May/June 2015 • Volume 42, Number 3 p. 5 p. 26 p. 29 ASPB 2015 Award SURF 2015 Obituary Winners A new wave of Albert W. Frenkel ASPB honors plant undergraduate 1919–2015 scientists for their research coming exellence in research, this summer education, outreach, and service THE NEWSLETTER OF THE AMERICAN SOCIETY OF PLANT BIOLOGISTS President’s Letter Plant Biology Time to PhD—Time to Publish 2015 JULIAN SCHROEDER University of California, San Diego See You in Minneapolis! n this letter I would like necessary to generate a PhD to address two interlinked thesis in the life sciences. This Iproblems and offer possible very long training period and solutions to both of them: (1) the limited number of academic July 26–30! the relatively long duration of job openings can discour- PhD graduate studies in many age talented young scientists countries and (2) the increasing from pursuing PhDs and their time it can take from research careers in the plant sciences. advance to publication. In the On the upside, recent analy- latter case, I will also address ses have highlighted the need innovations that are being for trained PhD plant scientists Julian Schroeder implemented toward reducing (http://bit.ly/ZsHLrj), and the time to publication by The Plant Cell’s a report from the STEM Connector Food new editor-in-chief, Sabeeha Merchant, and Ag Council (http://bit.ly/1EMiGEo) and her editorial team. Additionally, recent projects substantial job growth in plant- and procedures in Plant Physiology are geared to agriculture-related industries, with a combi- shortening time to publication as well. nation of net new positions and looming The plant sciences—and indeed all scien- retirements generating over 160,000 vacan- tific disciplines—rely on new directions of cies in the United States alone over the next research and new perspectives. Because young 10 years. There are many careers that trained scientists often generate these new ideas, it is plant scientists can embark on in addition to essential to provide opportunities for them to academia, including industry, biotechnology, Online registration grow and succeed in their disciplines. the business side within companies, educa- Unfortunately, on the downside, in the tion, plant-linked information technology, open until July 12 United States and many other countries, it can instrumentation, big data–related jobs, envi- often take over six years to complete the work continued on page 4 Contents ASPB staff are dedicated to serving our members. We welcome your questions and feedback. For quick response, e-mail us at [email protected] or visit our FAQ at www.aspb.org/faq. ASPB Executive Committee 1 President’s Letter President Julian Schroeder Immediate past president Alan M. Jones 3 Plant Biology 2015 President-elect Rick Dixon Secretary Karen Koch 5 ASPB Announces 2015 Awards Treasurer Karen Koster Chair, Board of Trustees Rob McClung 9 ASPB’s 2015 Women’s Young Investigator Travel Chair, Publications Committee Neil Olszewski Award Winners Announced Chair, Women in Plant Biology Committee Marisa Otegui Chair, Minority Affairs Committee Adán Colón-Carmona 10 ASPB’s New Meetings Business Unit Supports a Chair, Education Committee Kathleen Archer Broader Plant Science Dialogue Chair, International Committee Tuan-hua David Ho Chair, Membership Committee David Horvath 24 Recognizing Our Authors Chair, Science Policy Committee Patrick Schnable Elected members Elizabeth (Lisa) Ainsworth Joe Kieber Section News MariaElena B. Zavala Sectional Representatives 11 Midwestern Section Holds Successful Meeting Midwestern Ed Cahoon Northeastern Om Parkash Dhankher 12 Southern Section 2015 Meeting Report Southern Rebecca Dickstein Mid-Atlantic Hemayet Ullah Western Camille Steber Membership Corner 13 Ian Street ASPB Staff Executive director Crispin Taylor, [email protected] Director of finance and administration Kim Kimnach, [email protected] People Executive and governance affairs administrator Sylvia Lee, [email protected] Accounts receivable and payable specialist Stephanie Liu-Kuan, [email protected] 14 Eric Hamilton Awarded ASPB/AAAS Mass Media Senior staff accountant Jotee Pundu, [email protected] Fellowship Director of meetings and events Jean Rosenberg, [email protected] Director, digital strategy and member services Susan Cato, [email protected] Manager, Member Services Shoshana Kronfeld, [email protected] Science Policy Meetings, marketing, and membership assistant Melanie Binder, [email protected] Legislative and public affairs director Tyrone Spady, [email protected] 15 Policy Update Education coordinator Katie Engen, [email protected] Director of publications Nancy A. Winchester, [email protected] 17 Science Policy Committee Meets in Washington, D.C. Publications assistant Diane McCauley, [email protected] Subscriptions manager Suzanne Cholwek, [email protected] Education Forum Subscriptions assistant Linda Palmer, [email protected] Managing editor Patti Lockhart, [email protected] 18 ASPB at the 2015 White House Easter Egg Roll Science writer, Plant Physiology Peter Minorsky, [email