• Plants In Action Edition 1
  • Plants In Action, 2nd Edition PDF files
  • Functional Plant Biology
  • Phytogen
  • Plant Detectives
Contact
facebook
twitter
email
  • About
    • 2021 Executive Committee
    • Discipline Representatives
    • ASPS representation
    • Website & Communications Sub-Committee
    • Past Presidents
    • AGM
    • Constitution
    • ASPS Diversity and Inclusion
  • Members
    • Join
    • Member log in
    • Membership Renewal
    • Member directory
    • Life Members
      • ASPS Life Member Professor Graham Farquhar
      • ASPS Life Member Associate Professor Hendrik (Hank) Greenway
      • ASPS Life Member Dr Marshall (Hal) D Hatch
      • ASPS Life Member Dr Paul E Kriedmann
      • ASPS Life Member Dr Mervyn Ludlow
      • ASPS Life Member Emeritus Professor Rana Munns
      • ASPS Life Member Conjoint Professor Christina E Offler
      • ASPS Life Member Professor (Charles) Barry Osmond
      • ASPS Life Member Emeritus Professor John W Patrick
      • ASPS Life Member Dr Joe Wiskich
    • Corresponding Members
    • Elected Fellows
  • Events
    • National Science Week 2021
    • ASPS 2021
      • ASPS2024 Abstract submission
    • ComBio2022
    • Upcoming Events/Add an Event
  • Awards & Funding
    • Peter Goldacre Award
    • Jan Anderson Award and Lecture
    • JG Wood Lecture
    • RN Robertson Lecture
    • RN Robertson Travelling Fellowship 2025
    • ASPS-FPB Best Paper Award
    • ASPS Education and Outreach Award
    • Student Travel Awards
    • ASPS Student Poster Prizes
  • Employment
    • Job Board
    • Post a Job
  • Publications
    • Phytogen
    • Functional Plant Biology
    • Plants In Action Edition 1
    • Plants In Action, 2nd Edition PDF files
  • Research
    • Ecophysiology
    • Genetics & Molecular Biology
    • Cell Biology
    • Plant-Microbe Interactions
    • Plant Development
    • Whole Plants
  • Teaching
    • ASPS Teaching and Outreach Award Winners
    • Teaching Philosophy
    • Teaching Outreach
    • Resources
  • Menu
    • other stuff

Invitation to submit to a special issue “The Regulatory Functions of Epigenetic Mechanisms in Plants”

22 May 2018

 

Special Issue “The Regulatory Functions of Epigenetic Mechanisms in Plants”

Journal Link

Guest Editor:  Dr. Chris Cazzonelli

Senior Lecturer in Plant Molecular Biology, Environmental Epigenetics Laboratory, Hawkesbury Institute for the Environment, Building L9.G30, Bourke St, Richmond, Australia

April GPC E-Bulletin and employment opportunities.

20 May 2018

We have several employment opportunities posted on the ASPS job board here.

Global Plant Council E-Bulletin May 2018

 

Forward to a Friend || View web version (also click here to translate to other languages!)
Email Us
GPC Website
GPC Blog
@GlobalPlantGPC
@GPC_EnEspanol
Facebook
Donate

 

 

 

 

E-Bulletin / 
May 2018
First of all, we’d like to extend a warm welcome to our new sponsor, Frontiers in Plant Science. Articles published in Frontiers are open access and freely available to everyone, allowing researchers from around the world to access the latest ideas in plant science.

Global Plant Council Workshop!
We are excited to announce that the Global Plant Council will be holding a workshop entitled “Enhancing Global Collaborations in Crop Science” at the ASA CSSA annual meeting in Baltimore, Maryland, USA, on 4th November. The workshop will cost just $20, and will bring together researchers from around the world to discuss how best to facilitate international collaboration between researchers and policy experts in crop science.

Full details:
Sunday, Nov. 4, 8:30 AM-4:00 PM. Baltimore, Maryland, USA

Description: The pressing challenges of providing safe, nutritious, and quality food to a growing global population in a changing climate cannot be met by researchers and policymakers working independently in distinct disciplines. While excellent plant and crop science research is currently underway around the world, we need to facilitate international collaboration to increase both the speed and effectiveness of our response to the challenge of food insecurity.

