Dear ASPS members,

Abstract submission and registration for the Australian Society of Plant Scientists conference, ASPS 2019 and Grains Satellite Meeting is NOW OPEN!

Featuring world renowned international speakers, industry representatives and networking opportunities, this is an event not to be missed!

Please put up the ASPS 2019 poster and encourage everyone to come along.

Visit https://www.asps.org.au/combio/asps-2019 now and be part of the Australian Plant Science event of the year.

For further details contact: conferences@asps.org.au

Dr Kim Johnson

Senior Research Fellow

La Trobe Institute for Agriculture & Food (LIAF)

Department of Animal, Plant and Soil Science

La Trobe University

Bundoora VIC 3086

T +61 3 9032 7471 | E k.johnson@latrobe.edu.au

REMINDER:

For all those attending COMBIO 2018 this is a reminder that the ASPS AGM 2018 will be held in Room C2.2 at 12.55-1.55pm Wednesday 26th September.

Thanks,

 Matt Gilliham

Dear ASPS member,

This is a remainder for our annual society dinner registration, the ASPS dinner at ComBio2018 on Tuesday, 25^th September.

We are happy to extend the registration till Friday, 21^st September as many of you showed interest to attend the dinner. We have very limited tickets, so please confirm your spot by doing EFT before Friday, 21^st September.

For details, please follow our earlier email copied below.

We looking forward to see you all at ASPS dinner at ComBio2018

Warm regards,

ASPS Dinner Organising Committee

Count down to 60 years of ASPS

Dear ASPS members,

with about 6 weeks until ComBio 2018, make sure you check the website for a new post to Phytogen each Monday. This beginning post has been emailed to start you off and will be on our website after that (https://www.asps.org.au/)

The posts will be :

Tuesday 14th August — The beginning

Monday 20th August — Thoughts from some of our leaders

Monday 27th August — Rewarding excellence

Monday 3rd September — Growing up within ASPS

Monday 10th September — Plants in Action

Monday 17th September — Why we need more women

we hope you will enjoy reading, hint: after this coming Monday’s post, you will be able to like on our Societies facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/ASPSozplants) post a pebble if you like and that will feed through to twitter also, Kind Regards, the ASPS Website & Communications Sub-Committee (WSCS).

ASPP/ASPS  —  The beginning

We are in the process of writing a history of the Society planned for publication in 2019. This blog is a taste of the Society’s beginnings, but we are aware of gaps in our narrative.  Should anyone have other relevant information that you would be willing to share, we would be most appreciative.

Tina Offler and John Patrick, University of Newcastle

The mid-1940s onward witnessed a burgeoning growth in plant physiology research spread across CSIRO, State Departments of Agriculture and Universities. It was within this environment that Bob Robertson (to become Sir Rutherford Roberson and affectionately referred to as Sir Bob), in 1957, proposed the formation of ASPP to a group of leading national-based plant physiologists (Neales 1994). The group agreed to convene a one-day meeting linked with the programmed Adelaide Australian and New Zealand Association for the Advancement of Science (ANZAAS) conference. The one-day event was held on August 19, 1958 at which 12 papers were presented by GA Atkins, Peter Brownell, Martin Canny, Jack Dainty, Alex Hope, Ned Krefford, Nick Marinos, JD McLean, John Pate, Dugald Paton, Bob Williams and Harold Woolhouse. At the inaugural General Meeting held that afternoon, chaired by Sir Bob, the ASPP Constitution was approved along with the election of Lance May (Adelaide) as Honorary Secretary, Les Paleg (Adelaide) as Honorary Treasurer and Joseph Garnett Wood (Adelaide) as the first President. There seems to be some disparity in reports of the number of delegates attending the meeting with 64 and 69 reported and the original record of attendees having 66 signatures. However, what is not in dispute is that many of the signatures on these fading sheets of paper are of those you will recognise for their significant contributions to Australian Plant Science and to our society. To name but a few: Bob Robertson, John Pate, Alan Walker, Lloyd Evans, Peter Brownell, Hal Hatch, Harold Woolhouse, Martin Canny and so it goes on and on…… 

The CSIRO/Botany School Unit, headed by Bob Robertson, and housed in the Sydney University Botany Department was the core from which ASPP grew and expanded. Bob Robertson’s group comprised a dozen or so young plant physiologists who were to make major advances in our science, including Hal Hatch, Alex Hope, Jack Dainty (from Edinburg, UK), John Pate, Carrick Chambers, Don and Heather Adamson, John (F) and Donella Turner. Bob brought 14 of its members to Adelaide for the Inaugural Meeting, and it wasn’t easy to get there!!  In his “recollections” written for the 50^th anniversary of the society, Martin Canny recounts that Hal Hatch said to me (Martin),

“Tell them how different it was, how difficult to get from Sydney to Adelaide.”

