologies, such as YouTubeTM (http://www.youtube.com) and that these educators can trans- AnimotoTM music videos (http://www.animoto.com), have the potential to awaken stu- port their precious plant speci- dent interest and to engage students in projects that deepen their knowledge of the sub- mens to their own classrooms ject matter—in this case, plant biology. Th is exhibit explains what Dan and his team and teaching labs. have learned about using web-based video technologies for plant biology education dur- ing the course of their fi rst plant biology video contest powered by YouTube (see http:// Thanks to DART’s generous www.chlorofi lms.org). Th is contest was sponsored by the ASPB Education Foundation’s donation of cups and lids, ASPB’s 2008 Grant Awards Program (http://www.aspb.org/education/foundation/gap.cfm). education outreach booths can continue to help plant biology bloom and grow everywhere! REALITY Real Plants, Real Tools, Real Science Learn how to make Martha Kirouac, Mike Kerkman, and Rachel Vourlas with Th e Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens Lilliput Gardens at http://huntington.org/huntingtonlibrary.aspx?id=694&linkidentifi er=id&itemid=694 http://www.fastplants.org/ As issues such as global climate change and genetically modifi ed organisms grow in importance, there is an urgent need to invigorate public dialogue and education about plant biology. In general, there is a lack of public knowledge about the role of plants in daily life despite their vital importance in the biosphere. “Plant blindness” is a term coined by biological educators James Wandersee and Elizabeth Schussler to describe this inability to appreciate the unique biological features of plants. Lacking hands-on experi- ence in growing, observing, and identifying plants, people have few opportunities to become aware of basic plant science. Th e permanent conservatory exhibition “Plants are up to Something” (PAUTS), http://www.huntingtonconservatory.org/, and its associated school program, “C.S.I.: Conservatory Science Investigation” (CSI), function as inoculants against plant blindness and scientifi c illiteracy through a policy of “real plants, real tools, real science.” Th e Huntington’s Education Booth exhibit highlights this award-winning approach with four sample activities and emphasizes how they can be used in outreach programming.

ASPB News, Vol. 36, No. 4 • 15 Education Forum

Publishing Your Teaching Scholarship

Communicating the outcomes of our have seen many manuscripts from scientist– about locating, deciphering, and evaluat- research is integral to our work as scientists. educators who want to share their educa- ing science education research and prac- Th rough conference presentations and jour- tional innovations and classroom-based tice literature, see endnotes 5, 7, and 8. nal publications, we discuss our fi ndings and research. My intention in this forum is to 2. Ensure that your research question and their implications so that others can learn point out a number of resources, including design are well aligned. Most important, from and build on our eff orts. Yet, what we websites, articles, and professional develop- will your study in its current design help actually do on a day-to-day basis includes ment activities, that I hope will be useful to you answer your research question? For not only bench and fi eld research, but also ASPB members interested in sharing their more on designing and conducting stud- the myriad ways in which we prepare the teaching scholarship with the broader scien- ies of teaching and learning, see end- next generation of scientists, science teach- tifi c and science teaching communities. I notes 1, 9, and 10. ers, and scientifi cally literate citizens. As also off er more general advice for those who 3. Justify your arguments. Are your claims instructors and research mentors, we have are ready to study their own teaching or supported with evidence from the litera- opportunities to systematically collect and move their teaching scholarship toward ture (i.e., citations) or from your own evaluate evidence of our students’ learning. publication. work (i.e., data)? How do your data indi- In fact, a recurring theme in science teaching Most authors do a fantastic job of com- cate that the conclusion you are drawing reform in higher education is exactly this: municating their passion for science teach- is warranted? It is easy to make asser- how we can bring a research mind-set to ing and their genuine interest in student tions based on your personal experience teaching practice. Th e movement has been learning. Yet, manuscripts oft en suff er from as a learner or teacher (e.g., “students called scientifi c teaching (1), teaching-as- three issues: (1) insuffi cient context (i.e., lit- learn best when student–teacher ratios research (2), and scholarship of teaching and tle description of what is already known and are small” or “students learn science by learning (SoTL; 3,4). What all of these ideas how it informed the work being described), doing it”). In the context of a scholarly have in common is the expectation that we (2) disconnection between the problem that article, however, these statements can be will communicate what we learn from study- the study aims to address and the methods quite contentious and should be sup- ing our teaching or our students’ learning. In for doing so, and (3) unsupported claims ported by references or data that serve as other words, we will publish it. about what is known in the fi eld and what evidence for your argument. Publishing our teaching scholarship can be concluded from the work. Th e follow- off ers a number of benefi ts beyond meeting ing are strategies for avoiding these pitfalls Once your manuscript is submission- the expectations of colleagues, institutions, and ensuring that manuscripts survive (and ready, where should you send it? Many lists and the broader community. First, by open- even fl ourish!) through the review process: of SoTL journals have been generated [see, ing up our work to peer review and critique, e.g., endnotes 11 and 5, and websites noted 1. Inform your teaching scholarship with we can expand our thinking and use feed- in Selected Resources]. A number of scien- relevant literature. What can you learn back to make improvements in our instruc- tifi c societies publish education articles in from other studies that will help you in tion and teaching scholarship. Second, their journals. For example, ASPB periodi- thinking about yours? What is already thanks to Google Scholar (http://scholar. cally features education essays as commen- known that suggests your work is signifi - google.com/), a host of readers both within taries in Th e Plant Cell. On a related note, cant and meaningful? What is the “gap” and beyond our discipline can learn from Th e Plant Cell is inaugurating a regular that your scholarship fi lls? Publishable our work. Finally, promotion and tenure online-only column called “Teaching Tools manuscripts include a solid review of rel- guidelines are continuing to change in ways in Plant Biology.” Teaching Tools will evant literature and a description of how that allow for documentation and evaluation provide instructors who are teaching the results contribute to the body of of our teaching scholarship either alongside undergraduate-level classes in plant biology knowledge. Unfortunately, there is no or in addition to our disciplinary research outside their own area of expertise with PubMed for science education, but (12,6). ready-to-go course outlines and PowerPoints Google Scholar, including its “cited by” As an editorial board member for CBE- on selected topics. Th e ways in which you feature, is quickly and eff ectively address- Life Sciences Education, which is published integrate these resources into your curricula ing the need for a cross-disciplinary liter- by the American Society for Cell Biology and the ways in which working with real ature search and retrieval system. For (ASCB) and features research articles and data helps (or fails to help!) students learn more extensive reviews of how to go essays related to K–20+ science education, I continued on page 19

