ASPB recently signed a letter that encourages and supports a conference agreement for House and Senate competitiveness legislation that will, “reflect a bipartisan, bicameral commitment to maintaining U.S. global competitiveness through increased long-term investments in NSF research and education programs.” Read the Full Letter Here
By Asia Hightower (EDIC) and Anjali Iyer-Pascuzzi (EDIC) During the Plant Biology 2021 meeting, the Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Committee (EDIC) hosted a virtual workshop called ‘Surviving Academia and Industry’. Navigating the scientific workforce can be challenging for anyone at all career stages, but is particularly stressful for Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) … Read more
ASPB is now accepting applications for the Women’s Young Investigator Travel Awards to attend Plant Biology 2022, which is scheduled to be held this year in Portland, Oregon from July 9-13, 2022, and online! The goal of the program is to increase attendance of early-career female investigators at the annual meeting; women plant scientists who … Read more
Planning for the Plant Biology 2022 conference is well underway. This year the conference will be a joint meeting with the Canadian Society of Plant Biologists and this year’s program committee is pleased to invite members of the plant science community to submit proposals for workshops to be held during the conference. Please complete and … Read more
ASPB is offering a limited number of travel grants to attend Plant Biology 2022 which is scheduled to be held in Portland, Oregon from July 9-13, 2022, and online. The travel award program aims to increase attendance of early-career scientists at the annual meeting by providing funds for those in financial need; increasing diversity among … Read more
The past year and a half has been an unprecedented time for all of us, and it has brought unforeseeable changes to our lives. I recognize that you have many competing priorities in your life as you struggle with the consequences of the pandemic. Research, classes, family and social commitments, and sound mental health are … Read more
As you may have heard, ASPB has implemented a new database to track memberships and other activities within ASPB. This database is also the source for our member-facing directory, so it’s a vital tool in ensuring society members can find each other. To make this database as accurate and useful as possible, we are inviting you … Read more
By now, we hope you have heard about ASPB’s major fundraising drive – the Centennial Challenge – leading up to ASPB’s 100th anniversary in 2024. Although components of the Centennial Challenge – the Pioneer of ASPB program, for example – are perennial, at a recent meeting of the Centennial Challenge Committee it was decided to … Read more
We are looking forward to Plant Biology 22, a meeting organized jointly by the Canadian and American societies of plant biology, returning to a primarily in-person format in Portland. New for this year, the ASPB/CSPB/SCBV Program Committee is soliciting proposals from the community to convene and organize concurrent symposia. The Program Committee will evaluate the proposals … Read more
Reports of sexual harassment in the plant sciences have recently been brought to public attention by Science magazine. The American Society of Plant Biologists believes that discrimination, harassment, bullying, and retaliation have no place in our society, and we want to express our strongest support to any victims of such reprehensible behaviors. Although neither the … Read more
ASPB is pleased to sign a letter urging U.S. House and Senate Democratic leadership to prioritize and protect the vital investments in agricultural climate research, agricultural innovation, and agricultural research infrastructure within the Build Back Better human and climate infrastructure package. These proposed investments are a generational down payment to fill critical R&D gaps and … Read more
Since the beginning of 2021, ASPB has partnered with Oxford University Press in the publication of The Plant Cell and Plant Physiology (see ASPB welcomes Oxford University Press). Through this partnership we’ve been exploring new ways to share and highlight the exciting research published in these journals. We’d like to introduce you to a new … Read more
1977–2021 ASPB and the international plant biology community have lost one of their brightest and best stars, Chunhua Zhang, assistant professor of botany and plant pathology at Purdue University. Chunhua was diagnosed with late-stage pancreatic cancer in February 2021 shortly after giving birth to her fourth child. She did everything in her power to fight … Read more
United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres called the Sixth Assessment Report, released by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) in August, a “code red for humanity” (IPCC, 2021). With improved knowledge of climate processes, paleoclimate evidence, and increasing radiative forcing (change in the energy flux in the atmosphere caused by climate change), some uncertainties in … Read more
By Mary Williams and Crispin Taylor, with graphics designed by Siobhan Braybrook We are excited to announce that ASPB, along with our partners, has been awarded a five-year grant through the NSF’s LEAPS [LEAding cultural change through Professional Societies (LEAPS) of Biology] program. As the lead organization, ASPB has the privilege of coordinating the development … Read more
organized by the ASPB African Researchers Network, in collaboration with OCP North America Orphan crops offer promising opportunities to tackle critical challenges of our time, including food insecurity, climate change and economic instability. Despite their nutritional properties, tolerance to biotic and abiotic stresses and adherence to local food cultures and low-input production systems, these crops … Read more
Thank you for taking the time to read ASPB President Maureen McCann’s letter regarding the ASPB Board of Director’s recent decision to reaffirm a commitment to holding Plant Biology 2023 in Savannah, GA. Now that you’ve done so, we’d welcome your thoughts on the approaches that ASPB should take toward identifying future conference venues and … Read more
A Difficult Decision A major focus of ASPB is science policy and how it impacts research funding, the pipeline of talent into our labs, and regulatory practices. In the United States, our Science Policy Committee engages on our behalf with federal funding agencies and legislators from both parties to raise awareness of, and advocate for, … Read more
The Plant Biology 2021 Worldwide Summit is taking place at the same time as Botany 2021, and in honor of ASPB’s and BSA’s joint interest in supporting the plant science community and our overlapping audiences, we will be hosting a joint symposium on Wednesday, July 21, open to both sets of attendees! The symposium’s title is “An Exploration of Inter-kingdom … Read more
Many thanks to those members who took the time to vote this spring; and hearty congratulations to our incoming president-elect, Gustavo MacIntosh and elected member, Elena Monte! Additionally, the recognition of Naomi Ori and Shu-Hsing Wu as Enid MacRobbie corresponding members was overwhelmingly ratified by the ASPB membership. Gustavo and Elena will begin their next … Read more