This workshop will bring together international research leaders and policy experts in a range of fields related to crop science. By combining the experience of these contributors, we will generate new ideas and develop new models for large-scale integrative research to further our international collaborative research efforts. In breakout groups, attendees will have the opportunity to formulate proposals for the future development of intervention strategies that will kickstart an initiative to address one of the world’s major food security challenges. One-hour break for lunch (lunch not provided.)

 

Latest News / 
View more…

If you have news you would like us to share on our website, please contact sarah@globalplantcouncil.org

This month 48 new breaking news stories were posted on the GPC website including…

Breakthrough in battle against rice blast
Scientists have found a way to stop the spread of rice blast, a fungus that destroys up to 30% of the world’s rice crop each year.

Newly discovered hormone helps keep plants from dehydrating
This study shows how the peptide CLE25 moves from the roots to the leaves when water is scarce and helps prevent water loss by closing pores in the leaf surface.

How does plant DNA avoid the ravages of UV radiation?
If the ultraviolet radiation from the sun damages human DNA to cause health problems, does UV radiation also damage plant DNA? The answer is yes, but because plants can’t come in from the sun or slather on sunblock, they have a super robust DNA repair kit.

‘Rip van Winkle’ plants hide underground for up to 20 years
Scores of plant species are capable of living dormant under the soil for up to 20 years, enabling them to survive through difficult times, a new study has found.

 

 

Events / 
View more…

If you have a conference, meeting, workshop, training course or other event coming up, we can include it in our Events calendar! Please email sarah@globalplantcouncil.org

Global Plant Council Workshop: Enhancing Global Collaborations in Crop Science
04 November 2018. Baltimore, Maryland, USA

Enhancing productivity in a changing climate (ASA CSSA meeting)
04–07 November 2018. Baltimore, Maryland, USA.

1st International Plant Systems Biology
10–14 September 2018. Roscoff, France.

Plant Biology Europe 2018
18–21 June 2018. Copenhagen, Denmark.

 

 

Members / 

Click here for details of the GPC Member Societies and Affiliates and their representatives. 

Please contact us (info@globalplantcouncil.org) to find out how your organization can join the Global Plant Council. 

 

 

The GPC is a coalition of plant and crop science societies and affiliates from across the globe. The GPC seeks to bring plant scientists together to work synergistically toward solving the pressing problems we face.

Please click here to make a donation via PayPal to help support the GPC.

 

 

Copyright © 2018 Global Plant Council, All rights reserved.
You are receiving this email because you signed up to receive updates from the Global Plant Council. If you no longer wish to receive the monthly GPC E-Bulletin, or think you have received this email in error, please unsubscribe using the link provided.

The Global Plant Council is a not-for-profit entity registered in Switzerland.
Our registered mailing address is: 

Global Plant Council

3rd Floor, Bow House

1a Bow Lane

London, EC4M 9EE

United Kingdom

 

 

The ‘sweet spot’ in plant-microbe symbiotic relationships

03 April 2018

BY JONATHON PLETT

2017 GOLDACRE MEDAL WINNER

 

Growing up in the countryside of Ontario, Canada, Jonathan Plett was exposed to plants and planted environments from a very early age.  While a love for agriculture and ‘useful’ plants would come to fruition in his research career, Jonathan’s first induction into the world of plants was through flower gardening – a hobby introduced to him at the age of 10 by an English couple active within the local gardening club.  Over the years of working with plants, Jonathan became fascinated by the mechanics of how plants grew and flourished and how different environmental conditions affected these processes.

As early as the age of 12 Jonathan knew that he wanted to have a job working with plants in some form – his first science fair project was testing hydroponic systems for optimal plant growth.  Through his undergraduate work in college, this interest was further strengthened and led to a PhD in plant molecular biology.  This area of science has continued to fuel his imagination and to fascinate him to this day.  Jonathan did his PhD studies with Dr. Sharon Regan at Queen’s University in Canada where he studied the biological function of the plant hormone ethylene.  One aspect of this hormone was its huge role in plant:microbe interactions.  This led to a career shift in his post doctoral work and to his current position as a Lecturer in the Hawkesbury Institute for the Environment at Western Sydney University where he considers the molecular mechanics of how plants interact with soil-borne microbes.

