Nov 17

Stress Resilience: Call for papers for a JXB Special Issue!

By Isabel | Blog, GPC Community, Scientific Meetings, SEB

Following the recent Stress Resilience Symposium and Discussion Forum that we co-hosted in Brazil last month with the Society for Experimental Biology, we are pleased to announce a call for papers for a forthcoming Special Issue of the SEB’s Journal of Experimental Botany.

Achieving food security in a changing and unpredictable climate urgently requires a better understanding of the mechanisms by which plants interact with and respond to their environments. This special issue will bring together a collection of papers highlighting the best current research in stress resilience contributing to global efforts to develop crops and cropping systems that are better able to deal with fluctuating and stressful environmental conditions.

Proposals are invited for the submission of new and innovative research papers that contribute to this goal (submission before the end of January 2016 will guarantee inclusion in the special issue pending positive peer review). Confirmed contributors already include: Andrew Borrell (University of Queensland, Australia), Elizabete Carmo-Silva (Lancaster University, UK), Scott Chapman (CSIRO, Australia), Bill Davies (GPC President and Lancaster University, UK), Lyza Maron (Cornell University, USA), Jianbo Shen (China Agricultural University), and Roberto Tuberosa (University of Bologna, Italy).

If you would like to contribute a paper, please email a title and short abstract to Mary Traynor: m.traynor@lancaster.ac.uk.

Oct 21

0

Biofortification

By Isabel | Blog, GPC Community

Approaches to biofortification

Biofortification is the improvement of the nutritional value of our crops through both traditional breeding and genetic engineering. Alongside DivSeek and Stress Resilience, biofortification is one of the Global Plant Council’s three main initiatives and will be central to addressing many of the challenges facing world health. However, biofortification doesn’t always involve changing our crops in some way. Often the nutrients we are lacking are present in pre-existing crops. We can biofortify our diets simply by identifying what’s missing and altering our life style accordingly.

Tackling undernourishment

The share (%) of undernourished people per country. From: Max Roser (2015) -‘Hunger and Undernourishment’. Published online at www.OurWorldInData.org

More often that not we intuitively link biofortification with tackling undernourishment in the developing world, and indeed improvements in the diets of deprived communities would be of enormous benefit to global health.

To do this, a key challenge is to increase the nutrient content of staple food crops such as rice in Asia and maize in sub-Saharan Africa. We need to do this in a sustainable and affordable way; ensuring foods are accessible to those who need it. Alongside the fortification of staple crops we need to identify economical crop species that will grow in harsh environments and provide nutrients currently absent from the diet.

Addressing obesity

It is easy to forget that malnutrition is also a problem in developed countries. Worldwide, at least 2.8 million people per year die from obesity-related illnesses, and in 2011 more than 40 million children under the age of five were overweight. Obesity and related health problems such as diabetes, heart disease and certain cancers, place enormous strain on health services, and are partly a function of poor diet lacking in fibre and key phytonutrients. Addressing this is as important as tackling undernourishment, and many of the same principles apply.

Simple lifestyle changes, such as encouraging the consumption of more fruits and vegetables, are clearly a priority. In addition to this dietary change, if we are going to biofortify foods, there should be an emphasis on crops that are already widely consumed.

Purple tomatoes

Professor Cathie Martin works at the John Innes Centre researching the link between diet and health, and how crops could be fortified to improve our diets and global health.

Tomatoes, are one crop plant already eaten widely in the West, commonly found in fast and convenience foods. For this reason they became the focus of the work of Professor Cathie Martin at the John Innes Centre in Norwich, UK. Cathie’s lab has developed a genetically modified tomato that is rich in anthocyanins, making them purple in colour. Anthocyanins are an important dietary component that can have numerous health benefits, including a potentially significant role in the prevention of diseases such as cancer and diabetes. They are the compounds that give some foods, such as blueberries or eggplant, their distinctive blue or purple colouring. Consuming higher quantities could be highly beneficial to health.

“We focused on anthocyanins because of their huge potential health benefits. Pre-clinical studies show that introducing our purple tomatoes into the diet could be an incredibly effective way to protect against diseases such as cancer. Our next steps will be to confirm these findings in human trials,” says Cathie.

However, naturally occurring tomato varieties containing anthocyanins already exist. Wouldn’t it be better to increase consumption of these rather than creating new ones?

“Indeed purple tomatoes do occur naturally. However, these have anthocyanins only in the skin, in quantities too small to make a significant impact on health. Our genetically modified tomatoes have anthocyanins in all tissues,” explains Cathie.

Since developing the purple tomatoes, Cathie, in collaboration with Professor Jonathan Jones, has set up Norfolk Plant Sciences, the UK’s first GM crop company. However, resistance and uncertainty in Europe surrounding GM technology means that progress has been slow.

