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
By Rob Last, Michigan State University, and Mary Williams, Features Editor, The Plant Cell “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has.” Attributed to Margaret Mead (1901–1978), American cultural anthropologist Whether or not Dr. Mead actually uttered this quote, the words … Read more
ASPB News • July/August 2019 • Volume 46, Number 4 This continues the experiment of publishing the President’s Letter as part of a collection of essays and other resources related to the topic (https://tinyurl.com/HumanNetworks). Please also have a look at the previous collections on the future of not-for-profit science organizations (http://bit.ly/futurenonprofitscience), member security (http://bit.ly/SecuringFuturePlantBiologists), and … Read more
This year, ASPB President Rob Last did an experiment aimed at increasing the value of the President’s Letters. Four of these letters were accompanied by essays from community members of all career stages. Two were co-authored. The idea was to explore the topics of President’s Letters more fully and include more voices. A general theme … Read more