The Time to Recognize and Honor Excellence Among Our Fellow Plant Scientists Is Approaching
The 2022 Call for Award Nominations will be sent to ASPB members on January 3, 2022, and nominations will be due by Friday, February 25. ASPB encourages you to participate in the 2022 awards program by nominating highly deserving individuals. Please watch for the Call for Nominations in your email inbox, on our website, and via social media early in the New Year. In the meantime, please visit ASPB’s awards pages (http://www.aspb.org/awards-funding/aspb-awards/) so that you can see who among your colleagues has received these awards in the past and consider who might be most deserving in the future. All that is required to make a nomination for ASPB’s awards is a one- to two-page letter of nomination and a detailed CV of the nominee. However, nomination committees may opt to go back to the nominator to ask for additional information if they deem it necessary. Nominations should be submitted electronically as a single PDF via https://awards.aspb.org beginning on January 3, 2022. The names of the 2022 award recipients will be announced in mid-April via social media and email broadcast to ASPB members, and the awards themselves will be presented during Plant Biology 2022.
Awards to Be Given in 2022
Adolph E. Gude Jr. Award
This monetary award honors the Gude family, who made possible the establishment of the Gude Plant Science Center, ASPB’s headquarters. The award, established by the Society and first given in 1983, is to be made triennially to a scientist or layperson in recognition of outstanding service to the science of plant biology. Membership in the Society is not a requirement for the award.
Charles Albert Shull Award
This award was initiated in 1971 by the Society to honor Dr. Charles A. Shull, whose personal interest and support were largely responsible for the founding and early growth of the Society. It is a monetary award made annually for outstanding investigations in the field of plant biology by a member who is generally under 45 years of age on January 1 of the year of presentation or is fewer than 10 years from the granting of the doctoral degree. Breaks in career will be considered when addressing the age limit of this award. The recipient is invited to address the Society at the annual meeting the following year.
Charles F. Kettering Award
This award was established by an endowment from the Kettering Foundation in 1962 to recognize excellence in the field of photosynthesis. It is a monetary award to be given to an individual, whether or not a member of the Society, in even-numbered years.
Charles Reid Barnes Life Membership Award
This award was established in 1925 at the first annual meeting of the Society through the generosity of Dr. Charles A. Shull. It honors Dr. Charles Reid Barnes, the first professor of plant physiology at the University of Chicago. It is an annual award for meritorious work in plant biology; it provides a life membership in the Society to an individual who is at least 60 years old. Membership is a requirement for the award, and, if appropriate, every fifth award should be made to an outstanding plant biologist from outside the United States. Because the last non-U.S. recipient was recognized in 2017, nominations of plant scientists from other countries is particularly welcomed this year.
Early Career Award
The Society instituted the Early Career Award in 2005 to recognize outstanding research by scientists at the beginning of their career. This award is a monetary award made annually for exceptionally creative, independent contributions by an individual, whether or not a member of the Society, who is generally not more than seven years post-PhD on January 1 of the year of the presentation. Breaks in career will be considered when addressing the time limit of this award.
Enid MacRobbie Corresponding Membership Award
This honor, initially given in 1932 and renamed in 2018 to recognize Enid MacRobbie’s many contributions to plant science research, provides life membership and Society publications to distinguished plant biologists from outside the United States in recognition of their contributions to ASPB and to plant biology. The honor is conferred by election on the annual ballot. The committee selects no more than three candidates, and these are placed on the ballot for approval of corresponding membership by majority vote. The president notifies successful candidates of their election. Election of a corresponding member is to be considered each year and held if warranted, provided the election would not increase the number of corresponding members beyond 2% of the dues-paying membership. ASPB membership is a requirement for this award.
Excellence in Diversity and Inclusion Award
The first ASPB Excellence in Inclusion and Diversity Award will be made in 2022. It is a biennial award that honors an ASPB member with a strong record of increasing diversity and inclusiveness in plant biology. This individual has made a significant impact in mentoring, supporting, and/or advocating for underrepresented individuals in their career in the plant sciences at any level. This individual may also have served as a role model and made a significant impact in outreach and service to underrepresented communities. The 2022 awardee will be invited to give a plenary lecture at the 2023 Plant Biology annual meeting highlighting their outstanding science in addition to their activities in increasing inclusion and diversity.
Excellence in Education Award
This award, initiated in 1988, recognizes outstanding teaching, mentoring, and/or educational outreach in plant biology by an individual, whether or not a member of the Society. It is a monetary award to be made annually in recognition of excellence in teaching, leadership in curricular development, or authorship of effective teaching materials in the science of plant biology.
Fellow of ASPB Award
Established in 2007, the Fellow of ASPB Award may be granted to current members in recognition of direct service to the Society and distinguished and long-term contributions to plant biology. Areas of contribution may include education, mentoring, outreach, research, and professional and public service. Examples of relevant Society service include, but are not restricted to, service on or on behalf of ASPB committees, service on editorial boards of ASPB journals, and active involvement in ASPB meetings. Current members of ASPB who have contributed to and been members of the Society for at least 10 years cumulative prior to their nomination are eligible for nomination. Recipients of the Fellow of ASPB honor, which may be granted to no more than 0.2% of the current membership each year, receive a certificate of distinction and a lapel pin.
Lawrence Bogorad Award for Excellence in Plant Biology Research
The Lawrence Bogorad Award for Excellence in Plant Biology Research was instituted by the Society in 2006 to honor Dr. Bogorad’s many contributions to plant biology, including his influential efforts to bring the techniques of molecular biology to bear on problems in plant biology; his groundbreaking research on chloroplast genetics, biogenesis, structure, and function; and his inspired teaching and mentoring. This is a monetary award made biennially to a plant scientist, whether or not a member of the Society, whose work both illuminates the present and suggests paths to enlighten the future.
Robert Rabson Award
The Robert Rabson Award, first given by the Society in 2012, recognizes Dr. Rabson’s steadfast advocacy of plant biology through creation of funding programs in the Department of Energy for research in basic energy sciences. The award recognizes postdoctoral scholars and faculty-level early career scientists, whether or not members of the Society, in academic, government, and corporate research institutions who have made excellent contributions in the area of bioenergy research. The award is made biennially to a researcher who is no more than 10 years post-PhD on January 1 of the year of presentation; breaks in career will be considered when addressing the time limit of this award. The recipient is given a monetary award and a one-year membership in the Society.
Stephen Hales Prize
This award honors the Reverend Stephen Hales for his pioneering work in plant biology published in his 1727 book Vegetable Staticks. It is a monetary award established in 1927 for an ASPB member who has served the science of plant biology in some noteworthy manner. The award is made annually. The recipient of the award is invited to address the Society on a subject in plant biology at the next annual meeting.