The goal of Jonathan’s research is to foster the relationship between symbiotic soil-borne micro-organisms and plants. These organisms increase plant productivity through improved nutrient availability and plant disease resistance. As intensified agricultural and forestry production is resulting in soils with reduced nutritional value and as plant diseases are becoming more virulent, growers and foresters are becoming more reliant on these symbiotic relationships to support the health and productivity of their plants.  Therefore, we need to select plants that will be able to gain the most from relationships with symbiotic micro-organisms. Currently we only have a rudimentary idea of the plant genetics that enable these symbiotic relationships to occur, let alone how we could select plants that foster these symbiotic relationships.  Jonathan’s research is addressing this critical lack of knowledge by studying the plant pathways targeted by symbiotic ‘effector’ proteins during the initial stages of the interaction between plants and micro-organisms.  Jonathan’s research has shown that these effectors, which are small-secreted microbial proteins, are used by mycorrhizal fungi to manipulate the plant immune response, thereby fostering symbiosis.  This means that the tactics used by mycorrhizal fungi to gain access to their host tissues mirror those of pathogenic organisms, with the production of proteins used to overcome host defences (Plett et al., 2014a). Thus, in response, the plant has evolved mechanisms to defend itself from excessive ingrowth of mycorrhizal hyphae, while still enjoying the beneficial aspects of the relationship.

Jonathan’s work has shown that the plant uses two classic plant hormone pathways: jasmonic acid (JA) and ethylene, to limit fungal growth within plant tissues (Plett et al., 2014b).  His work in the metabolic regulation during mycorrhizal colonization of plants has also shown that plants produce toxic secondary compounds to slow fungal growth and that only certain mycorrhizal fungi are able to overcome these defences by either metabolising the defence compound (Tschaplinski et al., 2014) or by inducing the expression of proteases and xenobiotic efflux pumps to weather the onslaught raised by the plant (Plett et al., 2015).  Altogether, the results of Jonathan’s work have led to a paradigm shift in how we understand the core relationship between plants and their associated mycorrhizal fungi. His data are now being used to screen new tree and, more recently, crop lines (Plett et al., 2016), to find the ‘sweet spot’ in immune defence that enables plants to maximise the benefits from mycorrhizal fungi without compromising disease resistance. The application of these findings will result in more productive tree plantations and better food security in crops.

 

Contact Information:

Email: j.plett@westernsydney.edu.au

Twitter: @FungiDownUnder

Website: https://www.westernsydney.edu.au/hie/people/researchers/doctor_jonathan_plett

Google Scholar: https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=Pg1MvmEAAAAJ&hl=en

 

Key References:

Plett JM, Daguerre Y, Wittulsky S, Deveau A, Melton SJ, Kohler A, Morrell-Falvey J, Brun A, Veneault-Fourrey C, Martin F. (2014a) The effector protein MiSSP7 of the mutualistic ectomycorrhizal fungus Laccaria bicolorinteracts with PopulusJAZ proteins.  Proceedings of the National Academy of Science USA. 111:8299-8304.

Plett JM, Khachane A, Ouassou M, Sundberg B, Kohler A, Martin F. (2014b)  Ethylene and jasmonic acid act as negative modulators during mutualistic symbiosis between Laccaria bicolor and Populus roots.  New Phytologist 202:270-286.

Plett JM, Tisserant E, Brun A, Morin E, Grigoriev IV, Kuo A, Martin F, Kohler A.  (2015)  The mutualist Laccaria bicolor expresses a core gene regulon during the colonization of diverse host plants and a variable regulon to counteract host-specific defenses. Molecular Plant-Microbe Interactions28:261-73.

Plett JM, Plett KL, Bithell SL, Mitchell C, Moore K, Powell JR, Anderson IC. (2016) Improved Phytophthoraresistance in commercial chickpea (Cicer arietinum) varieties negatively impacts symbiotic gene signaling and symbiotic potential in some varieties. Plant, Cell & Environment.39:1858–186.

Tschaplinski TJ, Plett JM, Engle NL, Deveau A, Cushman KC, Martin MZ, Doktycz MJ, Tuskan GA, Brun A, Kohler A, Martin F. (2014) Populus trichocarpa and Populus deltoidesexhibit different metabolomic responses to colonization by the symbiotic fungus Laccaria bicolor. Molecular Plant-Microbe Interactions27:546-556.

ASPS employment opportunities

18 March 2018

Hello ASPS members,

We have several new employment opportunities that have been posted on our job board.