16 • ASPB News, Vol. 36, No. 4 Education Forum

Bringing Professional Ethics Training for Plant Biologists to the Classroom

Mentoring students to conduct their right unconsciously clouds our ability to be Robertson) from the Department of Plant research in a professional and ethical man- objective), while also listing resources that Biology participated in a three-credit philos- ner is obviously a critical component of their faculty can use to help educate themselves ophy course on research ethics as part of the overall training as scientists. However, an and their students about research ethics. grant. Th ereaft er, the same team developed article published in Science and Engineering Th e best way to learn research ethics is and taught a graduate-level special topics Ethics last year (highlighted in the September/ through discussion and by active involve- course that focused on ethical issues related October 2008 ASPB News Addressing Ethical ment and immersion in a research environ- to genetically modifi ed plants. Even though Standards series article “Mentor Involvement ment that includes ethics as a part of its this course did not specifi cally focus on RCR in Research Misconduct,” http://www.aspb. culture. As mentors, we can seek to ensure topics, it generated student interest. It also org/newsletter/septoct08/05ethics08.cfm) that our students have access to resources helped raise awareness that students would revealed that two-thirds of mentors in such as the modules developed by Dr. benefi t from studying current ethical issues trainee misconduct cases investigated by the Mandoli and that participation in an ethics aff ecting scientists. As a result, a permanent U.S. DHHS Offi ce of Research Integrity course is strongly encouraged, if not course that addressed core RCR topics as failed to teach specifi c research standards to required. In addition, these resources need well as plant biology–specifi c issues was their students. Such fi ndings, along with a to be reinforced in the research setting by developed and is now a requirement for a number of recent high-profi le misconduct face-to-face mentoring and open discussion. graduate degree in plant biology from NC cases, emphasize the needs for all mentors A spirit of open inquiry into the limitations State University. Th ere are several depart- and trainees to receive proper training in and assumptions of research methodology ments at NC State University that have simi- research ethics and for mentors to serve as should be welcomed. Moreover, principal lar requirements in their graduate programs. good role models for their students. investigators/mentors need to avoid creating Th is course, titled “Ethical Issues in Plant Indeed, the call to introduce all postgrad- conditions that lead to research misconduct Biology,” was fi rst taught in 2003 and has uate students to ethics training at all research and ensure that scientifi c rigor, rather than since been taught every other year. Th e two universities and “to create an environment the pressure to publish, is of paramount faculty who currently co-teach the course that is inherently consistent with minimizing importance in the lab. have research programs in diff erent areas of scientifi c misconduct” has been made Here, we briefl y describe how the plant biology: one with expertise in plant cell (Nature, 2007, 445:229). Th e National research ethics program evolved in the and molecular biology (Chad Jordan) and Science Foundation (NSF) has long recog- Department of Plant Biology at North the other with expertise in ecology and bio- nized the need to support and encourage Carolina State University, and we review the diversity (Tom Wentworth). One graduate ethics training through its Education in elements that we think are especially valu- student from each area who has received Science and Engineering Initiative in all able for teaching the responsible conduct of RCR training (most recently, Steve Bernacki fi elds of science. Th e National Institutes of research (RCR) and related issues. We also and Kristen Kostelnik) also participate as Health (NIH) has also made eff orts to co-instructors. provide tips for teaching an ethics course for develop (and sometimes require) research Our instructional approach to the course students involved in research at any level. ethics training in the medical disciplines and is to introduce students to the philosophical in research that involves human subjects. Teaching ethics in plant biology: background of ethics and to provide a Should we formally teach professional RCR and beyond framework for ethical decision making at the ethics to the next generation of plant biolo- Th e fi rst course addressing plant biology– beginning of the course. We then introduce gists, and if so, how should we develop specifi c ethics topics at NC State University important topics using short lectures and courses or modules on the subject(s)? Dina was developed in 2001 as part of an NSF- invited speakers, and we facilitate active Mandoli, at the University of Washington, sponsored grant to the university to provide learning and discussion during each weekly raised the fi rst question in her excellent ethics training for graduate students and fac- two-hour class meeting. Students are also 36-part column titled “The Bioethics ulty from all disciplines and to develop eth- required to complete a series of online read- Imperative,” which ended in 2008. Dr. ics learning modules and courses for the ings (discussed below). Th ey then practice Mandoli’s column broke new ground (e.g., university community. A graduate student using the framework on each topic by by giving a name to how our desire to be and faculty mentor (Chad Jordan and Niki continued on page 18