“The company was founded in 2007 and we are currently working towards the approval of our purple tomato juice in the USA. Producing just the juice rather than the entire fruit means there are no seeds in the final product. This eliminates environmental challenges without compromising health benefits. If the juice proves successful in the USA we may then work towards approval in the UK and Europe.”

It’s not all about Genetic Modification

Of course if we want to make drastic changes to our foods, such as increase anthocyanins in our tomatoes or carotenoids in our rice, GM technology will be a necessity. However, we can go some way to biofortifying our diets without the use of GM.

Golden rice, shown on the left, is a biofortified crop that accumulates high quantities of provitamin A in the grain. This could help tackle Vitamin A Deficiency in developing countries, from which 500,000 children become blind every year, and nine million will die of malnutrition. Photo credit: IRRI photos used under Creative Commons 2.0

Primarily we really need to focus on changing diet and lifestyle. Promoting plants rich in the nutritional components we need is essential, in addition to encouraging traditional diets such as the Mediterranean diet rich in fish, fruits and vegetables. However, changing people’s behavior and relationship with food is a huge challenge. Cathie cites the UK 5-A-Day governmental campaign as an example.

“This campaign was aimed at encouraging people to eat five portions of fruit or vegetables a day. At the end of this 25-year campaign only 3% more of the UK population was getting their five a day.”

In addition to dietary change, we could biofortify our crops through traditional breeding. For example, one answer to increasing anthocyanins in the diet could be red wheat. Red wheat is rich in anthocyanins, and furthermore less susceptible to pre-harvest sprouting, which causes large crop losses every year for farmers. However, we have so far resisted selecting for this trait in wheat breeding programs as it is not considered esthetically pleasing. To improve our diets we may need to change our expectations of what we want our plates to look like.

Next steps

Plant scientists alone cannot tackle biofortification of our diets! Cathie believes the key to a healthier future is interdisciplinary research:

“Everyone needs to come together: nutritionists, epidemiologists, plant breeders, and plant scientists. However, with such a diverse group of people it is hard to reach agreement on the next steps, and equally as difficult to secure funding for research projects. We really need to promote collaboration and interaction between all groups in order to move forwards.”

Oct 15

0

Women in Plant Science, Part II

By Isabel | Blog, GPC Community, Interviews

Tuesday 13^th October was Ada Lovelace Day, an international celebration of women in science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM) in honor of Ada Lovelace, the first computer programmer.

To highlight the achievements of women in STEM we’ve spoken to female plant scientists around the world about their careers and experiences. Read on for Part II of the series (for Part I, click here):

Professor Kalunde Sibuga

Professor Kalunde Sibuga

Sokoine University of Agriculture, Tanzania

What are you working on?

I have always been interested in working with farmers who have limited resources and coming up with production technologies that can help reduce their workload (particularly for women) and dependence on purchased inputs such as fertilizers, herbicides and other pesticides. These interests led to a research career focusing on weed management and agronomy of legumes, vegetable crops and cereals.

Have you ever faced any specific challenges as a female scientist in Tanzania?

Not particularly, because policies in Tanzania encourage girls to go to school and do whatever they are able to do. Women in science in my country are not targeted for discrimination, but until recently, certain sections of science such as engineering were considered a male domain. The government aims for gender equality and funds various projects to encourage girls to take science subjects, which have assisted in increasing enrolment of girls in universities.

What are your hopes and goals for the future?

I have always believed that whatever we do, our aim should be to increase productivity, reduce drudgery and increase household income. This can only be achieved if governments, particularly African governments, would take a serious look at mechanization, timely delivery of inputs, marketing, and value addition aspects. Our work in agronomy is of no great benefit if the other components are not properly and appropriately addressed.

Weed Science and Management are not as well staffed as other branches of crop protection such as entomology and plant pathology. My goals for the future are therefore to continue to train and encourage young scientists to engage in weed research.

Associate Professor Siobhan Brady

Associate Professor Siobhan Brady

University of California, Davis, USA

Could you give a brief overview of your research into root development?

My lab explores the development of root cell types, and the gene regulatory mechanisms and networks that are responsible for producing them. We are also interested in how different species and stresses have different networks in order to adapt to different environments. We love to utilize genome-scale data and systems approaches to understand how these systems are organized.

Have you faced any specific challenges as a woman in science?

Yes. Finding the right time to have a baby is one example. I ended up having my first child five months into my position as a PI and the experience was one of the most challenging in my life. I was trying to find my feet being a new mum at the same time as being a new lab leader, writing grants and teaching. I even felt “guilty” (purely self-imposed) for starting my position by having a baby and felt that I had so much to prove by being able to get this position at a time when getting faculty positions was incredibly challenging. I went back to work full time after six weeks. Nursing, working, and travelling was very hard, but I made it. I had the support of my partner and of an incredibly wonderful lab and colleagues. Looking back in fact, I wish I’d opened up to them a little more.

