ASPB engages Latin America colleagues at Annual Meeting in Merida, Mexico June 22-25

Symposium IV: Martin Gibbs Medal Symposium - Organizer: Richard A. Jorgensen. Sue Rhee – “Discovering new enzymes by combining computational and metabolomic approaches in Arabidopsis and translating metabolic network knowledge from model to crop plants.” Rodrigo Gutierrez – “VirtualPlant: A software platform to support Systems Biology research in the post-genomic era.” Eric Kramer – “Models of auxin transport and action: from Arabidopsis to Populus.” Richard A. Jorgensen – “The iPlant Collaborative: A Cyberinfrastructure-Centered Community for a New Plant Biology.”

Symposium V: Tropical Agriculture - Organizer: Dr. Richard Sayre & Dr. Miguel A. Gomez-Lim. Dr. Richard Sayre – “Biofortification of cassava to alleviate malnutrition; the biocassava plus program.” Dr. Miguel A. Gomez-Lim – “Genetic transformation of tropical plant species.” Dr. Marcos Buckeridge – “A novel alpha-galactosidase from coffee is likely to control mannan fine structure in developing seeds.”Justin Maresh – “Alkaloid biosynthesis in Madagascar periwinkle (Catharanthus roseus)”

Symposium VI: President's Symposium - Organizer: C. Robertson McClung, Dartmouth College. C. Robertson McClung – “Timing is Everything.” Edgar Spalding – “Seedling establishment seen through the eyes of a computer.” Scott Poethig – “Turning over a new leaf: the regulation of vegetative phase change in Arabidopsis.” Annie Schmitt – “Arabidopsis in the real world: flowering time pathways in natural environments across the species climatic range.”

Perspectives of Science Leaders presenter will be Luis Herrera-Estrella, Center for Research and Advanced Studies of the National Polytechnic Institute, Department of Plant Genetic Engineering, Irapuato, Mexico. His talk will be on “Transgenic plants in a center of plant diversity, friends or enemies?” Dr. Estrella will receive the ASPB 2008 Leadership in Science Public Service Award during the program. The award recognizes his outstanding contributions to science and society.

A minisymposium on education outreach will be chaired by Jane Ellis. An education workshop on “Evaluation, assessment and research in life science education: What, How and Why?” will be coordinated by Erin Dolan.

To view the preliminary agenda or to register for the annual meeting, please visit: http://www.aspb.org/meetings/pb-2008/