protected] Production manager, Plant Physiology Jon Munn, [email protected] 20 Advice from a Postdoc Manuscript manager, Plant Physiology Ashton Wolf, [email protected] Senior features editor, The Plant Cell Nan Eckardt, [email protected] 21 A Children’s Workshop: Rooting Around the World Features editor, The Plant Cell Mary Williams, [email protected] of Plants Production manager, The Plant Cell Susan Entwistle, [email protected] Manuscript manager, The Plant Cell Annette Kessler, [email protected] 23 ASPB at NSTA 2015 The ASPB News is distributed to all ASPB members and is also available online. It is pub- lished six times annually in odd-numbered months. Its purposes are to keep membership 26 2015 SURF Winners informed of ASPB activities and to reinforce the value of membership. The ASPB News is edited and produced by ASPB staff from material provided by members and other interested parties. Copy deadline is the 5th day of the preceding even-numbered month (for example, Obituary December 5 for January/February publication). Contact: Nancy A. Winchester, Editor, ASPB News, 15501 Monona Drive, Rockville, MD 29 Albert W. Frenkel 20855-2768 USA; [email protected]; 301-296-0904. © 2015 American Society of Plant Biologists 2 ASPB NEWS | MAY/JUNE 2015 Online registration open until July 12 Come for the science, come for the posters, and come to spend quality and fun time with colleagues! U.S. Federal Funding Agencies Up Their Bioinformatics Resources for Plant Biology Research Presence at PB2015 Two workshops will feature presentations from Araport, Bio- This year there are four workshops that highlight the work and Analytic Resource, KBase, Legume Federation, MaizeGDB, Plant contributions of U.S. government agencies. Reactome, and TAIR describing the resources and tools at their respective sites. • The conversation kicks off on Monday, July 27, with a noon- hour grantsmanship workshop with officials from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), the Department of Energy, Make New Connections and Have Some Fun! and the National Science Foundation (NSF). • At 5:30 p.m. on Wednesday, July 29, join the editors of Plant • That evening NSF takes the podium again from 7:00 to 9:00 Physiology and The Plant Cell and Society leadership for light to explain the criteria its decision makers use to assess the refreshments and a serious dialogue about the issues facing ~50,000 research proposals they review each year—and to your profession and your professional society. select the ~11,000 they are able to fund. • At 6:30 p.m. on Wednesday, July 29, the Environmental and • At noon on Tuesday, July 28, a panel representing USDA, the Ecological Plant Physiology Section holds an open meeting. Environmental Protection Agency, and the Food and Drug • AND FINALLY—back by popular demand—we’re delighted to Administration will review the regulatory environment for announce that The Nines will rock our Final Party at 8:30 p.m. genetically engineered plants in the United States. Wednesday, July 29. They were a favorite during ASPB’s 2014 • And at noon on Wednesday, July 29, ASPB’s Science Policy closing party at the World Forestry Center in Portland, and Committee (http://my.aspb.org/?G_Leadership#policy) hosts a they’re joining us in Minneapolis for a repeat performance. If session on the millions of dollars that the newly formed Foun- you missed the show the first time, or it’s just been too long dation for Food and Agriculture Research (FFAR) will funnel since you’ve heard them, check out this fabulous video (http:// into plant science under the 2014 Farm Bill. FFAR’s mandate to www.lovethenines.com/video/). And don’t forget to come support research, innovation, and partnerships for America’s early to take part in the first annual ping-pong and foosball agricultural economy makes this an exciting time for plant biol- tournament! ogy, and this session will help you figure out what it all means for your own research program. Ready to register? Take a comprehensive look at all that Plant Biology 2015 has to offer— including the full listing of minisymposia—at plantbiology.aspb.org. ASPB NEWS | VOLUME 42, NUMBER 3 3 PRESIDENT’S LETTER from about three to four years, and advancing knowledge and scien- submitted manuscript with their continued from page 1 some countries are seeing a trend tific discourse. You might argue mentor. In such cases it is up to ronmental work, patent law, and in reducing PhD durations closer that mentors may actually benefit the mentor to ask the key question communications to name just a to four years or less. Thus, it is from publication delays, because of their co-reviewer: “If a reviewer few. So how can we ensure that we clearly possible; however, there is the research advances in their labs requested this many interesting are training young talent in ways a big fly in the ointment—but one can continue without competi- but perhaps not immediately that enable them to meet the chal- that we as a community can also tion for, say, another year or two required experiments for your lenges and needs of the future? fix.