I now have two beautiful boys. I have had to cut some of my work responsibilities (for instance, picking and choosing which weekly meetings are really the most important to attend). It has changed our lives, but learning to be flexible (not always easy for me!) and finding the unique advantages in each challenge that faces us has been a tremendous learning experience.

What would you say is the general experience of women in science in the US?

So much better than it once was. When I started in science I knew of very few female faculty members with children. Now there are many more incredible mentors who have families, are very successful and maintain a good work-life balance.

That being said, given the current funding situation in the US and the general economy there are fewer and fewer faculty jobs available. Many graduate students and postdocs have presented their concerns to me that raising a family and having a successful career are inherently incompatible in this era – that is, that you will always be so busy that something will fail.

It is hard to figure out when to have children. If you have a grant, there is no allowance for your graduate students or postdocs to take leave, but you are mandated to take some leave (as you should be). This is a real challenge, both for PIs and for students/postdocs, as there is really only a limited amount of time to get a project done and to have a mother stay with an infant. I don’t know of a good way to handle this other than to always have open communication with people in your group and to let them know (if a PI) that you support them in their life goals, no matter what they are, while encouraging them to be the best they can be.

What are your goals for the future?

Raise happy, well-adjusted children, continue to train amazing scientists, learn different fields of research and ask new and creative biological questions. And of course, publish well and get funded sufficiently so that our work can make a difference in science and the world in general!

Thank you to both Professor Kalunde Sibuga and Associate Professor Siobhan Brady for taking the time to discuss their experiences with us.

Please leave a comment below and describe any challenges or opportunities you have observed for women in science in your country!

Oct 13

0

Women in Plant Science, Part I

By Isabel | Blog, GPC Community, Scandinavian Plant Physiology Society

Today is Ada Lovelace Day, an international celebration of women in science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM) in honor of Ada Lovelace, the first computer programmer.

To highlight the achievements of women in STEM we’ve spoken to female plant scientists around the world about their careers and experiences. Read on for the first of two posts:

Associate Professor Lum Fontem

Associate Professor Lum A. Fontem

University of Buea, Cameroon, and Women Representative of the African Crop Science Society.

Could you give a brief overview of your research?

I have always had the desire to carry out research that is oriented towards solving the problems of resource-poor farmers, which led me towards my areas of interest; weed science, agronomy, management of post-harvest losses and phytoremediation. I work with many crops, including cereals, legumes, vegetables, roots and tubers.

The major output of my work has been the adoption of technologies that have led to an improvement of livelihoods, food security and increased household incomes.

Have you faced any challenges as a woman in science?

Occasionally I face the challenges that women go through because of their gender, but I have always stood my ground. My parents encouraged me to go to school and provided for my needs, and I won awards, all of which helped me to sail through smoothly.

What would you say is the general experience of women in science in Cameroon?

In Cameroon, the policy of gender equality has received a strong impetus from government and women are encouraged in the area of science, however there are still domains that women still have to break through.

What are your goals for the future?

I hope to train more weed scientists that can respond to the multifarious challenges of food production.

Professor Cornelia Spetea Wiklund

Professor Cornelia Spetea Wiklund

University of Gothenburg, Sweden, and Council Member of the Scandinavian Plant Physiology Society.

What is the subject of your research?

My research focuses on the solute transport network from the thylakoid membrane of Arabidopsis thaliana. We also study the impact of mycorrhiza symbiosis on photosynthesis in the model legume Medicago truncatula.

How has your career progressed?

My PhD at the University of Szeged, Hungary, and postdoc at Stockholm University, Sweden, focused on the proteolytic mechanisms in thylakoid membranes during light stress. I moved to Linköping University, Sweden, where I got funding from the Swedish Research Council to build my own research group working on my current areas of interest. I have been a Professor of Plant Cell Physiology at the University of Gothenburg for the past 4.5 years.

Have you dealt with any specific challenges as a woman in science?

Of course. I gave birth to two children in my first years as group leader. The major challenge was how to manage my group and raise the children at the same time, even though my husband took over quite a lot of the family responsibilities. On one hand, I have become a very good ‘manager’ of my time, but on the other, I have missed a lot of my children’s development. Another challenge was to learn to understand how my male colleagues think and undertake management in science.

How does Sweden help women in science to succeed?

Sweden, as other Scandinavian countries, is known for a generous parental leave system, which allows the father to be at home for at least 60 out of 480 days. Day care is heavily subsidized by the state and accepts children over a year old. These advantages allow many female scientists in Sweden to have children during their PhD or later on in their career. However, the ‘price’ may be that the young female group leaders with small children at home experience delays in their career development as compared with male colleagues of similar age.

A survey at my institution in Gothenburg revealed additional causes for delayed career success, such as poor networking and visibility of young females in various scientific forums. Remarkably, according to the same survey, there is not much difference in career development between senior male and female scientists.