 

Job Board

Crop Simulation Software Helps to Find Better Crops

23 January 2018

Plant researchers have developed an online application that predicts how crop growth is affected by photosynthetic changes at the molecular, cellular or leaf level of plants.

Food production depends on photosynthesis, the process by which plants capture sunlight and convert it into plant growth, biomass and grain. In the next decades, the world population is expected to reach 9.5 billion and food demand will increase significantly, so improving photosynthesis has become a global research priority.

“Enhancing photosynthesis has the potential to increase crop yields, but the link between photosynthesis and crop productivity is not straightforward because it crosses multiple scales of biological organisation. We created modelling tools that help us navigate through these complexities to identify targets that have the greatest impact on crop yield,” says Dr Alex Wu, a researcher with the ARC Centre of Excellence for Translational Photosynthesis (CoETP) at the University of Queensland.

This online “crystal ball” of crop growth, a small part of the cross-scale model, is designed to show researchers what would happen to a crop canopy with changes in photosynthesis under variable environmental and canopy conditions such as radiation, temperature, levels of CO2, canopy size and amount of nitrogen in leaves.

“Developing simulation tools like these, we are working towards connecting lab-based research and discoveries, at the leaf or molecular level, with crop productivity under variable environmental conditions,” Dr Wu said.

ARC CoETP Chief Investigator Professor Graeme Hammer says that researchers could now use the online application and see how their work is having an impact on crops in the field, which will radically accelerate the discovery process.

“They can also incorporate high temperature or high CO2 conditions to test effects of climate change,” he said.

The Diurnal Canopy Photosynthesis Simulator (DCaPS) online application, calculates diurnal (period from sunrise to sunset) canopy CO2 assimilation and daily biomass increment for a crop under well-watered conditions. DCaPS is now publicly available at www.dcaps.net.au.

This study was published recently in the journal Functional Plant Biology and was funded by the Australian Research Council (ARC) Centre of Excellence for Translational Photosynthesis and the Queensland Alliance for Agriculture and Food Innovation (QAFFI) at the University of Queensland. Article appeared in “Leaflet” Newsletter of the CoE.

New opportunities for ASPS members

06 November 2017

Dear ASPS members,

We have a few new opportunities for you and the monthly GPC e-bulletin.

  • There is an opportunity to nominate for the STA Executive Committee – NOTE applications are due today (see details below)
  • The 2018 Peter Goldacre award is open. Nominations close 9 December 2017. Apply here.
  • The 2018 ASPS teaching award  is open. Applications close 9 December 2017. Apply here.
  • The RN Robertson Travelling Fellowship award is open. Applications close 19th January  2018. Apply here.
  • A new employment opportunity has been posted. More details here.
  • A conference added to our events page. more details here.

 

Dear ASPS members,

The STA Executive Committee closes on Monday 6 November. You will find details at https://scienceandtechnologyaustralia.org.au/search-begins-for-stem-leaders-to-join-sta-executive-committee/.

Voting will take place at the AGM on 23 November. Please consider applying.

Thank you in advance and best regards,

Shannon Wong

Shannon Wong
Executive Assistant

Working days: Tuesday – Thursday

T: 0488 262 153 | E: shannon.wong@sta.org.au
PO Box 259, Canberra City ACT 2601Website | Twitter | Facebook | YouTube

 

Global Plant Council E-Bulletin October 2017

 

Forward to a Friend | View web version (also click here to translate to other languages!)
Email Us
GPC Website
GPC Blog
@GlobalPlantGPC
@GPC_EnEspanol
Facebook
Donate

 

 

 

 

E-Bulletin / 
October 2017
Welcome to this month’s newsletter!

The registration for Plant Biology Europe 2018, hosted by two of our Member Organizations (EPSO and FESPB) has just opened, and we are excited to announce that the organizing committee have included the option for delegates to donate €5 to the Global Plant Council during registration. If you know of anyone who will be attending the conference, please do send them a link to our website (http://globalplantcouncil.org/) so they can read all about how we support collaboration and innovation in plant science around the world.

 

Latest News / 
View more…If you have news you would like us to share on our website, please contact sarah@globalplantcouncil.org
This month 48 new breaking news stories were posted on the GPC website including…

In Journal of Experimental Botany: Persulfidation in plants: the new phosphorylation?
Aroca et al. looked at the whole Arabidopsis persulfidome, a significant undertaking but one which will be immensely valuable for the field. Over 2000 persulfidated proteins were identified in wild-type plants.