Apparently, in order to attend the Adelaide meeting he (Hal) had taken two days in trains, overnight from Sydney to Melbourne, with a midnight change at Albury to accommodate a shift in rail gauge from 4 feet 8 1/2 inches (New South Wales) to the Victorian line gauge of 5 feet 3 inches, then another overnight trip to Adelaide, with yet another change in railway gauge down to 3 feet 6 inches at the Victorian/South Australian boarder. And, there are other similar stories.

In the following year, the plant physiology community was saddened by the untimely death of JG  (Joe) Wood (1900 -1959) just prior to the second meeting of ASPP convened in Sydney across three days. Sir Bob was elected as the second ASPP President, a position he served in until 1962.  ASPP/ASPS has honoured these two foundation presidents for many years through the JG Wood and Robertson Lectures, presented by invitation biennially at ASPP/ComBio meetings in alternate years.  Also, amongst the attendees at the inaugural meeting in Adelaide was a talented young plant scientist, Dr Peter Goldacre who tragically died in 1960 before being able to fulfil his full research potential. It is in his honour that the prestigious Peter Goldacre Award has been awarded to an outstanding early career plant scientist each year since 1965.

Neales Tom (1994). Our Society; An Historical Perspective. An early history of the Australian Society of Plant Physiologists. ASPP Membership Directory and reproduced (with permission) in Phytogen 11(2), 11-18.

ASPS dinner at ComBio2018

Dear ASPS member,

We hope to see you at the coming ComBio2018 in our spectacular city of Sydney.

If so, you might be interested to attend a dinner where you can discuss collaborative research and networking sitting with fellow scientists while enjoying magnificent Darling Harbour views with delicious food at a very affordable price!

We are organising this year’s ASPS dinner which will be held on Tuesday, 25^th September at Zaaffran Restaurant. (https://www.zaaffran.com/). You can sit and enjoy this harbourside restaurant where you will be amused by a marvellous Darling Harbour night view. It just a three minute harbour side walk from the ComBio2018 conference centre.   It is well worth a visit, so come along to refresh your mind after a long day full of scientific sessions and enjoy some good food and company.

This year the menu will be a three course Indian dinner with open bar with juice, soft drinks, red and white wine. We are offering you a high standard dinner at a very reasonable price, thanks to ASPS for the subsidy. The cost per ticket will be:

• Students: $30
• Academics and guests: $60

You can book your spot by emailing Kamal (kamal.uddin@sydney.edu.au) who will reply to you shortly, with the payment details and confirm your reservation after payment. Don’t forget to mention any dietary requirement in your email during booking.

For catering purposes we need to know the numbers in advance. So, if you really want to attend the ASPS dinner, please reserve your place and make your payment before Friday, 14^th September.

We only have a limited number of tickets, so please don’t wait for the last moment to book your spot.

We looking forward to see you all at ComBio2018.

Warm regards,

ASPS Dinner Organising Committee

Hello ASPS members,

Today is the last day you can register for ComBio2018 and receive the early bird discount. http://www.combio.org.au/combio2018/

If you need to renew your ASPS membership you can use the e-mail address this newsletter was sent to as you login to reset your password then simply renew to get the discounted ASPS member rate. https://www.asps.org.au/renewal 

It will be the ASPS 60th anniversary at ComBio2018 so come and be part of our history.

Hello ASPS members,

ComBio2018 will mark the 60th anniversary of our society and is a great opportunity for the next generation of plant scientists to share their research and passion for plants with our community. As a society we provide travel grants to support our student members to attend ComBio.  If you are a student attending ComBio or the supervisor of a student attending ComBio this year apply for a travel grant by COB June 15th 2018.

Further details can be found at the ASPS ComBio travel grant web page.

ComBio2018: 23 – 26 September 2018, International Convention Centre Sydney, Darling Harbour
Early Registration & Abstract Deadline: Friday, 22 June 2018

We are pleased to advise that the Program Timetable and the Provisional Symposium Schedule can be downloaded from:
http://www.combio.org.au/combio2018/program.html
The Provisional Symposium Schedule includes the Stream Co-ordinators, the titles of each of the 73 sessions and the Chairs of each of the sessions.