What do you hope to achieve in the future?

I will continue my research on the regulation of photosynthesis since I find it fascinating and because I believe this can bring solutions to many of the problems with crop productivity within the context of increasing human population and depleted resources. I also aim to spend more time with my children at least in the coming five years, before they leave home to continue their studies.

Thank you to both Associate Professor Lum Fontem and Professor Cornelia Spetea Wiklund for taking the time to discuss their experiences with us.

Please leave a comment below and describe any challenges or opportunities you have observed for women in science in your country!

Sep 03

0

A Postcard From… The Argentinean Society of Plant Physiology (SAFV)

By Isabel | Blog, GPC Community, SAFV

This week Professor Edith Taleisnik describes the vision and activities of the Argentinean Society of Plant Physiology (SAFV), a Member Organization of the Global Plant Council dedicated to promoting collaboration in plant science within Argentina, across Latin America and beyond.

SAFV member Dr Constanza Carrera drinks mate, an infusion made from leaves of Ilex paraguariensis, which is very popular in Argentina, Uruguay and southern Brazil.

The Argentinean Society of Plant Physiology (Sociedad Argentina de Fisiologia Vegetal; SAFV) was founded in 1958 to nucleate researchers and teachers in plant physiology in Argentina. Since then the SAFV has maintained continuous activity in the country and the region, providing opportunities for the dissemination and exchange of information related to plant function. It has about 350 members, mostly from Argentina and also from neighboring Uruguay. The SAFV is linked with the Global Plant Council and many other important international plant science organizations.

Exchanging ideas in Argentina and beyond

The 29th SAFV meeting

One of the main objectives of the society is to organize meetings, which are held every two years. The last one was held in Mar del Plata, and was attended by nearly 600 people. The SAFV has close ties with the Brazilian Society of Plant Physiology (BSPP), so every other SAFV meeting is a joint Latin American event in association with the BSPP. These meetings provide a unique opportunity for scientists in the area to meet, analyze and exchange views on the future of this field, to plan for joint efforts and enterprises, to share personal experiences and contribute to a regional and global perspective of local endeavors.

The participation of students and young scientists in SAFV meetings is stimulated by invitations to deliver lectures and organize symposia, and by making available fellowships that cover travel and registration costs. In accordance with its mandate to promote and diffuse knowledge in plant science, the SAFV also organizes and sponsors courses and workshops.

Keynote speaker discussions at an SAFV meeting

Plant science, and plant physiology in particular, has experienced steady growth and development in Argentina, reflecting the importance of agriculture in its broadest sense; pastures and forests for the Argentine economy. Established groups all over the country produce novel data on various aspects of plant function and interaction with other organisms and the environment, which is particularly relevant to local and global crop production. The wide range of this work is reflected in the proceedings of the last plant physiology meeting.

Other Argentinian plant science societies

There are several other plant science societies in Argentina. Scientists working on botanical and morphological topics are affiliated to the Sociedad Argentina de Botánica (SAB). The focus of the members of the Asociación Argentina de Ecología (AsAE) is centered in environmental topics. A more recently formed society, the Asociación Argentina de Fitopatólgos (AAF), is dedicated to plant pathology, while the Sociedad Argentina de Investigación Bioquímica y Biología Molecular (SAIB) features a section specifically devoted to plant biochemistry and molecular biology. All of these societies hold periodical meetings, stimulate the work of young scientists through incentives and prizes, and publish journals (e.g. Ecología Austral) and books.

Get in touch

If you’d like to know more about the work of the SAFV, or how you can get involved with the society, have a look at their website, or get in touch via Facebook or Twitter (@fisiovegetal).

About the author

Professor Edith Taleisnik researches the physiology of plants under saline stress for the Argentinean National Scientific and Technical Research Council (CONICET), and is based at the Instituto de Fisiologia y Recursos Geneticos Vegetales (IFRGV) CIAP, INTA, Argentina. Edith was the president of the SAFV from 2000 to 2004, and is now a member of the scientific committee.

Aug 28

0

Plant Biology Scandinavia 2015

By Isabel | Blog, GPC Community, Scandinavian Plant Physiology Society, Scientific Meetings

Celia Knight and Saijaliisa Kangasjarvi at the conference dinner

The 26^th Scandanavian Plant Physiology Society (SPPS) Congress took place from the 9^th – 13^th August at Stockholm University. Celia Knight attended the meeting and has written a report for the blog this week, so that those of you who couldn’t attend are up to speed!

A diversity of speakers and topics

Attending SPPS 2015 was a fantastic opportunity to hear about progress across a really broad spectrum of plant biology research. The program included sessions on development, epigenetics and gene regulations, high-throughput biology, photobiology, abiotic stress, education and outreach, and biotic interactions. There really was something for everyone! Additionally, the organizers had made a notable effort to include a good mix of both established and early career researchers, further adding to the diversity of talks on offer.