In New Phytologist: Researchers discover an evolutionary stepping stone to beet-red beets
Researchers describe an ancient loosening up of a key biochemical pathway that set the stage for the ancestors of beets to develop their characteristic red pigment. By evolving an efficient way to make the amino acid tyrosine, the raw material for the new red, this plant family freed up extra tyrosine for more uses.

Plant protein restricts sap uptake by aphids
Researchers have discovered how plants can defend themselves against aphids. They recorded aphid behavior on video, and identified a plant protein that keeps aphids from feeding.

Breeding salt-tolerant plants
Salt tolerance in quinoa is found to result from their production of bladder cells, which sequester salt and protect salt-sensitive metabolic processes in other cells.

Watching plant photosynthesis… from space
University of Sydney and NASA researchers have developed a revolutionary new technique to image plant photosynthesis using satellite-based remote-sensing, with potential applications in climate change monitoring.

 

 

Events / 
View more…
If you have a conference, meeting, workshop, training course or other event coming up, we can include it in our Events calendar! Please email sarah@globalplantcouncil.org
Plant Biology Europe 2018
18–21 June 2018. Copenhagen, Denmark.
(Don’t forget to let others know they have the option of donating €5 to help the Global Plant Council support the international plant science community!)41st New Phytologist Symposium: Plant sciences for the future
11–13 April 2018. Nancy, France.GARNet Plant Gene Editing Workshop
26–27 March 2018. Bristol, UK.

 

 

Members / 

Click here for details of the GPC Member Societies and Affiliates and their representatives. 

Please contact us (info@globalplantcouncil.org) to find out how your organization can join the Global Plant Council. 

 

 

The GPC is a coalition of plant and crop science societies and affiliates from across the globe. The GPC seeks to bring plant scientists together to work synergistically toward solving the pressing problems we face.

Please click here to make a donation via PayPal to help support the GPC.

 

 

Copyright © 2017 Global Plant Council, All rights reserved.
You are receiving this email because you signed up to receive updates from the Global Plant Council. If you no longer wish to receive the monthly GPC E-Bulletin, or think you have received this email in error, please unsubscribe using the link provided.
The Global Plant Council is a not-for-profit entity registered in Switzerland.
Our registered mailing address is: 
Global Plant Council3rd Floor, Bow House

1a Bow Lane

London, EC4M 9EE

United Kingdom
Add us to your address book

 

ASPS Travel Award Report Recipient Hones Presentation Skills at ComBio2017

18 October 2017


By

Viviana Rosati

Thanks to an ASPS Travel Award, I was able to attend the ComBio2017 conference this October in Adelaide, South Australia. It was personally and professionally fulfilling not only to be attending, but presenting, at my very first ComBio. The conference is the main forum for the Australian Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (ASBMB), the Australia and New Zealand Society for Cell and Developmental Biology (ANZSCDB), and the Australian Society of Plant Scientists (ASPS), with the societies coming together for three days to promote the latest in research and education, as well as enable invaluable network opportunities.

For me, a highlight of the conference was the plenary Annals of Botany Lecture on the second day featuring Professor Cathie Martin from the John Innes Centre. Professor Martin works to increase polyphenol phytonutrients in fruits: compounds with therapeutic properties that could potentially mitigate artherosclerosis and other inflammatory conditions. She emphatically stated: ‘Medicine is not healthcare, food is healthcare. Medicine is sickcare’ – an appropriate reminder for us all.

Over the next two days I attended an array of symposia including: Plant Energy Use Efficiency, Next-generation Phenotyping, Plant Walls and Membranes, Abiotic Stress Tolerance, Microbe-Plant Interactions, and Plant Reproductive Biology. All talks gave me vital insight into the current plant biology research being undertaken worldwide, and offered me several new avenues for my own research – particularly techniques to elucidate the molecular regulation of genes involved in emerging regulatory pathways. The conference delivered an impressive balance of graduate students, post-doctoral researchers, associate professors, and professors presenting their cutting-edge research or stories of discovery.