ASPB News, Vol. 36, No. 4 • 17 Education Forum

Professional Ethics Training Iowa State University, Purdue University, coverage of all issues of professional ethics continued from page 17 and the University of Wisconsin) to establish that students are likely to encounter. It is a analyzing and discussing case studies. an open discussion about research ethics more appropriate and realistic objective that Students are introduced to core RCR topics education and to create ethics education students leave the course with the skills including falsifi cation, fabrication, and pla- resources. Several online, discipline-specifi c needed to recognize situations that present giarism, again using case studies to work modules are available for free access at http:// ethical challenges and to address those situa- through real and fi ctional scenarios. faculty.chass.ncsu.edu/comstock/langure/ tions using a rational framework for ethical Subsequent course meetings include modules.htm and via the OpenSeminar in decision making. assigned readings, speakers, and discussions Research Ethics course website, http:// on the following topics: Invite speakers from diff erent professional openseminar.org/ethics/. OpenSeminar con- backgrounds to address diverse topics. • Ethical codes tains modules with readings, assignments, Guest speakers can oft en clarify policies reg- • Recordkeeping and data manipulation, and case studies on a wide range of topics ulating research, specialized areas (IP, copy- proper and improper image manipulation that can be used in conjunction with regular right, fi eld permits), and expected research • Teaching and mentoring, expectations class meetings. Instructors can also generate standards and conduct. When discussing and responsibilities a tailored distance education course based authorship, collaboration, and confl icts of • Chain of command, whistleblower on selected modules. Some of the modules interest, for example, invite senior faculty protection we use in our plant biology course have been members in your program who have served • Confl icts of interest developed for use at the OpenSeminar site. on grant panels and journal editorial boards • Requirements for authorship and guide- to discuss their experiences. Invite working lines for establishing collaborations Tips for Teaching Your Own scientists from industry, state agencies, and • Reviewers and confi dentiality Course nonprofi t groups to discuss codes of conduct • Sustainability and pressures on natural Building your own course on professional in their day-to-day operations. resources (e.g., water permits) research ethics may seem like an out-of-the- • Design of fi eld experiments: species box task with respect to traditional science Use case studies to give students practice introduction, invasive and rare species, courses, but it does not have to be a time- in dissecting ethical dilemmas and when is collection/disruption justifi ed? consuming process. Here are a few quick tips making decisions. • Biotechnology and genetic engineering: that should make planning and teaching Case studies, based on real or hypothetical regulatory procedures, transgene escape, such a course a little easier and more scenarios, allow students to examine situa- fi eld testing, risk-benefi ts for lesser devel- effi cient. tions that they or their colleagues may face at oped countries some point in the future. Case studies can be • Intellectual property and the public Involve a trained ethicist to provide a a useful way to introduce a topic, and they domain framework for ethical decision making. provide a way for students to put to use the • Copyright and fair use Most plant biologists are not trained ethical decision-making skills they have • Communicating with the media research ethicists, so it is important to solicit learned. Having students work on case stud- the assistance of someone who can provide ies in teams also facilitates open discussion Th e course culminates with each student students with an introduction to ethics and between students on areas that may be polit- selecting an ethical issue of interest, writing ethical decision making through guest lec- ically sensitive or otherwise controversial. A a position paper, making an oral presenta- tures and/or written materials. Start by con- real benefi t of case studies is the identifi ca- tion, and composing a novel case study and tacting faculty in the philosophy or tion of all people (and other entities) that teaching rubric related to his or her topic. humanities departments at your institution, have a stake in a given issue. More satisfac- Th e eff orts to teach research ethics at NC as well as your institution’s offi ce of research tory decisions can be made aft er there is a State University are part of a larger, ongoing administration or graduate school to fi nd thorough understanding of the potential initiative to make ethics a component of out who provides RCR training on campus. consequences of the decision on diff erent graduate (and undergraduate) education at groups or individuals. multiple doctoral degree-granting institu- Recognize that a one-semester course tions in North Carolina and beyond. An cannot be comprehensive. Keep an eye out for current events to keep NSF-sponsored project called Land Grant Although it is important to introduce stu- the material relevant. University Research Ethics (LANGURE) has dents to the fundamental concepts of RCR, Science, Nature, and other journals that brought together nine participating institu- course organizers should realize that it is include commentary sections frequently dis- tions (including the University of Hawaii, impossible to provide comprehensive cuss issues that relate to ethical aspects of

18 • ASPB News, Vol. 36, No. 4 Education Forum research. For example, a new computer Publishing Your Teaching Scholarship Many professional societies and related continued from page 16 program for detecting similar writing in stakeholders are actively seeking innovative journal articles is fl agging articles that are prime targets for scholarly study. Some curricula and novel solutions to meet the have slipped through the review process. societies (e.g., ASCB) have even started their challenges of 21st century science teaching Is it really ethical when up to 80% of an own journals of science education research and learning. Th e American Association for article’s content is republished from pre- and practice. If you choose to publish in a the Advancement of Science, American vious reviews? See the article on discipline-specifi c journal, your immediate Institute of Biological Sciences, and Howard “Plagiarism Sleuths” by Couzin-Frankel colleagues are more likely to see (and even Hughes Medical Institute are just a few of the and Grom (Science, 2009, 324:1004). read!) your work. On the contrary, publish- organizations bringing increased attention, ing in cross-disciplinary journals such as the creativity, and resources to science learning Don’t limit participation to graduate International Journal for the Scholarship of across the K–20+ continuum. By publishing students. Teaching and Learning (http://academics. your SoTL, you will add to the growing body Research ethics training isn’t just for georgiasouthern.edu/ijsotl/sm.htm) helps of knowledge these groups can tap into to graduate students. An increasing number ensure that lessons learned in physics achieve these important goals. of undergraduate students are becoming instruction can be applied in biology class- Please direct any comments or questions involved in research early in their rooms and vice versa (13). Consider your on this topic to Erin Dolan at [email protected]. careers, and they would benefi t from target audience (e.g., plant biologists, life sci- research ethics training at the outset. entists, anyone who teaches an undergradu- Erin Dolan [email protected] Invite undergraduate students who are ate science course for nonmajors) and select thinking about careers in research to a journal accordingly. References participate in your graduate-level course, An expanding number of organizations 1. Handelsman, J., Miller, S., and Pfund, C. or consider developing a course targeted are supporting faculty from all disciplines in 2007. Scientific Teaching. New York: at undergraduates. Also encourage par- scholarly work on teaching and learning W. H. Freeman. ticipation by postdoctoral researchers. (e.g., International Society for the Scholarship 2. Cochran-Smith, M., and Lytle, S. 1999. Postdocs can benefi t from research ethics of Teaching and Learning). Scientifi c societ- The teacher research movement: A training as they prepare to lead their own ies are also off ering professional development decade later. Educational Researcher labs, and can contribute to the course by and venues for presenting teaching scholar- 28:15–25. sharing their own unique experiences ship (see Professional Development section 3. Boyer, E. L. 1990. Scholarship reconsidered: with students. in Selected Resources). For example, you can Priorities of the professoriate. The Carnegie To fi nd out more about ethics educa- share your teaching scholarship at the Plant Foundation for the Advancement of tion for plant biology students, contact Biology 2009 meeting as an education poster Teaching. Princeton, NJ: Princeton ASPB Education Committee member or during the Education Symposium and University Press. Chad Jordan at [email protected]. Education Workshop. Your own campus may 4. Hutchings, P., and Shulman, L. S. 1999. Chad Jordan off er a wealth of resources, including train- The scholarship of teaching: New elabo- [email protected] ing in teaching scholarship and discussion rations, new developments. Change Thomas Wentworth groups for like-minded colleagues. Th e 31:10–15. [email protected] University of Central Florida hosts a SoTL 5. Dolan, E. L. 2007. Grappling with the Niki Robertson workshop series for faculty (http://www.fctl. [email protected] ucf.edu/researchandscholarship/sotl), and literature of education research and Western Carolina University presents an practice. CBE – Life Sciences Education Kristen Kostelnik [email protected] annual summer institute on the topic (http:// 6:289–296. http://www.lifescied.org/cgi/ www.wcu.edu/8859.asp). Similarly, colleges content/full/6/4/289. Steve Bernacki [email protected] and departments of education are home to 6. Jaschik, S. 2007. “Scholarship colleagues who may be interested in collabo- Reconsidered” as tenure policy. Inside rating with you, off ering advice on previous Higher Ed, October 2, 2007. http://www. studies and established methodologies, and insidehighered.com/news/2007/10/ engaging in ongoing discussion about SoTL 02/wcu. (11). Take advantage of your colleagues 7. Powell, S. G. 2006. Review of Maryellen across campus to create synergy regarding Weimer: Enhancing scholarly work on SoTL right where you work. continued on page 20