I was struck by the contributions from the various Society awards so will focus on these.

Beautiful Stockholm where the meeting was held

SPPS awards

Gunnar Öquist (Umeå University, Sweden) was given the SPPS Award in recognition of his outstanding merited contribution to the science of plant biology. His talk entitled “My view of how to foster more transformative research” provided a reminder that the dual aims of research, both to solve problems and to seek new knowledge, are very important if global challenges are to be met.

The SPPS early career award recognizes a highly talented scientist who has made a significant contribution to Scandinavian plant biology. This year two early career awards were given. The first recipient, Ari-Pekka Mähönen (University of Helsinki, Finland), received the award for his work on growth dynamics in Arabidopsis thaliana, and showed some amazing sections to follow cambium development. Nathaniel Street (Umeå University, Sweden) also received an award for his work “Applying next generation sequencing to genomic studies of Aspen species and Norway Spruce”. Both gave great talks including strong research in these areas; it was great to see upcoming researchers take the spotlight and give us a glimpse to the future of plant biology.

Torgny Näsholm (SLU, Umeå Sweden) was awarded the Physiologia Plantarum award. This award is given to a scientist that has made significant contribution to the areas of plant science covered by the journal Physiologia Plantarum. Torgny uses microdialysis, a technique currently used by neuroscientists, to investigate the availability of soil nitrogen to plants. Data generated using this technique are now bringing into question our current view of nitrogen availability measured using traditional methods.

Additional activities included a tour of the Bergius Botanic Garden

The Popularisation prize, awarded to Stefan Jansson (Umeå University, Sweden), recognizes significant contributions to science communication and public engagement. Stefan’s work in public engagement has been wide-ranging. He has been involved with The Autumn Experiment, a citizen science project engaging schools in observation, data collection and real research. Recently Stefan published a book in Sweden, called ‘GMO’, which tackles the response of societies to genetically modified organisms.

At the congress, Stefan took over as the new President of the SPPS. This could lead to further emphasis and resources being placed on communicating science as the society moves forward.

Poster prizes

Prizes for the best posters are also awarded at the meeting. Five judges, including myself, assessed the posters, and the competition was fierce. It was impossible to split the top prize, so joint 1^st prizes were awarded to Veli Vural Uslu (Heidelberg University, Germany) on “Elucidating early steps of sulfate sensing mechanisms by biosensors” and to Timo Engelsdorf (Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Norway) for “Plant cell wall integrity is maintained through cooperation of different sensing mechanisms”. Joint second prizes went to Zsofia Stangl (Umeå University, Sweden) on “Nutrient requirement of growth in different thermal environments” and to Annika Karusion (University of Tartu, Estonia) for “Circadian patterns of hydraulic and xylem sap properties: in situ study on hybrid aspen.”

Additional activities

Like any meeting, SPPS wasn’t all work and no play! Lisbeth Jonsson (Stockholm University, Sweden) and her team organized an excellent program. I feel very fortunate, on this short trip, to have had the opportunity to view Stockholm’s fine City Hall where Nobel laureates have dined, as well as the incredibly preserved Vasa ship, which sank in Stockholm bay on its maiden voyage in 1628.

I very much look forward to seeing how the society progresses in the future, and nurturing new friendships and collaborations I made at the congress.

The Drinks reception at the City Hall, walking in the footsteps of Nobel Laureates

Aug 19

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The Global Plant Council: now on Facebook!

By Isabel | ASPB, ASPS, Blog, EPSO, FESPB, GPC Community, Public Engagement, SAFV, Scandinavian Plant Physiology Society, SEB

Here at the Global Plant Council (GPC) we’re big fans of social media

– we’re even helping to develop a new social media platform just for plant scientists! As well as this blog, we also have two Twitter accounts: our main, English-language account is at @GlobalPlantGPC, to which myself (@lisaamartin1), Ruth (@plantscience), and GPC New Media Fellows Amelia (@AmeliaFrizell) and Sarah (@josesci) all contribute. Alternatively, if you speak Spanish we also have a Spanish-language account at @GPC_EnEspanol (operated by Ecuadorian-PhD-student-in-Germany Juan-Diego Santillana-Ortiz; @yjdso, who kindly translates our tweets).

We find Twitter a great way to share links, news, journal articles and conference updates, while also networking with the global plant science community. Join over 1000 other plant scientists and enthusiasts and follow us, if you’re not already!

If you’re not sure where to start with Twitter, Mary Williams from ASPB (@PlantTeaching) has written a great two-part blog (we feature in Part 1! And here’s Part 2) that will help you get started and understand the ‘twetiquette’ of tweeting, especially from conferences.

However, we’ve never had a Facebook page – until now!