As part of the crop productivity symposium, I presented my research topic Drought Response in Low-Cyanogenic Sorghum bicolor Mutants; with the presentation being very well received. I took a number of questions during the allocated question time and was given valuable advice driving new exploration within the scope of my research program. It is now the fourth time within a two-year period that I have been a conference presenter. As one might expect, my confidence grows with each presentation and as I become more adept; and there is always a constant challenge to improve and hone my skills in order to deliver a story with a clear message that engages interest and drives impact.

I am extremely grateful to ASPS for providing funding that enabled me to attend the conference and present my research to the plant science community.

Contact: Viviana Rosati (viviana.rosati@monash.edu)

41st New Phytologist Symposium: Plant sciences for the future

18 October 2017

Registration now open!
41st New Phytologist Symposium: Plant sciences for the future

11–13 April 2018, Nancy, France

https://www.newphytologist.org/symposia/41

The 41st New Phytologist Symposium will provide new insights into the evolutionary forces and molecular mechanisms that govern plant development and physiology, and their interactions with biotic and abiotic cues.

Invited speakers from the New Phytologist Editorial Board will highlight emerging topics in plant sciences as well as the application of modern technologies to capture the complex mechanisms driving plant development, physiology, interactions and evolution.
Eighteen leading scientists will speak at the symposium along with early career researchers, selected to give talks following submission of poster abstracts. Travel grants are available.

Travel grant deadline: Thursday 18 January 2018
Poster abstract deadline: Thursday 8 February 2018

More details and registration at https://www.newphytologist.org/symposia/41.

 

Science Meets Parliament 2017 – optimistic futures for plant scientists

12 October 2017

By

Dr Jayakumar Bose

ARC DECRA Fellow, School of Agriculture, Food and Wine

Waite Campus, University of Adelaide

Science Meets Parliament is an annual event of Science and Technology Australia (STA)  bringing together 200 of Australia’s leading scientists and technologists to Canberra. This professional gathering stimulates and inform parliamentarians of how science contributes to our society and aims to inform public policy, and; to assist in professional development through providing participants with an insight into political, policy, media and parliamentary processes.

Australian Society of Plant Scientists gave me a wonderful opportunity to be a part of science meets parliament during March 2017. The event enabled me to get to know the views of some Australia’s most influential and passionate parliamentarians, science advisors, STEM professionals and media personalities.

Day one is all about professional development, building connections and collaborations . We were provided with useful tips on how to turn science into news, how science is used to shape public policy, how to convince a parliamentarian without using the word money or funding, and how to pitch my science in 60 seconds. I really felt optimistic about my future as a plant scientists after listening to the commitment of the government to further advance science and technology in years to come.

On day two, I met Hon Senators Chris Back and Chris Ketter face-to-face in their parliament office. I was really impressed by the way they listened and interacted with me to learn more about how grow crops can grow in salty soils. I was also inspired by the parliamentary speeches and organised forums during parliament. In particular, a glowing endorsement of curiosity driven by research undertaken by Professor Alan Mackay-Sim, Australian of the Year, resonated with me even after the completion of the event.

I also participated a breakfast event organised by the University of Adelaide’s external relations branch on day three which allowed me to interact as well as promote science and build new connections with South Australian parliamentarians and alumni.

Dr Jayakumar Bose, ASPS representative, and Hon Bill Shorten MP, and Leader of the Opposition at the Science Meets Parliament 2017 at the Great Hall of the Australian Parliament House in Canberra.

Contact Information: Jayakumar Bose (jayakumar.bose@adelaide.edu.au)

The different flavours of when Science meets Parliament

05 October 2017

By Florian Busch from the Australian National University, Canberra, ACT

During March 2017, parliament in Canberra became flooded with scientists of all kinds of flavours for two days as Science met Parliament in this annual event. This event aims at increasing the dialogue between politicians and scientists to increase the awareness and understanding of how STEM can drive Australia’s economic, social, environmental, and cultural future. I was lucky to be picked as one of two early/mid-career plant scientists representing the Australian Society of Plant Scientists. The two days were filled with quite unique experiences, including a full day of career development and preparation for meeting the parliamentarians, and then, of course, one big day in Parliament.