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Publishing Your Teaching Scholarship • Assembled by Illinois State University: continued from page 19 http:// www.sotl.ilstu.edu/pubOuts/ teaching and learning. INFORMS index.shtml; http://my.ilstu.edu/ Transactions in Education 6(3):48–54. ~sknaylor/sotl.htm. http://archive.ite.journal.informs.org/ List of SoTL Publications Vol6No3/Powell/. • Assembled by the International Society 8. Weimer, M. 2006. Enhancing Scholarly for the Scholarship of Teaching and Work on Teaching and Learning. San Learning: http://www.issotl.org/SOTL. Francisco: Jossey-Bass. html#Publications. 9. Angelo, T. A., and Cross, K. P. 1993. • Assembled by University of Central Classroom assessment techniques: A Florida: http://www.fctl.ucf.edu/ handbook for college teachers. San ResearchAndScholarship/SoTL/ Francisco: Jossey-Bass. journals/. 10. Tanner, K., and Allen, D. 2004. • Annual Conference of the International Approaches to biology teaching and Society for the Scholarship of Teaching learning: From assays to assessments— and Learning: http://issotl09.indiana. On collecting evidence in science edu. teaching. Cell Biology Education • Biology Scholars Residencies, sponsored 3:69–74. by the American Society for Micro- 11. Allen, D., and Tanner, K. 2005. biology. New cohorts accepted annually. Approaches to biology teaching and http://www.biologyscholars.org. learning: From a scholarly approach to • Online SoTL Tutorial from the teaching to the scholarship of teaching. International Society for the Scholarship Cell Biology Education 4:1–6. http:// of Teaching and Learning: http://www. www.lifescied.org/cgi/content/ issotl.org/tutorial/sotltutorial/ full/4/1/1. home.html. 12. Dolan, E. L. 2008. Education Outreach Professional Development and Public Engagement. New York: • Teaching Professor Conference: http:// Springer. www.teachingprofessor.com/ 13. Weimer, M. 2008. Positioning scholarly conference. work on teaching and learning. • Workshop on Scholarship of Teaching International Journal for the Scholarship and Learning at the Symposium on of Teaching and Learning 2:1–6. Student-Centered Education in Molecular Life Sciences, sponsored by Selected Resources* the American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology: http://www. Recommended Reading asbmb.org/Page2.aspx?id=2092. • Allen and Tanner (2005). Includes list of relevant journals. *All URLs accessed May 27, 2009. • Dolan (2007). Includes a list of relevant journals. • McKinney, K. (2009). Getting SoTL articles published—a few tips. Illinois State University website, http://www. sotl.ilstu.edu/resLinks/sotlMats/getPub. shtml. Montreal, Canada • Weimer, M. (2006). Enhancing Scholarly Work on Teaching and Learning. San July 31–August 4 Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

20 • ASPB News, Vol. 36, No. 4 Education Forum

Green Cures for the Summertime* Blues

What’s a responsible plant scientist to do Play on the Computer Watch a Movie when it seems that everyone’s brain cells are Genomics Digital Lab (GDL), http://www. Feature Films drying up in the hot summer sun? Well, as genomicsdigitallab.com/gdl/default.cfm, is a Th e “Killer Tomato” series (PG)—Make ever, plants and the scientists who love them top-notch online game set in a continually some spaghetti with red sauce and host a are a lush resource for dealing with sticky, expanding interactive biological environ- four-part fi lm fest about what happens when stultifying situations. Try suggesting these ment. It’s so good, it took fi rst place in the good produce goes very, very bad: plant-minded activities to your kids, neigh- NSF 2008 Science & Engineering bors, or colleagues and help them kick the 1. Attack of the Killer Tomatoes (1978). Visualization Challenge, http://www.aspb. summertime blues. Although many of these Th e title is the plot. Fans of wacky horror options have an educational bent, mostly org/newsletter/novdec08/17edsalt.cfm. GDL movie spoofs or bad special eff ects will they’re just a bit of fun. is part of ASPB member David Salt’s lap it up. Genomics eXplorer interactive walk-through 2. Return of the Killer Tomatoes! (1988). Tune In plant cell museum exhibit. ASPB provides Mad genetic scientist Professor Gangreen Listen live, access the archives, or podcast free online versions of three game modules creates a race of mighty tomato warriors these fun and informative shows supported that allow gamers to explore interactions in and one tomato alpha-woman. Funnier by ASPB and the ASPB Education chloroplasts, mitochondria, and the nucleus than its predecessor, this one also fea- Foundation: at http://www.aspb.org/education/ tures a young George Clooney. GDLProject.CFM. Th e Plant Detective, http://www.fl oradela 3. Killer Tomatoes Strike Back (1990). terre.com/index.php?id=15, starring Flora Greenseedling.com is a visually appealing, Gangreen returns with a plot to turn Delaterre (voiced by ASPB member Beth fun-to-navigate plant science news source “couch potatoes” into “rad tomatoes” for Judy), is a series of 90-second shows featur- that was launched in 2006 by ASPB member his evil Tomatocracy. ing the worldwide adventures of Detective Jen Moon (University of Texas at Austin). Delaterre as she searches for specifi c medici- Site content is written by student writers 4. Killer Tomatoes Eat France (1991). A nal plants and discourses on their benefi ts, skilled at attracting readers in a Web 2.0 new strain of invasive tomatoes from risks, and effi cacy. A coordinated coloring world. Enjoy some plant-centric news you Gangreen’s lab is released during the book is available through the website. can use or simply jump on the Fun Stuff crazed geneticist’s attempt to take over MicrobeWorld, http://www.microbeworld. page (http://www.greenseedling.com/fun- Paris. org/look/radio.aspx, off ers hundreds of stuff ) to play Sci-Duko or learn how to grow Little Shop of Horrors (1986, PG13). In this unique 90-second radio episodes that high- a glowing tomato. musical comedy of kitschy horror, Seymour light the process of discovery, historical Meta!Blast is a 3D game being created by a is a fl ower shop clerk and exotic plants hob- changes in research, and a variety of scien- research team headed by ASPB member Eve byist. As customers fl ock in to see an amaz- tifi c careers. Each radio feature includes an Syrkin Wurtele (Iowa State University). Dr. ing specimen named Audrey II, Seymour interview segment with a leading scientist in Clara Phyllton and her crew must save the discovers the plant needs human blood to the fi eld, including plant biology. world’s last plant—a soybean—and thus the survive. Audrey II’s hunger pangs grow and so do Seymour’s worries about where to get A Moment of Science (AMOS), http://amos. human race. But they get stuck in a soybean’s her next meal. indiana.edu/library/audio.html, off ers two- cell, leaving only a lowly dishwasher in their minute radio programs on the wonders of lab to get them out and save the world. Godzilla vs. Biollante (1989, not rated). science. Listeners learn cool facts about plant Meta!Blast is under development, but check Biollante is a huge plant monster created biology and many other areas of science. Site out the site anyway to see what’s germinating from the genes of a rose, a foolish scien- users can e-mail requests for new topics to in the virtual plant world at http://www.las. tist’s daughter, and Godzilla. With Venus be aired. iastate.edu/newnews/metablast0211.shtml. continued on page 22

