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ASPB News THE NEWSLETTER OF THE AMERICAN SOCIETY OF PLANT BIOLOGISTS Volume 30, Number 6 November/December 2003 President’s Letter The Year Ahead Inside This Issue Since succeeding Dan Bush as biology. The Foundation is intended to complement New Officers/Commit- the Society’s president, I have the work of the Society by helping to raise funds and tees Assume Posts been working on my ASPB “to to develop programs. Its mission is to Plant Biology 2004: Call do” list. I thought I’d take this • promote a broad understanding of the importance for Abstracts opportunity to share some of of plant science in providing an ongoing supply of my major “to do” items with Call for Applications: affordable, high-quality food, fiber, and renewable SURF you and to solicit your help in resources Travel Grants ensuring that ASPB is the first • provide education on the importance of plants to place people turn to for all things plant biology. agriculture, medicine, environment and environ- New Web Page! First on the list is hiring a new executive director. mental cleanup, cosmetics, clothing, building, and John Lisack, who ably served as executive director for more the past five years, is now CEO of the American Asso- ciation of Pharmaceutical Scientists. We are working • make available accurate information on the latest with Margot Lansing of Lansing & Associates to iden- developments regarding genetically modified crops tify an individual who will provide vision and and biotechnology leadership for our Society, as well as supervision and • improve the range of knowledge of school children fiduciary oversight for the Society’s staff of 22 and by increasing the focus on plant science in the K– budget of over $5.4 million. We also hope to find 12 curriculum by developing curriculum materials, someone who will have the energy and foresight to teacher development, and hands-on learning lead ASPB into new activities while helping to pro- materials vide a stable financial base. In the interim, the highly • encourage young scientists to pursue careers in the skilled team of professionals who staff our headquar- growing field of plant biology ters operation are ensuring that ASPB continues to serve our membership, our readers, and the public. • increase plant science activities in science muse- Second on the list is to continue to position the ums and discovery centers by developing programs, Education Foundation to maximize its impact. The exhibits, background information, and links to ASPB Education Foundation was established in 1995 scientists. to increase the public’s knowledge about the role of Yes, the Public Affairs Committee and the Educa- plants in all areas of life. In the broadest sense, the tion Committee also address some of these goals, and goal is to have ASPB and its Foundation serve as the there has been some confusion in the past over the leading source for information and expertise in plant Foundation’s role. However, I think we can all agree continued on page 3 The ASPB News is now available 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 Officers & Staff CONTENTS President Mary Lou Guerinot 603-646-2527 1 President’s Letter President-Elect Roger Hangarter 812-855-5456 Immediate Past President Daniel R. Bush 970-491-2442 Plant Genetics 2003 3 Secretary Edgar Spalding 608-265-5294 4 2003–2004 Committees Treasurer Mark R. Brodl 210-999-7246 Chair, Board of Trustees Louis Sherman 765-494-8106 5 PB2004 Call for Abstracts Chair, Publications Committee C. Robertson McClung 603-646-3940 7 SURF Call for Applications Chair, Women in Plant Biology Committee Mary Tierney 802-656-0434 8 People Minority Affairs Committee Regina McClinton 616-331-2470 Education Committee Lawrence Griffing 979-845-6493 9 Minority Affairs Committee Hosts Machi Dilworth at PB2003 Elected Members Nick Carpita 765-494-4653 Adrienne E. Clarke +61-38-344-5043 10 ASPB Executive Director: Call for Linda Walling 909-787-4687 Applications Sectional Representatives Midwestern Steven Rodermel 515-294-8890 11 Arabidopsis Meeting Northeastern Rakesh Minocha 603 868 7622 12 Perspective Southern Mel Oliver 806-723-5225 Mid-Atlantic Jonathan Monroe 540-568-6649 14 Welcome Newest Members! Western Dina Mandoli 206-543-4335 16 Ethics in Publishing: ASPB Policies and Procedures for Author Executive director vacant Misconduct Executive assistant Donna Gordon, ext. 131 [email protected] Director of finance and administration Susan K. Rosenberry, ext. 111 [email protected] 17 Bioethics Accounting manager Kim Snell, ext. 141 [email protected] 18 From the Web: New Personal Web Network administrator Burton Nicodemus, ext. 146 [email protected] Page Ready! Webmaster Wendy Sahli, ext. 123 [email protected] Membership and marketing manager Kelley Noone, ext. 142 [email protected] 19 Foothills Footnote Subscription and fulfillment assistant Suzanne Moore Cholwek, ext. 141 [email