Australia’s Chief Scientist Dr. Alan Finkel opened the first day setting the scene for what to expect. This was followed by sessions on how science is turned into news and used to shape policy. The focus of the day, however, was on how to make the most of the little time we had for our meeting with the parliamentarians. How much science background could we expect? How detailed should we present our work during our meeting with the parliamentarians? In preparation, we paired up in small groups to practice our ‘elevator pitch’, where we were challenged to explain the nuances of our work in a minute or two, to people outside our fields of expertise. My major lesson from this exercise was discovering the fast pace at which politicians move from one topic to the next. This also turned out to be a great networking opportunity, allowing me to meet scientists from diverse fields of research across all of Australia. The highlight of the day, however, was a gala dinner at Parliament House, where we heard from the newly minted Minister for Industry, Innovation and Science, The Hon Arthur Sinodinos, and the Leader of the Opposition, The Hon Bill Shorten, as how they might envision science in future politics.

On the second day, we were inspired by Australian of the Year, Prof. Alan Mackay-Sim, and had the chance to meet the Shadow Minister, The Hon Kim Carr. Lunch was broadcast live on TV at the National Press Club, where the Minister for Industry, Innovation and Science was grilled with questions from the press. The definite highlight of the day was meeting our parliamentarians. I was paired up with two other scientists to meet with MP Craig Kelly. This is when practicing our ‘elevator pitch’ the day before paid off; I only had a few minutes to discuss the role of photosynthesis research in securing  food production before MP Craig Kelly ran off to his next meeting. He left us with a deep impression of how parliament works and, hopefully, we left him with some insights into how science works and can shape the economy.

Contact: Florian Busch (florian.busch@anu.edu.au) for further enquires.

‹ Previous12345678Next ›Last »

Recent Posts

  • Phytogen, ASPS 2025 conference save the date!
  • April 2025 Phytogen
  • March Phytogen, renew/update your ASPS membership, April 11th Australian GPC webinar
  • March 2025 Phytogen
  • February 2025 Phytogen

Tags

ASPS 60 Awards Global Plant Council Phytogen Plant Nutrition Trust Travel Scholarship RN Robertson Travelling Fellowship Science Meets Parliament Women in science

Archives

  • May 2025
  • April 2025
  • March 2025
  • February 2025
  • January 2025
  • December 2024
  • November 2024
  • October 2024
  • September 2024
  • August 2024
  • July 2024
  • June 2024
  • May 2024
  • April 2024
  • February 2024
  • January 2024
  • November 2023
  • October 2023
  • September 2023
  • August 2023
  • July 2023
  • June 2023
  • May 2023
  • April 2023
  • March 2023
  • February 2023
  • December 2022
  • November 2022
  • October 2022
  • September 2022
  • August 2022
  • July 2022
  • June 2022
  • May 2022
  • April 2022
  • March 2022
  • February 2022
  • January 2022
  • December 2021
  • November 2021
  • October 2021
  • September 2021
  • August 2021
  • July 2021
  • June 2021
  • April 2021
  • March 2021
  • February 2021
  • January 2021
  • December 2020
  • November 2020
  • October 2020
  • September 2020
  • August 2020
  • July 2020
  • June 2020
  • May 2020
  • April 2020
  • March 2020
  • February 2020
  • January 2020
  • December 2019
  • November 2019
  • October 2019
  • September 2019
  • August 2019
  • July 2019
  • June 2019
  • May 2019
  • April 2019
  • March 2019
  • February 2019
  • January 2019
  • December 2018
  • November 2018
  • October 2018
  • September 2018
  • August 2018
  • July 2018
  • June 2018
  • May 2018
  • April 2018
  • March 2018
  • February 2018
  • January 2018
  • December 2017
  • November 2017
  • October 2017
  • September 2017
  • August 2017
  • July 2017
  • June 2017
  • May 2017
  • April 2017
  • March 2017
  • February 2017
  • January 2017
  • December 2016
  • November 2016
  • October 2016
  • September 2016
  • August 2016
  • July 2016
  • June 2016
  • May 2016
  • April 2016
  • March 2016
  • February 2016
  • January 2016
  • December 2015
  • November 2015
  • October 2015
  • September 2015
  • August 2015
  • July 2015
  • June 2015
  • May 2015
  • April 2015
  • March 2015
  • February 2015
  • January 2015
  • December 2014
  • November 2014
  • October 2014
  • September 2014
  • August 2014
  • July 2014
  • June 2014
Copyright 2017 Australian Society of Plant Scientists Disclaimer & Privacy
Website by Michael Major Media