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HomeWork display&pageid=13, were developed from a Get Lost in a Good Book continued from page 21 contest initially sponsored by the ASPB Picture Books fl ytrap-ish skills, corrosive juices, and Education Foundation’s 2008 Grant Awards off -the-charts mutation rates, Biollante Program, http://www.aspb.org/education/ A Plant Called Spot, by Nancy J. Peteraf and is 200,000 tons of horror! Spoiler Alert: foundation/gap.cfm, and created by ASPB Lillian Hoban, demonstrates that plants are Th eir fi nal battle is available on YouTube at member Daniel Cosgrove (Pennsylvania pet worthy. http://www.youtube.com/results?search_ State University). Plantpet, by Elise Primavera. Really, they are! type=&search_query=Final+Battle+biollante GRAND PRIZE WINNER +godzilla&aq=f. Jack and the Beanstalk, by Steven Kellogg, is Fertile Eyes by Ela Lamblin, http://www. For more carnivorous plants on fi lm, a beautiful retelling of the classic tale. chlorofi lms.org/index.php/crpVideo/display/ check out http://www.sarracenia.com/faq/ Jack and the Meanstalk, by Brian and faq1395.html. Th e plant perps in each fi lm videoid/44. Read You Gotta See ’Em to Rebecca Wildsmith, by contrast, off ers a are identifi ed by their scientifi c names, and Believe ’Em: Plant Biology Videos from rather diff erent perspective on the classic. commentary is peppered (sometimes using ChloroFilms on page 23 of this issue for full salty phrasing) with biological insight ASPB contest details and a list of winners. Chapter Books for Youth members may truly appreciate. Ot her Short Films Th e Plant Th at Ate Dirty Socks, by Nancy Medicine Man (1992, PG13). A research sci- McArthur (series), shows that, pet worthy or Petunias & RNA Interference (RNAi), entist can’t duplicate his methods for extract- not, some plant pets are trickier than others. http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/sciencenow/ ing a cure for cancer from Brazilian rain 3210/02.html, shows how a wayward petunia Weslandia, by Paul Fleischman, proff ers the forest fl ora. Pressure builds as developers helped plant biologists unveil how RNAi wonders of a truly plant-based economy. threaten the forest, and—even worse!—an molecules can provide enormously impor- American bureaucrat who controls the sci- Fables from the Garden (Hawaii), by Leslie tant medical treatment options. Th is fun and entist’s grant money arrives with demands Ann Hayashi and Kathleen Wong Bishop, is accurate cartoon video featuring ASPB for immediate results. Th e horror! a must read for those on their way to member Rich Jorgenson (University of Honolulu for Plant Biology 2009. Adaptation (2002, R). Screenwriter Charlie Arizona) clarifi es the basics of gene expres- Kaufman must adapt Susan Orlean’s listless sion and explains the function of RNAi—all General Market Fiction novel, Th e Orchid Th ief. Kaufman’s script in just 15 minutes! Buzzword, by Walton Cook, has plant biolo- pairs Orlean with a diffi cult Florida man gists striving to save the world (see sidebar arrested for stealing a rare orchid from a wil- Plants-In-Motion, http://plantsinmotion. on page 23 for details). derness preserve; sometimes funny crank- bio.indiana.edu/. Meditate with this site’s meets-swank interactions ensue. Meanwhile, peacefully beautiful and technically accurate Prodigal Summer, by Barbara Kingsolver, Orlean and Kaufman both struggle with images of the varied motions plants make explores the wild interplay among forest, existential angst in real life. during their life cycle. Th is cleverly artistic farm, and human biology. resource created by ASPB member Roger Bee Movie (2007, PG). Barry B. Benson is a Th e Family Tree, by Sheri S. Tepper, has sen- Hangarter (Indiana University) pairs well disillusioned bee craving action outside the tient plants taking on global eco-disaster with the close-up views of plants Roger also hive. He joins the “pollen jocks” and his amid multiple human traumas. provides at his sLowlife site, http://plantsin adventures begin. Th is animated amalgama- motion.bio.indiana.edu/usbg/toc.htm. Be sure to enjoy a few of these fun sum- tion buzzes with all the most important mertime diversions yourself. You’re bound to themes: social justice, young love, and the Purdue Agronomy Cartoons, http://www. be entertained and you may even fi nd some- critical role of fl owering plants in the world’s ag.purdue.edu/agry/Pages/K12_books.aspx, thing useful for the students crowding back survival. are simple, accurate, and fun for the young- into your lab or classroom this fall. est biologists. Titles created with direction YouTube Videos from ASPB members Susan Cunningham *Apologies to any ASPB members in the Th is new niche of web-based videos is and Sherry Fulk-Bringman include Travels of Southern Hemisphere who have only the designed to awaken student interest in the Bob, the Soil Bacterium; Freddy’s Friends; and span of a midwinter break to enjoy these really cool stuff that goes on in plant biology. Splish-Splash—Th e Adventures of a Water activities (or who must wait until their sum- Plant videos for YouTube, http://www.chloro Drop. Print versions and follow-up puzzles mer arrives to give ample time to enjoy each fi lms.org/index.php?module=Pages&func= are also available at the site. option).