Online registration and abstract submission will be available towards the end of April 2018 and we will send a further email when these pages are live. The early registration and abstract submission deadline is 22 June 2018.

ComBio2018 is a combination of six societies holding their annual meetings with the International Society of Differentiation partnering with the Australia and New Zealand Society of Cell and Developmental Biology, and the New Zealand Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology and the New Zealand Society of Plant Biologists joining in with the Australian Society of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology and the Australian Society of Plant Scientists.

The ASBMB Grimwade Keynote Plenary Lecturer is Randy Wayne Schekman. Professor Schekman is a Nobel Prize-winning American professor of molecular and cell biology at the University of California, Berkeley whose research in vesicular trafficking is highly relevant across both plant and animal systems. The ASPS is pleased to support two plenary lectures, including the R.N. Robertson Award & Lecture, which will be given by Dr Michael Udvardi (Noble Research Institute) and the ASPS Jan Anderson Award & Lecture (speaker TBC). The ASPS in conjunction the Annals of Botany and Functional Plant Biology will deliver the Annals of Botany Lecture to be given by Professor Keiko Torii (University of Washington) and the ASPS Peter Goldacre Award Dr Caitlin Byrt. The names and institutions of all confirmed international plenary speakers can be seen at: http://www.combio.org.au/combio2018/plenary.html

Hello ASPS members past and present,

COMBIO 2019, (23th-26th September) in Sydney, will be the venue of our annual meeting held in our 60th Anniversary year of ASPS.

As well as the science sessions at COMBIO we will have 2 events for ASPS, the ASPS dinner which will be held on the Tuesday night – you will be hearing about this event very soon – and the AGM which will be held on the Wednesday lunch.

We hope you can all attend and make this a special COMBIO in our anniversary year.

Furthermore, we are looking for volunteers to help us to continue in our role in assisting and shaping the future of the Australian Plant Science community? If you have ideas of how to build and strengthen our community, please consider joining the ASPS exec.

We are looking to fill 3 vacancies this year:

Honorary Secretary

Honorary Treasurer

Plant-Microbe Interactions rep

If you are keen on taking on one of these roles please fill out the attached form.

We look forward to your involvement.

Many thanks,

Matt

_________________

Professor Matthew Gilliham

Honorary Secretary, Aust Soc Plant Scientists

Dear ASPS Past and Present Members

We are pleased to advise that the photographs from ComBio2017 can now be viewed at: http://www.combio.org.au/combio2017/

ComBio2018: 23 – 26 September 2018, International Convention Centre Sydney, Darling Harbour
Early Registration & Abstract Deadline: Friday, 22 June 2018

We are pleased to advise that the Program Timetable and the Provisional Symposium Schedule can be downloaded from:
http://www.combio.org.au/combio2018/program.html
The Provisional Symposium Schedule includes the Stream Co-ordinators, the titles of each of the 73 sessions and the Chairs of each of the sessions.

Online registration and abstract submission will be available towards the end of April 2018 and we will send a further email when these pages are live. The early registration and abstract submission deadline is 22 June 2018.

ComBio2018 is a combination of six societies holding their annual meetings with the International Society of Differentiation partnering with the Australia and New Zealand Society of Cell and Developmental Biology, and the New Zealand Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology and the New Zealand Society of Plant Biologists joining in with the Australian Society of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology and the Australian Society of Plant Scientists.

The ASBMB Grimwade Keynote Plenary Lecturer is Randy Wayne Schekman. Professor Schekman is a Nobel Prize-winning American professor of molecular and cell biology at the University of California, Berkeley whose research in vesicular trafficking is highly relevant across both plant and animal systems. The ASPS is pleased to support two plenary lectures, including the R.N. Robertson Award & Lecture, which will be given by Dr Michael Udvardi (Noble Research Institute) and the ASPS Jan Anderson Award & Lecture (speaker TBC). The ASPS in conjunction the Annals of Botany and Functional Plant Biology will deliver the Annals of Botany Lecture to be given by Professor Keiko Torii (University of Washington) and the ASPS Peter Goldacre Award (speaker TBC). The names and institutions of all confirmed international plenary speakers can be seen at: http://www.combio.org.au/combio2018/plenary.html

Kind regards
Sally

Sally Jay
ASBMB National Office
ComBio2018 Secretariat