protected] 20 Membership Corner Accounts receivable specialist Stephanie Liu-Kuan, ext. 143 [email protected] Accounts payable specialist Stefanie Shamer, ext. 144 [email protected] Public Affairs 22 Administrative assistant Carolyn Freed, ext. 122 [email protected] 30 Education Forum Director of public affairs Brian M. Hyps, ext. 114 [email protected] Education Foundation director Robin Lempert, ext. 110 [email protected] 32 ASPB Travel Grant Call for Education Foundation assistant Paula Brooks, ext. 116 [email protected] Applications Director of publications Nancy A. Winchester, ext. 117 [email protected] 33 New Staff Publications assistant Diane McCauley, ext. 133 [email protected] Managing editor, Plant Physiology George Kendall, ext. 118 [email protected] Science writer, Plant Physiology Peter Minorsky, 914-437-7438 [email protected] Deadline for March/April 2004 Production manager, Plant Physiology Lisa Pergolizzi, ext.130 [email protected] ASPB News: February 5, 2004 Manuscript manager, Plant Physiology Leslie Csikos, ext. 125 [email protected] Managing editor, The Plant Cell Beth Staehle, ext. 121 [email protected] News and reviews editor, The Plant Cell Nancy Eckardt, 970-495-9918 [email protected] Production manager, The Plant Cell John Long, ext. 119 [email protected] NOTICE: The ASPB News no longer Manuscript manager, The Plant Cell Annette Kessler, ext. 120 [email protected] carries job ads or meeting an- nouncements. Job ads appear online at www.aspb.org/jobbank. The list is updated every Friday. ASPB News is distributed to all ASPB members and is published six Meeting notices can be posted at ASPB News times annually, in odd-numbered months. It is edited and prepared www.aspb.org/meetings. by ASPB staff from material provided by ASPB members and other interested parties. Headquarters Office Copy deadline is the 5th day of the preceding even-numbered 15501 Monona Drive month (for example, December 5 for January/February publication). Rockville, MD 20855-2768 USA Submit copy by e-mail whenever possible; submit all other copy by Phone: 301-251-0560 mail, not by fax. Fax: 301-279-2996 Contact: Nancy A. Winchester, Editor, ASPB News, 15501 Monona Drive, Rockville, MD 20855-2768 USA; [email protected]; 301-251- 0560, ext. 117. continued from page 1 that there is plenty of work to do, and the Foun- ASPB PLANT GENETICS 2003 dation offers an opportunity to tackle significant projects that are beyond the scope Mechanisms of Genetic Variation of other ASPB committees. The Foundation board is currently without ASPB’s first specialty meeting, Plant Ge- Evolutionary dynamics of genetic loci; a chair, as Dan Cosgrove has had to step down, netics 2003: Mechanisms of Genetic Genetics of chromosomal inheritance; and the search is on for a new chair. Our hope Variation, was recently concluded and was Chromatin, imprinting, and epigenetic is that the new chair will continue to shape an deemed a success by the attendees and or- mechanisms; RNA and protein movement; agenda that not only captures everyone’s imagi- ganizers. The conference was held on and Plant form and function. Chair nation but also sparks successful fundraising October 22–26, 2003, at the Snowbird Venkatesan Sundaresan and vice chair efforts that the whole Society can enthusiasti- Resort & Conference Center near Salt Lake Rich Jorgenson were extremely pleased cally embrace. One important change initiated City, Utah. The meeting had over 200 at- with the breadth of science presented at for the coming year is that the Foundation will tendees, and the key topic areas were the meeting and the high caliber of the at- have a modest budget to fund education Genomes I—Natural variation and natu- tendees. More details about the meeting projects. A call for proposals will come out in ral processes of evolution; Genomes will appear in the January/February 2004 the spring. II—Speciation and crop domestication; edition of the ASPB News. We really appreciate all the energy that Robin Lempert, the current director, has put into researching K–12 educational initiatives this past year, as well as her other efforts on behalf of the Foundation. Stay tuned for more discussion of the Foundation in the upcom- ing year. Third on the list is working to ensure that ASPB is a welcoming place for all plant biolo- gists. How can we reach out to other plant-based societies? Should we think about hosting more joint meetings and/or more sat- ellite meetings? This past October we held a new meeting on Plant Genetics, and the feed- back has been very positive. We welcome suggestions from you, the members, about other areas of plant biology that are currently underserved. Mary Lou Guerinot Dartmouth College Attendees actively [email protected] participated in afternoon poster sessions during the Plant Genetics 2003 meeting. Mealtimes at Snowbird allowed the participants to enjoy good food, discuss science, and view spectacular scenery.