22 • ASPB News, Vol. 36, No. 4 Education Forum

A Bit of Buzz on You Gotta See ’Em to Believe ’Em: BUZZWORD Plant Biology Videos from ChloroFilms Cosponsored by the ASPB Education Foundation Alex Wyckham and his wife, Sharon, both work for CIP, Centro On May 15, ChloroFilms announced the wearing different genes? (http://www. Internacional de la Papa winners of its competition for new plant youtube.com/watch?v=xMKN9Q5F Jh4); (International Potato Center), in biology videos on YouTube. Cash prizes and Mike Wilder, of Portland, Oreg., for Peru. Th is real-life facility is one of totaling over $8,000 were awarded in his video series Th e Carnivorous Syndrome the international agricultural cen- this fi rst competition, which promotes in 3D (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v= ters around the world that focuses the creation of fresh, attention-getting, 9d0_-XduCPU). In addition, 17 second on improving production of major and informative videos about plant life. prizes ($250 each) and 15 honorable men- food crops through plant breeding, Th e grand prize winner (with a $1,000 tions ($100 each) were awarded by the disease and insect control, and cash prize) is Ela Lamblin of Vashon, ChloroFilms judges. All the prize-winning other agricultural practices. Alex is Wash., for his entry titled Fertile Eyes. videos can be viewed at http://www. a plant pathologist, Sharon a plant Lamblin’s video (http://www.youtube.com/ chlorofi lms.org. geneticist. Although Alex’s position watch?v=6pHGN04CPEM), a collabora- ChloroFilms is a nonprofi t collaborative deals with improving disease con- tion with Anna Edlund, combines music, project started by Dr. Daniel Cosgrove at trol, he also has had a long-term dance, sensual imagery, and puns to tell Pennsylvania State University with initial interest in using plant pathogens the story of pollination and fertilization funding from the Education Foundation of for a very diff erent purpose: delib- in plants in an unforgettable way. More the American Society of Plant Biologists erately killing narcotic plants. Very from this creative team is available at http:// and additional support from the Botanical early in the novel, Sharon and her www. lelavision.com/. Society of America and the Canadian colleagues go on an expedition and First prizes ($500 cash awards) go to Botanical Association. With the help of stumble upon a hidden facility run Daniel von Wangenheim, of Cologne, volunteers at colleges and universities by a major drug lord. Sharon and Germany, for his entry Fantastic Vesicle around the globe, ChloroFilms is working most of her group are instantly Traffi c (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v= to combine video, Internet, and social net- killed, setting the novel’s events into 7s RZy 9PgPvg); Kris Holmes, of Rochester, working technologies to promote a greater motion. Alex will have his revenge N.Y., for her entry La Bloomba (http://www. appreciation for and understanding of and help save the world from some youtube.com/watch?v=m1ag6BSzvQQ); plant life and to make the best plant biol- Burkhard Schulz, of Purdue University, for ogy videos easy to fi nd from its website at of the horrors of drugs, by using his production PSI—Are my soybeans ChloroFilms.org. plant pathogens to destroy the drugs’ source. ASPB & ChloroFilms Proudly Present Th is review excerpt is used with GRAND PRIZE WINNER Fertile Eyes, Author: Ela Lamblin permission from Plant Pathology Fiction By L. V. Madden, Department of Plant Pathology, Ohio State University, Wooster, OH 44691 Copyright, American Institute of Biological Sciences BioScience 52(7):619-619. 2002 doi:10.1641/0006- 3568(2002)052[0619: PPF]2.0.CO;2

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ASPB News, Vol. 36, No. 4 • 23 Education Forum

ASPB & ChloroFilms Proudly Present Series Th e Science of Christmas Trees, Author: continued from page 23 Fields of Study: Pepper Breeding, Author: Brady Haran Karl Haro von Mogel Taxodium mucronatum chiapas, Author: FOUR FIRST PRIZE WINNERS Fields of Study: Switchgrass Breeding, Margarita Vazquez First Prize Technical Author: Karl Haro von Mogel Pigment, Author: Burkhard Schulz Fantastic Vesicle Traffi c, Author: Daniel Fields of Study: Corn Breeding, Author: Technical von Wangenheim Karl Haro von Mogel Dying to Live: Programmed Cell Death in First Prize Artistic 15 HONORABLE MENTIONS Lace Plant Cells, Author: Arunika La Bloomba, Author: Kris Holmes General/Student Gunawardena First Prize General/Student Film Foil Flower, Author: Craig Dehner Alternative Transposition Generates New PSI—Are My Soybeans Wearing Diff erent A Day in the Life of Jenny Artichoke, Genes by Exon Shuffl ing, Author: Jianbo Genes? Author: Burkhard Schulz Author: Amelia Min-Venditti Zhang Wild Oats, Author: William E. Dyer Plants and Memory, Author: John Davis First Prize Series Plant Cell Motility and Laser Microsurgery Th e Carnivorous Syndrome in 3D (parts Etiolation in Action, Author: Joseph T. Carr of Cytoplasmic Strands, Author: Franz one, two, and three), Author: Mike Wilder Grassland, Author: Amanda C. Lease Plants Get Sick Too! Author: Sarah D. Ellis Hoff mann 17 SECOND PRIZE WINNERS What Is Urban Forestry? Author: Marla Th e Legend of the Th ree Sisters, Author: General/Student McIntosh Justin Brigham Angiosperms: Th e Secrets of Flowers, Author: Kate March Serotiny in Jack Pines (Growing Better), Author: Chris Martine and Dave Fleming Photosynthesis 101: Presented by Dr. Undergrad, Author: Th omas Miller CALL FOR PAPERS Photosynthetic Peep Show, Author: Renato ® Buanafi na Plant Physiology Focus Issue Mitochondria, Author: Michelle Bell Sweet Home Apparatus—Th e Ultimate on Plant Systems Biology Golgi Music Video, Author: Anne Deadline for Submissions: October 1, 2009 Osterrieder To submit an article, please go to http://submit.plantphysiol.org. Th e Pines, Author: Nancy Gabriela Santos Plant Physiology is pleased to announce a Focus Issue on Plant Systems Biology to Hernández be published in February 2010. The issue will be edited by Jacques Joyard and Th e Pine Tree and the Pressure Chamber, Sheila McCormick. It will focus on many different aspects of plant science, Author: Ken Shackel ranging from collections of physiological data with quantifi ed molecular parts lists Th e Fastest Flights in Nature: A Fungal (e.g., genes, expression levels, localizations) to abstract mathematical modeling Opera, Author: Hayley Kilroy of biological processes. This new Focus Issue aims to provide an update on the Technical progress made in this fi eld. Research articles that provide mechanistic insight into From Flowers to Seeds, Author: Debbie the regulation and function of complex systems in diverse areas of plant biology Swarthout and/or interactions of plants with other organisms will be considered. Pollination Methods: Cucurbits, Author: Authors interested in contributing should indicate this in their cover letter Karl Haro von Mogel when submitting papers online at http://submit.plantphysiol.org/. Please select Th e Science of Cool, Author: Sharon “Plant Systems Biology (February 2010)” from the Focus Issue list in the online Robinson submission system. Articles published within 2 years before and after the Focus Measuring Leaf Area with Adobe Photoshop Issue will be considered for inclusion in an online Focus Collection of articles CS3, Author: Zach Jarou relevant to the focus topic (see http://www.plantphysiol.org/cgi/content/full/ Resurrection Plant, Author: Stephen Saupe 142/2/379 for an editorial about Focus Collections). Contact Jacques Joyard ([email protected]) or Sheila McCormick ([email protected]) for more information.

