From Plant Biology 2016 concurrent sessions: Heterosis & “How to Negotiate Your Offer” Workshop

We put out a call for some short write ups for the minisymposia at Plant Biology in Austin, TX. We’d like to grow this kind of digital coverage in the future, so if you’re interested in doing brief write ups of concurrent session talks at Plant Biology 2017, keep that in mind. Yao Luo, Research … Read more

Rethinking Plant Science Communication

One of the highlights of the 2016 Plant Biology Conference in Austin, TX was a panel discussion about the National Academies of Science review of genetically modified crops.  ASPB had several members on this prestigious review committee, including Drs. Robin Buell, Neal Stewart, and Rick Dixon, who convened a special session to discuss the outcomes … Read more

How do you keep up with the literature?

In the Plant Physiology publishing workshop held at Plant Biology 2016, the question arose of how people keep up with the huge number of papers being published. Mike Blatt shared the strategy used by his lab, which I’m familiar with as an honorary member.  The lab group meets weekly, and two of every four meetings … Read more

Working as a Plant Biology Consultant

At the 2016 Plant Biology conference in Austin, Texas, we had the opportunity to sit down with Michael Gonzalez to get tips on pursuing a career as a Plant Biology Consultant.  Here are some of the tips and suggestions Michael shared with us.  For more information, you can contact him at michael@mdgonzales.com.  Getting Started: The … Read more

Digital Dispatch, Day 5, Plant Biology 2016.

July 13 was the final day of Plant Biology 2016. Traditionally, it ends with the President’s symposium, and this year President Dixon’s theme was ‘Specialized Metabolism’, or all the things that plants make that aren’t strictly  necessary for survival (though this could be debated). .@ASPB President Dixon along a out why specialized metabolites matter for … Read more

PlantBio16: Summary of President’s Symposium on Specialized Metabolism

The final major symposium of the Plant Biology 2016 conference was organized by ASPB President Richard Dixon and covered various aspects of specialized metabolism in plants (note that the term specialized metabolism has largely supplanted the older term secondary metabolism, which carries with it an implication that it is not as important as primary metabolism; … Read more

Plant Biologists Pitch their Science

We spent all four days of Plant Biology 2016 recording “Plant Science: How I Work” interviews and fantastic elevator pitches following the Communication Workshop: How to Create a Winning Elevator Pitch facilitated by Teresa Evans and Geoff Hunt. Here are a few to inspire you!  We’ll share more in Plantae.org along with the How I Work … Read more

Digital dispatch, Plant Biology day 4

Long Distance and Cell to cell signaling. Major symposia 4 organized by Philip Benfey was on long and short distance signaling between cells in plants. Benfey started off with a remark that plant cells are constantly communicating with one another, with neighbors and cells in entirely different parts of the plant. He then said “social … Read more

To Resumé, or not to Resumé?

  There’s been some great discussions and dialogue at @ASPB #plantbio16 around careers and applying for jobs. Specifically there has been great dialogue around preparing cover letters and CV’s to submit as part of an application process. During a couple of the conversations that I’ve been involved in, I’ve realized that there is considerable confusion … Read more

Digital Dispatch, Day 3 #plantbio16

There’s a lot of Twitter activity at Plant Biology this year (#plantbio16), but that’s a good thing even if it interrupts Twitter: Remember to mute #plantbio16 if you hate plants and science and are generally a horrible person! — Leon (@orchidhunter) July 11, 2016 Day 3 of Plant Biology started with the major symposia on … Read more

Plant Biology 2016: Developing healthier foods: Quality, nutrition and molecular gastronomy

The first full day of Plant Biology 2016 started with a major symposium, organized by Harry Klee, that focused on the nutritional quality and taste of food. The first speaker, Cathie Martin from the John Innes Centre (UK), set the stage by reminding us that food security involves both the nutritional quality and safety of … Read more

Digital dispatch, day 2 #plantbio16

An early start An analog start at the Plantae pavilion started the day at Plant Biology, day 2. Many people got up early and met up over coffee and baked goods and chatted on “birds of a feather” tables focused on different topics. There was an early morning workshop on putting on workshops written up … Read more

Digital dispatch Day 1 #plantbio16

Plant Biology 2016 officially got underway on July 9 in Austin, TX. With registration open, attendees flocked to the Draw Your Science board and a community coloring activity on the first floor off the conference center. Events underway quickly were the undergraduate poster session and a session on the much-needed reimagining of Postgraduate training in … Read more

Plant Cell and Plant Physiology publishing workshops at Plant Biology 2016

Did you know that ASPB is the publisher of two top plant science research journals? Publishing has always been a core part of ASPB’s mission. At Plant Biology 2016 (July 9 – 13 in Austin, Texas), you can meet, learn from and share you thoughts with the Editors-in-Chief of the ASPB journals. Publishing in and … Read more

The Year of Science is coming to Plant Biology 2016

Improving Wikipedia’s Science Content Collaboratively A major component of the 2016 Year of Science (YoS) is engaging scientists to work with Wikipedia, and improve Wikipedia’s science content. One way Wikipedia is doing that is by partnering with major scientific societies for a series of ‘edit-a-thons,’ workshops, and talks at conferences throughout the year. This includes … Read more

Networking Socially at Plant Biology 2016

Without a doubt, one of the top reasons we attend conferences is to strengthen and expand our professional networks. The many opportunities that a conference provides to meet and interact with colleagues and friends old and new make the jet lag and hassle of travel worthwhile, mostly. The Plant Biology meeting is a big meeting … Read more