Although Facebook is by far the most popular social networking site across the globe, the way we use it has evolved dramatically since its inception in 2004. ‘Thefacebook’ as it was first known, was famously founded by Harvard University student Mark Zuckerberg as a way for his fellow students to view and comment on photographs of their dorm-mates. Initially restricted to Harvard, the website soon expanded to universities across the US, then the world, and now almost anyone can use it, even without an academic email address.

But Facebook has moved on from its early days and it’s now not all about ‘poking’ your friends (remember that?!). Now worth billions of dollars, Facebook has morphed into an all-encompassing platform for both recreation and business. While many people still use Facebook to keep in touch with friends and family, share photos and status updates, it’s also increasingly being used to share news, articles and opinions, to play games, form groups or communities, and as a tool for companies and organizations to interact with and advertise to customers or members.

At the Society for Experimental Biology conference in Prague in June, I heard several scientists extolling the benefits of social media, particularly – and perhaps unsurprisingly – in the Education and Outreach sessions. I was particularly interested to repeatedly hear the message that Facebook is a very useful tool for science communication and outreach – so we’ve decided to try it!

Why bother with Facebook as well as other social media channels?

Having only ever used Facebook for personal uses, Sarah and I asked some prolific social media users for their advice on starting and using a Facebook page, and in answer to the question, “Why should we bother with Facebook?”, the overwhelming message was clear: Facebook is used by more, different people.

Compared to Twitter, which has around 316 million users, Facebook reached its 1 billionth account in 2012, and while the people we spoke to find that most of their Twitter followers are from English-speaking countries, their Facebook visitors represent a much broader range of geographic locations and languages. Furthermore, unlike setting up and maintaining a website, it’s free to set up Facebook pages or groups, so some organizations only exist on social media. By setting up a Facebook page for the GPC, we should, in theory, be able to interact with more people than we would with just our Twitter accounts and blog, thus we will be able to share and promote plant science all over the world more effectively and to a greater diversity of people.

If you’re a Facebook user, please go to www.facebook.com/GlobalPlantGPC and give us a ‘like’!

If you’re attending our SEB Plant Section Symposium on Stress Resilience, you can also let us know by joining our Facebook event! (Please note however, that saying you’re coming to the meeting on Facebook is not the same as registering! You’ll need to do that here.)

Here’s a list of some of our Member Organizations who also have a presence on Facebook. Let us know if there are any other pages we should ‘like’! We’re also interested to hear from you if you have any thoughts about using social media, or suggestions of content you would like to see on Facebook. How do you use Twitter and Facebook, and how does your use of these channels differ, if at all? Please comment below!

GPC Member Organizations on Facebook

Aug 11

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Plant Biology 2015: Introducing Plantae.org

By Isabel | ASPB, Blog, Future Directions, GPC Community, Plantae, Scientific Meetings, SEB

Minneapolis skyline. Photo by ‘zman z28’, Flickr, used under a CC BY-NC-ND 2.0 license.

Ruth and I recently flew out to Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA, to attend the American Society of Plant Biologists’ (ASPB) annual conference, Plant Biology 2015.

Ruth did a sterling job of live-tweeting the scientific sessions she attended. She also spent some time stationed at the ASPB booth to talk to people about the Global Plant Council (GPC), as well as a big project we’re helping to bring to life: Plantae.org. I’ll talk more about what I did at the conference later… But first, what is Plantae.org?

The Evolution of Plantae.org

Some time ago, here at the GPC, we thought it would be a great idea if there was one, online location where plant scientists and teachers could go to look for and share new ideas, tools and resources for research and education. We tentatively called it the ‘Plant Knowledge Hub’, and set about looking for people or organizations that might be able to help us make it a reality.

In doing so, we discovered that the ASPB was interested in creating a kind of community networking and collaboration platform, for which they had the working title ‘Plant Science Exchange’. Joining forces, we decided to combine the two ideas into one big portal, now called ‘Plantae’. Extending beyond the ASPB membership, Plantae will be for plant scientists and educators all over the world. We hope it will become the leading plant science resource hub and community gathering place.

Lisa modeling her Plantae t-shirt!

At this point, I should also mention the Society for Experimental Biology (SEB), without whose help the GPC would not have been able to move forward with this project. The SEB generously provided enough funding for my post! I joined the GPC in February as the Outreach & Communications Manager, so as well as looking after the GPC’s internal and external communications and helping to spread the word about the work of the GPC, one of my main duties is to identify and curate tools, resources and plant science information to upload to Plantae.

Building Plantae.org

I’ve made a few simple websites in the past, but nothing as complicated as an entire ‘digital ecosystem’ so taking the ‘Plant Science Knowledge Exchange Hub’ from an idea to the reality of Plantae.org was going to be a mammoth task. Fortunately we have had a lot of help!