24 • ASPB News, Vol. 36, No. 4 Obituaries

Bernard O. Phinney of Plants (1988). He served as president of UCLA and plant biology lost an important ASPB from 1989 to 1990, and in 2007, he member of their respective communities was honored as a member of the inaugural with the death of Bernard O. Phinney of class of ASPB Fellows. Bernie was awarded heart failure on April 22, 2009, in Los an Honorary DSc from the University of Angeles. Bernie was well known to ASPB Bristol in the U.K. in 1989, and a Research members, attending the meetings almost Fellowship from the Japanese Society for the every year. With his red hair, beret atop his Promotion of Science in 1991. Th e honorary head, and a twinkle in his eye, he was always DSc degree from Bristol meant that Bernie easy to spot. could wear a bright red robe and black tam Bernie was born July 29, 1917, in o’shanter with a gold tassel for academic Superior, Wis. He attended the University of events. Indeed, Bernie wore his red robes for Minnesota, earning a BA in 1940 and a PhD every UCLA graduation that he attended. in 1946 with botanist Ernst C. Abbe, who Bernie become professor emeritus at served as his adviser. While a PhD student, UCLA in 1988 but continued his research Bernie heard a seminar given by George W. and outreach activities. Well into his 90s, he came to the UCLA Plant Growth Center Beadle, which so impressed him that he went Bernie Phinney to Caltech to work with Beadle as a postdoc- almost daily, continuing his quest to under- toral researcher from 1946 to 1948. It was Charles A. West, Mary Ritzel, and Peter M. stand the physiology and biochemistry of this experience that led Bernie to do the Neely of UCLA, identifi ed gibberellin-like plants. He spent a great deal of time both in experiments that contributed in a major way substances from a broad range of families of the greenhouse and on the third fl oor of the toward understanding the function and angiosperms. Although Japanese scientists life sciences building, where he moved aft er metabolism of gibberellins. His observations had already discovered gibberellin produc- spending most of his career in the botany were some of the fi rst to show that this class tion by the fungus, Bernie and his graduate building, talking with students and postdocs, of plant hormones, which aff ect such critical student, Calvin Spector, identifi ed a gene writing them letters of recommendation, developmental phenomena as seed germina- controlling a step in the synthesis of gibber- telling them anecdotes about science, and tion, stem elongation, and fertilization, could ellins by Gibberella fujikuroi, the causative dispensing advice. Maskit Maymon, who be understood using a biochemical genetics agent of “foolish seedling disease.” Th ese two earned her PhD in Chentao Lin’s lab, wrote approach. papers set the stage for Bernie’s lifelong aft er hearing about Bernie’s death, that this is In 1947, Bernie was hired as an instructor ambition of combining chemistry, genetics, “truly a great loss. I will miss his visits to the at UCLA and became a full professor in and physiology to answer questions about Lin lab, his interest in my research, his phi- 1961. It was during his early years at UCLA gibberellin. He and his coworkers, many losophy on life, and his love not only for that he began to test the concept of linkage from the U.K., such as Jake MacMillan and smoked salmon in particular, but also for life between phenotype and genotype. In this Clive Spray, or from Japan, including in general.” Steve Knowles, a postdoctoral research, he showed that dwarf mutants of Nobutaka Takahashi, Saburo Tamura, and researcher in Elaine Tobin’s lab, fi nds that he maize became tall if given an external appli- Masayuki Katsumi, elucidated the various “misses Dr. Phinney greatly.” Many people at cation of gibberellin, showing that dwarfness biochemical pathways required for the syn- UCLA miss Bernie—faculty, postdocs, and was linked to a defi ciency of this hormone. thesis of a number of distinct gibberellins. students—but also many staff members who Because maize dwarfness segregates as a Bernie earned numerous awards during were oft en the recipient of an in-bloom Mendelian recessive, the results strongly sug- his career including a Research Medal from Phalenopsis or an ear-to-ear smile. gested that the mutation occurred in a single the International Plant Growth Substances His wife Jean, four children—Scott gene. Th is seminal research paper was pub- Association (1982) and the Stephen Hales Phinney, Katcha Burnett, Peter Phinney, and lished in 1956 in the Proceedings of the Award from ASPB (1984). In 1985, he was David Phinney—and eight grandchildren National Academy of Sciences, and the fi nd- elected to the U.S. National Academy of survive him. Th e Phinney family held a ings were so important that they were later Sciences. Bernie received a Certifi cate of memorial service for Bernie at their home in incorporated into textbooks, along with the Merit (1986) and a Centennial Award (2007) Los Angeles. Contributions in Bernie’s mem- classic picture of dwarf maize before and from the Botanical Society of America and ory can be sent to the Bernard and Jean aft er gibberellin treatment. A subsequent was elected Honorary Foreign Member of Phinney Graduate Fellowship in Plant paper in 1957 in the same journal, with the Japanese Society of Chemical Regulation continued on page 27

