Judy Callis ASPB has made progress in increasing transparency in its activities. Although we have a ways to go, we are on the right track, and with your continued interest, ASPB will respond by initiating changes to better serve you. Way back in San Jose in the summer of 2019, multiple suggestions were put forward during the … Read more
President’s Letter July/August 2020 In this President’s Letter, I would like to update you on the status of revising the nomination process for elected leadership positions at ASPB. In response to a desire to develop a ballot nomination process with a dedicated focus on increasing inclusion and diversity, last fall then-President Rob Last formed an … Read more
We deplore the pervasive institutional racism that allows systemic injustice, inequality, suffering, and violence to fester. We understand the love, fear, and anger of those protesting the most recent murders of unarmed Black people going about their lives, and we implore governments and their agents to act with restraint and compassion. We stand with other … Read more
The “New normal” was a term that arose during the 2007–2008 financial setbacks, and it has been used periodically since then. Again apropos, the term has emerged recently in the popular press. This new normal has its own vocabulary: social distancing, flattening the curve, N95 masks, Zoom and Zoombombing, and others. Many of you are … Read more
This is an unprecedented and extraordinary time. The fabric of our personal and professional lives is changing daily, and it will be different as you read this message than it was when I wrote it a few weeks ago. Now more than ever, we should value our ASPB community. Indeed, none of us is alone, … Read more
Continuing our transparency project, in this President’s Letter I discuss a proposal for a new name and mission statement for one of our standing committees, the Minority Affairs Committee (MAC), and highlight the activities of another standing committee, the Women in Plant Biology (WIPB) Committee. Minority Affairs Committee Our standing committees work hard to identify … Read more
The word transparent has multiple meanings. For us scientists, we might first think of a solution in a tube or vial being transparent, defined by Merriam-Webster as “having the property of transmitting light without appreciable scattering so that bodies lying beyond are seen clearly”. As in, did your chemical dissolve? But the transparency to which … Read more