November/December 2018 • Volume 45, Number 6 p. 7 p. 13 p. 15 2019 ASPB Awards ASPB/AAAS 2018 Luminaries Nominations Mass Media Fellow Natasha Raikhel Opening Soon! Reports In THE NEWSLETTER OF THE AMERICAN SOCIETY OF PLANT BIOLOGISTS Ambassa-More, Please! Announcing the Newly Enhanced President’s Letter ASPB Ambassador Program #ASPBForward: BY STEPHANIE KLEIN, ASPB Ambassador and Membership Committee, RISHI R. Where We Are MASALIA, ASPB Ambassador and Membership Committee, KEN KORTH, Membership Committee, and JILL DEIKMAN, Chair of the Membership Committee Going BY ROB LAST he ASPB Ambassador Program was Society’s most active members. They engage Michigan State University established in 2006 to involve students their campus communities in outreach activ- Tand postdocs in communicating ities, represent ASPB at section conferences, ASPB’s mission to academic and industry and contribute articles to the ASPB News. ver the past communities and to the general public. ASPB Most importantly, ASPB ambassadors have year, ASPB ambassadors have since become some of the continued on page 4 Ocontinued a history of nearly 100 years of growth and change, and I have learned much about this great organization of people. The size and scope of activities and diverse passions of members, staff, and affili- ates made it difficult to choose one topic for this first letter, so I highlight ways that ASPB is working and planning efforts to serve members. First, some context. It is exciting to make the transition from president-elect to president. My president- elect year provided opportunities to learn Left to right: ASPB ambassadors Rishi Masalia, Stephanie Klein, Nathan Harlan, and continued on page 3 Kathryn McIntyre meeting up at Plant Biology 2018 in Montreal. Contents Council members highlighted in blue ASPB Council also serve on the Board of Directors. President Rob Last Immediate Past President; Chair Harry Klee President-elect Judy Callis Secretary Andrew Bent Treasurer; Chair, Board of Trustees Rick Vierstra 1 President’s Letter Elected Members Christine Foyer Maureen McCann 1 Ambassa-More, Please! Announcing the Newly Chair, Membership Committee Jill Deikman Enhanced ASPB Ambassador Program Chair, Minority Affairs Committee Gustavo MacIntosh Chair, Publications Committee Neil E. Olszewski Chair, Women in Plant Biology Committee Laura Wayne 4 Let’s Nominate! Chair, Education Committee Sarah Wyatt Chair, International Committee Anja Geitman 5 ASPB Officers and Committee Members Assume Posts Chair, Science Policy Committee Nathan Springer for 2018–2019 Sectional Representatives Mid-Atlantic Section Hua Lu Midwestern Section Gustavo MacIntosh 6 2018–2019 Awards Committees Northeastern Section Carolyn Lee-Parsons Southern Section Ashlee McCaskill 7 2019 ASPB Awards Nominations Opening Soon! Western Section Kulvinder Gill Environmental and Ecological Andy VanLoocke Plant Physiology Section 8 New Positions for Early Career Professionals on Primarily Undergraduate Leeann Thornton ASPB Committees Institutions Section 9 An ASPB Member Looks Forward to San Jose for ASPB Staff Plant Biology 2019 Chief executive officer Crispin Taylor, [email protected] Director of finance and administration Clara Woodall, [email protected] 10 Travel Support for Plant Biology 2019 Executive and governance affairs administrator Sylvia Lee, [email protected] Senior staff accountant Jotee Pundu, [email protected] 11 Highlights of the EEPP Section Annual Meeting in Senior staff accountant Francky Rakotomanana, [email protected] Montreal Director of meetings and events Jean Rosenberg, [email protected] Conference coordinator Teresa Myers, [email protected] Director, digital strategy and member services vacant Manager, member services Shoshana Kronfeld, [email protected] People Meetings, marketing, and membership assistant Melanie Binder, [email protected] Web systems manager Mark James, [email protected] 13 ASPB/AAAS 2018 Mass Media Fellow Reports In Legislative and public affairs director Tyrone Spady, [email protected] Executive coordinator, Plant Science Natalie Henkhaus, [email protected] Research Network Luminaries Education coordinator Winnie Nham, [email protected] Director of publications Nancy A. Winchester, [email protected] 15 Natasha Raikhel Publications assistant Diane McCauley, [email protected] Subscriptions manager Suzanne Cholwek, [email protected] Subscriptions assistant Linda Palmer, [email protected] Science Policy Managing editor Jennifer Regala, [email protected] Science writer, Plant Physiology Peter Minorsky, [email protected] 17 Policy Update Production manager, Plant Physiology Jon Munn, [email protected] Manuscript manager, Plant Physiology Ashton Wolf, [email protected] Senior