Susan Cato, the ASPB’s Director of Member Services and Digital Marketing, and her team, have been doing a stellar job of pulling different stakeholder groups together to build and develop the Plantae platform. As well as a group of web architects to build the portal’s infrastructure, an agency called LookThink has been involved, with the unenviable task of optimizing the user experience. It’s no mean feat to take our ideas about what the platform should do, and the practicalities of how it can be built, to ensure that the final online product actually does what users want and need it to do in an intuitive, user-friendly way!

Ultimately, Plantae.org will have features such as Facebook or LinkedIn-style user profiles and groups, with the ability to ‘connect’, interact and send private messages. It will have public and private discussion boards where scientists can collaborate, talk about issues in science, or ask questions to the community and have them answered. It will eventually contain hundreds and thousands of pages of content including research papers, teaching resources, videos, posters and much more, some of which will be curated by groups like the GPC, and others uploaded directly by members. Underlying all of this, the portal needs a robust, intuitive search engine to allow users to find exactly the contact they are looking for.

User Testing the Beta Version

So during the ASPB conference, I was to be found in a meeting room with Clare Torrans from LookThink, helping her to conduct some user experience analysis on an early beta version of the Plantae site. We recruited a range of potential Plantae users – from students through to senior professors – and asked them to tell us what they thought of the idea of Plantae, whether they would use it and find it useful, whether the icons, buttons and links on the screen did what they expected, and what else they would like Plantae to do.

I’d never consciously considered the ‘user experience’ of a website before, but having spent time with Clare, I now realize it’s a vital part of the build process – and now I’m analyzing every website I visit!

The feedback we received was varied: there were some clear patterns related to age, academic level, or previous experience with social media, some people pointed out elements of the site I hadn’t even noticed, or misinterpreted buttons I’d thought were obvious, but – positive or negative – all of the feedback we received was useful and will be fed back into the site development process.

When can I start using Plantae?

The site isn’t quite ready yet, but taking into account all of the data we obtained from the user testing sessions at Plant Biology 15, we will hopefully be ready for launch in the Autumn. Watch this space for more news!

Jul 22

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An interview with Ellen Bergfeld

By Isabel | Blog, GPC Community, Interviews

This week, New Media Fellow Amelia Frizell-Armitage has been talking to Ellen Bergfeld, CEO of the Alliance of Crop, Soil and Environmental Science Societies (ACSESS), a coalition of the American Society of Agronomy (ASA), Crop Science Society of America (CSSA) (both of which are Global Plant Council member organisations) and the Soil Science Society of America (SSSA). She spoke to us about the societies, her role as CEO, and her visions for the future.

What is the purpose of the ACSESS?

ACSESS is a nonprofit organization founded by the ASA, CSSA and SSSA to support the activities of member societies.

ACSESS has five primary goals. 1) Firstly, we help professional societies representing agronomic, crop, soil, and environmental sciences to collaborate and 2) advance the missions, visions, and activities of these societies. 3) We promote the value and image of agronomic, crop, soil and environmental resource professions, and 4) unify communication with scientists, educators, policy-makers, and the public to enhance impact. Finally, 5) we engage science-based knowledge on the challenges facing humanity.

How do the work and aims of the ACSESS coalition cross over with those of the Global Plant Council (GPC)?

The GPC’s goal to feed an ever-growing human population sustainably is of paramount interest and importance to all three of our member societies.

Additionally, all three societies advocate nationally and internationally for plant and crop sciences. They act as catalysts to generate plant-based solutions for the sustainable intensification of agriculture, whilst preserving biodiversity, protecting the environment, reducing world hunger, and improving human health and wellbeing.

In your opinion, what will be the biggest challenges over the next 50 years in terms of food production and agriculture?

Three things: climate change, degraded and decreased natural resources, and population growth.

What do you think our top priorities should be in terms of tackling these issues?

Adapting plants to climatic changes and developing crops that can be sustainably grown in the field is a top priority, and very broad in terms of the research required.

Another large gap I see is education and science literacy. By educating and empowering communities, particularly girls and women, regarding the carrying capacity of the planet, we can open up discussions and raise awareness of the need for sustainability in all aspects of our lives.

What are the key developments in agronomy required to ensure sustainable agriculture in the future?

If we continue to deplete our soil and water resources, this will have a dire impact on our ability to feed the population. We need to recognize this, and adapt our agricultural practices accordingly.

2015 is International Year of Soils. Can you sum up in one sentence why soils are so important?

Soils Sustain Life!

What inspired you to leave academia and move into science policy, strategy and administration?

At the time I was looking to graduate, I would have had to do multiple postdocs to be competitive for an academic position. I enjoyed the teaching and working with animals, but not the lab work or grant writing. I pursued the Congressional Science Fellowship to open new doors and took advantages of the opportunities that followed.

Day to day, what is the most rewarding part of your job as CEO?

