“2020 is a unique year” seems to be an understatement.
Before the pandemic, summer used to be the best time to attend conferences around the world to connect with people and science. With air travel out of the picture, the in-person conference experience is being re-imagined.
Whether or not you have attended the Plant Biology conference previously, the Plant Biology Worldwide Summit (July 27 – 31, 2020) will be a great way to connect with cutting-edge plant science and the wonderful plant science community.
Like Plantae Fellow Pavithran Narayanan, who provided many compelling reasons why one should attend the Plant Biology Worldwide Summit, I would like to share why I am excited about the summit and why you should join us there.
Cutting-edge science
You might be used to attending subject-specific conferences. Plant Biology Worldwide Summit invites experts across broad fields to talk about their research. Based on my previous Plant Biology conference experience, I expect to find inspiration and apply the learned methods or techniques to my own field of study. Sometimes, key experiments are within our reach, and we just don’t know it.
Scientific toolkits
Data analysis and modeling have become necessities in science. As someone who spends most of my time on the bench, I rely on existing resources to navigate through enormous databases. The Plant Bioinformatics Resources workshop gathers many important and useful online tools for us to discover and utilize. I am also very excited about learning mathematical modeling in plant biology. Whether you are an expert in programming or a bench scientist, this workshop will provide a new angle for your own research. Last but not least, if you are thinking about implementing CRISPR/Cas9 genome editing in your research, the gRNA design workshop will provide an overview into many ready-to-use online resources.
Personal development workshops
Over the years, the ASPB-powered Plantae platform has hosted many webinars, including preparing scientific publication and being an ally. Some of the best will be featured at the Plant Biology Worldwide Summit, and many others like science policy, science communication, and funding opportunities will also be there.
ASPB as a community
The American Society of Plant Biologists and Plantae connect the plant science community. Other than the community journals (the Plant Cell, Plant Physiology, and Plant Direct), educational resources, summaries of new plant science research, and informational articles are constantly updated. The Plant Biology Worldwide Summit provides a snapshot of what ASPB does. Individual registration will be open throughout the meeting, and there is still time to get the group rate as low as $119.90 per person (10 people and above within the same institution, expires on July 23rd at midnight EDT). “See” you next week!