features editor, The Plant Cell Nan Eckardt, [email protected] ASPB Staff Features editor, The Plant Cell Mary Williams, [email protected] Production manager, The Plant Cell Susan Entwistle, [email protected] 21 ASPB Welcomes Francky Rakotomanana as Senior Manuscript manager, The Plant Cell Annette Kessler, [email protected] Staff Accountant The ASPB News is distributed to all ASPB members and is also available online. It is published six times annually in odd-numbered months. Its purposes are to keep membership informed 21 Fond Farewells to Susan Cato and Stephanie Liu-Kuan 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, April 5 for May/June publication). Contact: Nancy A. Winchester, Editor, ASPB News, 15501 Monona Drive, Rockville, MD 20855-2768 USA; [email protected]; 301-296-0904. © 2018 American Society of Plant Biologists 2 ASPB NEWS | NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2018 President’s Letter PRESIDENT’S LETTER submit your abstract before the 2017–2018 academic year saw a content, and let the community continued from page 1 first deadline. Oh, and by the way, step-change increase in Plantae know about the efforts and broad about the organization through there were more than 1,600 at- content: it now serves as a gather- recognition of our members. service on the meeting-organizing tendees at Plant Biology 2018 in ing place for the digital output The Twitter community at the Program Committee, as well Montreal! of the Conviron Scholars and Montreal conference was remark- as the Council and the Board The research described at Plantae Fellows programs, as ably active (#plantbio18; for stats of Directors. There also were our annual meetings has always well as hosting the What We’re and some tweets, see https:// opportunities to get involved in been a prime motivator for me to Reading blogs, employment op- tinyurl.com/ybuffon5), and this other activities near to my heart. attend; however, the most notice- portunities, and a portal to the activity allowed a broad group of One example is interacting with able changes since I attended my TapRoot podcast. scientists and citizens across the the Publications Committee, first American Society of Plant If you have not looked at world to know what they were on which I served in the 1990s. Physiologists annual meeting in Plantae in recent months, I urge missing and why they should Making appointments to the the early 1990s are the activities you to do so soon and regularly. come to Plant Biology 2019 in governance and awards commit- that promote professional devel- You can access on-demand video San Jose, California. opment and networking across content on topics of broad appeal, tees allowed me to work with Other Efforts Toward the disciplines, geographies, and learn about data management and committee chairs, and it was Future gratifying to experience the career paths. Indeed, the Program analysis, tune up your commu- enthusiastic responses from those Committee, staff, and leader- nication approaches, and find ASPB needs to strengthen our invited to participate. More than ship have a satisfying challenge out about phenomics and space impact for a broad group of a year of intensive exposure to the in accommodating the demand biology. Looking for a topic for a people, including early career and inner workings of ASPB revealed for satellite meetings, workshops, journal club or ideas to modern- private-sector members, and there changes that are propelling orga- networking events, and one-on- ize an upcoming lecture? What are plenty of changes afoot this nizational evolution, and this one mentoring activities at the We’re Reading (https://plantae. year. For example, the Conviron letter highlights two areas: the annual meetings. This is an area org/research/wwrtw/) and Plant Corporation increased support annual Plant Biology meetings in which the staff and volunteers Physiology News and Views for the Conviron Scholars pro- and the Society’s electronic media provide great leadership. (formerly Commentaries; http:// gram, and the next class will grow presence. In Montreal, the Plantae www.plantphysiol.org/content/by/ from 20 in 2017–2018 to 43 in Pavilion and ASPB booth served section/News and Views) provide 2018–2019 (https://tinyurl.com/ Plant Biology Meetings as venues for dozens of round- digestible summaries of diverse yd7dav89). Leadership responded The annual Plant Biology confer- table discussions, networking papers in our disciplines. This to a recent Membership Committee ence is a wonderful example of events, and social media–oriented content educates us and provides recommendation to double the size how a long-lived science society activities. In addition to serv- scholars