The ASPB Education Booth: A BLOOMEing Good Time

At Plant Biology 2017, the Biology Learning Objectives, Outreach Materials & Education (BLOOME) awards were the focus of the Education Booth.  These grants are awarded on a competitive basis to fund innovative ideas to increase education and outreach projects focusing on plant science literacy. Four previous award winners came to Hawaii to share the products of … Read more

Education and Outreach at Plant Biology 2017

Can art be used to teach elementary students that plants respond to environmental cues? How can museums make learning about plant evolution more fun? Does writing and editing Wikipedia articles increase student engagement in science writing? How can teachers use schoolyard woodlands to teach students about diversity? Can citizen science be used to demonstrate that … Read more

Plant Biology 2017 – Education Workshop Does Big Data

Big data, computation and bioinformatics have flooded the research community.  At Plant Biology 2017, it flooded the classroom as well. The education workshop, “ABC’s (Analysis, Bioinformatics and Computation) in the Classroom,” featured integration of computation and analysis of biological data into the classroom. Dr. Katerina Thompson, University of Maryland, and Dr. Judy Brusslan, California State … Read more

#PlantBio17 Day 3 Recap

Day 3 of Plant Biology for me can be summed up as informative and inspirational. The day began with a major symposium covering the chemical dictionary of plants. Plants make hundreds of thousand different compounds for a variety of purposes. Harro Bouwmeester shared his journey which began wondering how parasitic plants found their host roots … Read more

What’s Happening on Tuesday at Plant Biology 2017

Thank you for attending Plant Biology 2017– here’s your Tuesday meeting update! Here is your daily guide to activities curated by our team. Please check out our social media policy and hashtag #plantbio17 if you are using Twitter. When in doubt, you can also check the schedule and the conference app, or stop by Registration and … Read more

PlantBio17 Day 2 Recap

Day 2 in Honolulu, Hawaii was full of hard choices.   The day started at 7 am with both the Women in Plant Biology breakfast and the Undergraduate Poster Session running concurrently. Both events were immensely successful. The quality of research presented by the undergraduates of ASPB is incredible! These budding plant scientists will ensure … Read more

What’s Happening on Monday at Plant Biology 2017

Thank you for attending Plant Biology 2017– here’s your Monday meeting update! Here is your daily guide to activities curated by our team. When in doubt, you can also check the schedule and the conference app, or stop by Registration and ask one of our friendly volunteers.   Monday Highlights To start your Monday morning, Plant … Read more

What’s Happening on Sunday at Plant Biology 2017

Thank you for attending Plant Biology 2017– here’s your Sunday meeting update! Here is your daily guide to activities curated by our team. When in doubt, you can also check the schedule and the conference app, or stop by Registration and ask one of our friendly volunteers. Sunday Highlights Start your morning bright and early with … Read more

What’s Happening on Saturday at Plant Biology 2017

Thank you for attending Plant Biology 2017! Please check out our social media policy and hashtag #plantbio17 if you are using Twitter. To help you get the most out of this meeting, we’ve compiled a daily guide to activities, with links to the major symposia, workshops, etc. When in doubt, you can also check the … Read more

What’s Happening in Honolulu: Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday at Plant Biology 2017

On Monday, June 26th and Tuesday, June 27th — the 3rd and 4th days of Plant Biology 2017—conference attendees are spoilt for choice following the morning major symposium. Some may find it difficult to divide their time between a plethora of workshops and research presentations in the concurrent symposia. To start your Monday morning, Plant … Read more

Workshops (and Symposia) for the Weekend: Saturday and Sunday at Plant Biology 2017

On Saturday, June 24th and Sunday, June 25th — the 1st and 2nd days of Plant Biology 2017—conference attendees will have their choice of morning workshops on communication and diverse concurrent symposia. The Saturday morning workshops, from 9 AM to 12 noon (except for the Primarily Undergraduate Institution workshop, which starts at 8:30) will provide … Read more

Activating Your Inner Entrepreneur

The fifth major symposium of Plant Biology 2017, organized by ASPB President Sally Mackenzie (University of Nebraska), is dedicated to entrepreneurship in plant science. Plant biology researchers in academic labs make important discoveries with implications for agriculture, bioenergy, biomaterials, and human health. How can you, the researcher, translate your discoveries into real-world products? The “Plant … Read more

Fungal Frenemies in the Plant World

The fourth major symposium of Plant Biology 2017, organized by Barbara Valent from Kansas State University, entitled “Plants and Fungi: Friends or Foes”, will highlight current research on the interactions between fungi and living plant cells and their applications for improving sustainability in agricultural systems. Rice blast and wheat blast are two of the most … Read more

Celebrating Achievement at Plant Biology 2017

In the Awards Symposium at Plant Biology 2017, delegates will be treated to lectures from 2016’s prize-winning scientists and cheer this year’s winning crop of plant scientists making a difference in the field of plant biology and beyond. Pioneering Plant Science: The Stephen Hales Prize Named for a British reverend who, in 1927, published pioneering … Read more

Translating the Chemical Language of Plants

In the third major symposium of Plant Biology 2017, researchers from around the world will come together to share their insights into the chemical vocabulary of plants at a dedicated session, “The Chemical Dictionary of Plants: Origin and Translation”. Organizers Eran Pichersky (University of Michigan) and Natalia Dudareva (Purdue University) have lined up a diverse … Read more

Evolution of Cellular Development Symposium at Plant Biology 2017

The second major symposium of Plant Biology 2017, organized by Liam Dolan from the University of Oxford, is titled “Evolution of Cellular Development”. Symposium attendees will hear how new discoveries into the genetic regulation of development have provided fascinating insights into plant evolution. When plants first colonized the land, they evolved a suite of novel … Read more

A Balanced Diet: Agricultural Productivity and Sustainable Nitrogen and Phosphorous Use

The first major symposium of Plant Biology 2017, organized by Michael Udvardi of The Samuel Roberts Noble Foundation, is titled “Away from the Brink – Towards the Sustainable Use of N and P in Agriculture”. Session attendees will be presented with a range of creative solutions for ensuring continued agricultural productivity while managing nitrogen and … Read more

Oahu for Plant Biologists

In addition to well-known opportunities for swimming, surfing, hiking, fine dining, and examining local culture, the Hawaiian Islands offer a range of destinations for the plant-minded. Oahu, the site of Plant Biology 2017, has a wealth of natural parks, botanic gardens, and other fascinating opportunities to see native and cultivated plants by visiting one of … Read more

Announcing the 2017 ASPB Womens Young Investigator Travel Award Winners

The goal of the Women’s Young Investigator Travel Award is to increase attendance at the Plant Biology annual meeting of young female investigators who are within the first five years of their appointment in academic faculty-level positions, government research positions, or industry research scientist positions, as well as experienced postdocs. Awardees must hold positions at an academic, … Read more