ASPB News, Vol. 36, No. 4 • 25 Obituaries

Dmitry Belostotsky transcriptome profi ling by tiling arrays not only to decipher the composition of the Dmitry Belostotsky died March 17, 2009. Arabidopsis exosome complex, but also to He had been an associate professor in the reveal the genomic landscape of the sub- School of Biological Sciences, University of strates of the Arabidopsis exosome. Th is pro- Missouri–Kansas City (UMKC) since 2007. vided an unprecedented view into the At the age of 44 and in the midst of a blos- hidden features of the Arabidopsis transcrip- soming career, Dmitry’s passing shocked and immeasurably saddened his friends and tome. A striking association between exo- colleagues in the scientifi c areas in which he some substrates and heterochromatic loci tirelessly worked and served. that give rise to endogenous small interfer- Born in Moscow, Dmitry received his ing RNAs was discovered, suggesting a novel MSc from Kiev State University in Ukraine function of the exosome in epigenetic regu- and the Institute of Molecular Genetics, lation in plants. Th e full value of the large and his PhD from the USSR Academy body of transcriptome information revealed of Sciences, studying under Drs. Evgeny by this study will only be appreciated in the Ananiev and Yuri Gleba. In 1990, he received years to come. Dmitry is remembered by many of his a British Council Fellowship to work with Dmitry Belostotsky Dr. David Lonsdale in the Cambridge colleagues as talented in many diff erent ways and as one of the smartest people they have Laboratory of the John Innes Centre for polyadenylation, deadenylation, and RNA encountered. Michael Rosbash commented Plant Science Research in the United stability. Building on his postdoctoral work, that Dmitry was “incredibly curious and Kingdom. Subsequently, he was a postdoc- Dmitry continued exploring functional spe- passionate about science” and his was “a rare toral fellow (1991–1995) in Dr. Richard cialization among Arabidopsis PABPs at combination of memory, intelligence, and Meagher’s laboratory at the University of SUNY Albany. Combining functional and imagination,” sentiments echoed by many, Georgia in Athens. phylogenetic analyses, his work suggested including his long-time colleague Joseph Dmitry joined the faculty of the that the distinct classes of plant PABPs are Mascarenhas, who also remarked that Dima Department of Biological Sciences at the ancient and that their functional specializa- (as he was fondly called) ran a most- State University of New York (SUNY) at tion contributed to their conservation during respected research program throughout his Albany in 1995. Together with his wife and evolution. He proposed that, unlike in other long-time collaborator, Dr. Julia Chekanova, organisms, multiple plant PABPs function independent career. Dmitry was passionate who is currently a faculty member at UMKC, together at the posttranscriptional level to about everything he believed in and never he devoted his scientifi c career to studying regulate growth and development. did anything halfway. Th is intensity was evi- the molecular mechanisms that underlie a In an elegant series of work in yeast, some dent in the dedication he showed in organiz- broad array of processes at the RNA level. in collaboration with Michael Rosbash at ing the Frontiers of Sexual Plant His critical and perceptive scientifi c mind is Brandeis University, Dmitry and Julia’s team Reproduction conferences. Th ese meetings evident from the elegant work that his labo- recently described a complex of four proteins were initiated to honor Joseph, his senior ratory has been known to produce. Notably, that mediate posttranscriptional tethering of colleague, mentor, and eminent pollen biolo- he beautifully combined yeast and active genes to the nuclear periphery as well gist at SUNY Albany. Largely because of Arabidopsis genetics and biochemistry to as to non-nascent mRNPs. Th ese studies rep- Dmitry and Julia’s meticulous organization probe fundamental molecular processes and resent one of the fi rst eff orts to unravel the of the fi rst two meetings in Albany, the sym- address the function of PolyA binding pro- poorly understood nuclear dynamics of posium has blossomed into a centerpiece teins (PABPs). His group used a wide variety compartmentalized transcriptional and post- activity, a scientifi c forum that has consider- and constantly evolving set of tools that transcriptional processes. ably advanced the sense of community ranged from classical to the latest systems Dmitry’s group has been a major force among colleagues in the plant reproductive biology approaches to uncover the intriguing behind the research on the Arabidopsis exo- biology fi eld. As Scott Russell of the connections between PABPs and nuclear some, a multi-subunit 3' to 5' exonuclease University of Oklahoma and editor of the dynamics. complex that acts in mRNA decay in both journal Sexual Plant Reproduction said so Dmitry’s major interests were in diff er- the nucleus and the cytoplasm. In a seminal well, “Dima was a great organizer for this ent aspects of RNA metabolism, in par- paper published in Cell in 2007, Dmitry’s lab, area, and he gave extremely generously even ticular the mechanisms and functions of in collaboration with Joe Ecker’s group, used though he was really an onlooker when it

26 • ASPB News, Vol. 36, No. 4 Obituaries came to gametophyte biology” (although we most enthusiastic and responsive collabora- and remember his love and aff ection for Julia all remember his fascination and under- tor, a very good friend, and someone always and Andrey. standing of the topic). Scott also remem- ready to help. Ueli Grossniklaus, who vis- Acknowledgments bered Dima’s energy as “just incredible and ited Dima and his family on several occa- We are grateful to Drs. Wenbo Ma, Joseph his understanding of our area so deep that it sions in Albany and collaborated with him Mascarenhas, Scott Russell, and Michael was clear that he could succeed on any task on the characterization of exosome mutants, Rosbash for comments and input on the that we saw him try.” will miss him dearly as a good friend. Th ey article and many others who sent words and We also remember Dmitry in more per- had many plans for future collaborations thoughts that we incorporated. sonal ways. Ravi Palanivelu, a graduate stu- and undertakings that are now, so unexpect- dent contemporary in the Meagher lab, edly and sadly, cut short. We also remem- Xuemei Chen University of California, Riverside remembers Dima as an inspiration and an ber Dima’s clever sense of humor such that extremely generous mentor. He is remem- one oft en had to think twice before under- Alice Y. Cheung bered for his daring personality—he never standing his witty comments. Dima was also University of Massachusetts–Amherst hesitated to venture into new arenas—and intensely dedicated to his family: his wife Orna Elroy-Stein his demand for perfection from himself and Julia, whom he met in 1986 when both were Tel Aviv University, Israel others who worked with him made everyone graduate students, and their son Andrey, Ueli Grossniklaus better. Orna Elroy-Stein, whose collaborative who studies at the University of North University of Zürich, Switzerland study with Dima on the eff ect of PABPs on Carolina, Chapel Hill. Dima’s untimely death Ravi Palanivelu the performance of internal ribosome entry is felt deeply among colleagues as a loss to University of Arizona, Tucson sites from crucifer-infecting tobamovirus the plant RNA metabolism and sexual repro- was just accepted for publication weeks aft er duction fi elds, but it is perhaps the saddest Dima’s passing, remembers him as a sincere, when we ponder the loss of Dima as a friend,

Bernard Phinney home greenhouse, but he had many other always end our conversation and give the continued from page 25 interests as well. He was enthusiastic about student priority. “He became as good a Molecular Biology, University of Minnesota skiing, fi shing, going out for sushi, and lis- friend, as good a master, and as good a man, Foundation, 200 Oak Street SE, Suite 500, tening to classical music, oft en while driving as the good old city knew, or any other good Minneapolis, MN 55455. around L.A. in his fi ery red convertible with old city, town, or borough, in the good old When I remember Bernie, I remember the top down. Above all, in his retirement, world.” many things, but I particularly recall his Bernie loved being around students. When Ann Hirsch broad smile and his love for plants. He Bernie came into my offi ce to “bend my ear,” University of California enjoyed growing ferns and orchids in his if a student stopped by to talk, he would

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