I enjoy connecting our sciences, and scientists, to address the global challenges that we face.

Interacting with the best and brightest minds who are collectively addressing these challenges is incredibly inspiring and fulfilling.

Ellen Bergfeld received her BSc in Animal Science from Ohio State University, going on to study reproductive physiology, first at masters then PhD level, at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. After graduating she was awarded the Federation of Animal Science Societies Congressional Science Fellowship. This Fellowship provides an opportunity for highly skilled scientists to spend a year working in congress as special assistants in legislative areas. Following the fellowship Ellen became Executive Director of the American Society of Animal Science. Ellen is now CEO of ACSESS.

Jul 08

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“So what does the Global Plant Council actually do?” – SEB Prague 2015

By Isabel | ASPB, Blog, GPC Community, Scientific Meetings, SEB

Dobrý den!

View across the Vltava river of Prague’s Old Town and the Charles Bridge.

Last week I attended the Society for Experimental Biology (SEB)’s Annual Main Meeting in the wonderful city of Prague in the Czech Republic.

Armed with a banner, a new batch of hot-off-the-press leaflets, some of our infamous GPC recycled paper pens, and a map of the world, the purpose of my trip was to staff an exhibitor’s booth at the conference to help raise awareness of the GPC and the projects and initiatives we are involved with.

To encourage delegates to speak to the exhibitors, there was a chance to win prizes in exchange for a ‘passport’ filled with stickers or stamps collected from each of the booths. This gave me a fantastic opportunity to meet people from all over the world and tell them about the Global Plant Council – even the SEB’s Animal and Cell biologists!

Many visitors to the booth were from Europe, but I also met people from as far away as Argentina, Australia, China and Vietnam. Thanks to everyone who visited the booth and gave me their email addresses to sign up for our monthly e-Bulletin newsletter!

“So what does the Global Plant Council actually do?”

This was the question I was most frequently asked at the conference. The answer is: many things! But to simplify matters, our overall remit falls into two main areas.

1) Enabling better plant science

Visitors to our booth at SEB 2015 were asked to put their plant science on the map!

Plant science has a critical role to play in meeting global challenges such as food security, hunger and malnutrition. The GPC currently has 29 member organizations, including the SEB, representing over 55,000 plant, crop, agricultural and environmental scientists around the world. By bringing these professional organizations together under a united global banner, we have a stronger voice to help influence and shape policy and decision-making at the global level. Our Executive Board and member organization representatives meet regularly and feed into international discussions and consultations.

The GPC also aims to facilitate more effective and efficient plant-based scientific research. Practically speaking, this means we organize, promote, provide support for, and assist with internationally collaborative projects and events. A good example is the Stress Resilience Symposium and Discussion Forum we are hosting, together with the SEB, in Brazil in October.

This meeting – which will be a satellite meeting of the International Plant Molecular Biology 2015 conference – will bring together scientists from across the world who are studying the mechanisms by which plants interact with and respond to their environments, particularly in the face of climate change. It will provide an excellent opportunity for researchers of all levels and from different regions to network and learn from each other, fostering new relationships and collaborations across borders. Registration and abstract submission is now open, so why not come along!

Importantly, as well as learning from researchers all over the world about the fantastic research they are doing, we also want to identify important research that is not being done, or which could be done better. Then, we can come together to discuss strategies to fund and fill these gaps.

You can find out more about our other current initiatives by going to our website.

2) Enabling better plant scientists

As well as physically bringing people together at meetings and events, the Global Plant Council aims to better connect plant scientists from around the world, promote plant research and funding opportunities, share knowledge and best practice, and identify reports, research tools, and educational resources.

Plant scientists have created an amazing diversity of assets for research and education, so by facilitating access to and encouraging use of these resources, we hope that a desperately needed new generation of plant researchers will be inspired to continue working towards alleviating some of the world’s most pressing problems. For example, we’re translating plant science teaching materials into languages other than English, and are helping the American Society of Plant Biologists to curate content for Plantae.org, an online resource hub and gathering place for the plant science community that will be launched later this year – stay tuned!

My #SEBSelfie! Other updates from the meeting can be found by following the hashtag #SEBAMM on Twitter.

In addition, the GPC website is full of useful information including research and funding news, an events calendar, reports and white papers, fellowships and awards. We operate a Twitter account (@GlobalPlantGPC) for up-to-the-minute news and views, and a Spanish version @GPC_EnEspanol. We also have a blog (obviously!) that is regularly updated with interesting and informative articles written by the GPC staff, our two New Media Fellows, and plant scientists from across our member network. A Facebook page will be coming soon!

If you would like any more information about the projects and initiatives mentioned here, or more details about the GPC’s work, please do contact me (Lisa Martin, Outreach & Communications Manager): lisa@globalplantcouncil.org.

GPC Community