Welcome to Phytogen for December 2022

Below are reports from some of our award recipients in 2022. Over the summer break we hope you can recharge and be inspired to submit applications for when awards open in January 2023.

There is also … a save the date for ASPS 2023!!!

Please add yourself to our conference mailing list and help us during the planning stages by filling out our ASPS2023 EOI form:  https://forms.gle/osUAvNEyn9jcwtw78

Please share widely with your colleagues and students.

Jan Anderson Award, Frances Sussmilch, University of Tasmania.

My research focusses on the similarities and differences that can be seen in the functions of related genes between diverse plant lineages. I began my research career investigating the genes that regulate flowering in garden pea (Pisum sativum) with Assoc. Prof. Jim Weller’s group at the University of Tasmania. My PhD research left me impressed by the impact that a single nucleotide change in a key gene can have on plant phenotype¹, and how useful in-depth knowledge of gene function in one model plant species can be as a starting point for understanding the roles of related genes in other species. As an early postdoc, I worked across three different research groups using molecular biology to address quite disparate research questions relating to i) the genetic control of flowering time and inflorescence architecture in legumes, ii) the evolution of genes controlling stomatal closure in land plants with Asst. Prof. Scott McAdam and Prof. Tim Brodribb, and iii) the diversity of orchid mycorrhizal fungi in Australia with Dr Nigel Swarts. This gave me the opportunity to make valuable contributions to projects that I wouldn’t have initially thought were within my wheelhouse through collaboration with experts in these different fields. Highlights included characterising the genes affected in mutants that had been studied for decades, allowing this wealth of accumulated knowledge to be drawn together to better understand how the affected genes normally function in plant growth and development, including a pea flowering time/photoperiod response mutant², a fern abscisic acid signalling/sex determination mutant³, and a pea auxin biosynthesis/leaf venation mutant⁴. Since then, I’ve enjoyed learning new techniques to investigate the evolutionary history of genes known to control angiosperm stomatal opening and closure and the functionality of related genes in diverse extant plant groups, including abscisic acid biosynthesis and signalling genes ^{e.g. 5-8}, and ion channels^{9, 10}. I have been fortunate to have been supported by funding from the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) and Australian Research Council DECRA and Discovery schemes, and collaborating as an Associate Investigator within the ARC Centre of Excellence for Plant Success in Nature and Agriculture, enabling me to study fascinating aspects of plant biology and work with some great researchers in the process. It is an incredible honour to be recognised by ASPS with the 2022 Jan Anderson Award, and exciting to think about what discoveries in plant science may yet be to come.

Jan Anderson Award Lecture at ComBio2022. Photo credit: Dr Akila Wijerathna-Yapa.

References

1. F. C. Sussmilch et al., Plant Cell 27, 1046-1060 (2015).
2. S. Ridge et al., Plant Cell 28, 2545-2559 (2016).
3. S. McAdam et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U. S. A. 113, 12862–12867 (2016).
4. S. A. M. McAdam et al., Plant Physiol. 175, 351-360 (2017).
5. S. A. M. McAdam, F. C. Sussmilch, T. J. Brodribb, Plant Cell Environ. 39, 485-491 (2016).
6. F. C. Sussmilch, T. J. Brodribb, S. A. M. McAdam, J. Exp. Bot. 68, 2913-2918 (2017).
7. F. C. Sussmilch et al., Trends Plant Sci. 24, 342-351 (2019).
8. F.-P. Zhang et al., J. Exp. Bot. 69, 1261–1267 (2018).
9. I. Dreyer et al., Trends Plant Sci. 26, 41-52 (2021).
10. F. C. Sussmilch, M. R. G. Roelfsema, R. Hedrich, New Phytol. 222, 84-90 (2019).

Hank Greenway Award for Education and Outreach: Adelaide University National Science week team: Megan Shelden, Georgia Koerber, Beth Loveys.

Our team was honoured to be awarded the Education and Outreach Award for our delivery of a successful Science Week event in 2021. We presented the award lecture in the Education Symposium stream of the conference; our presentation was titled: Plant Science: Safeguarding our Future Food Security.

Photos of our award talk.

There was a full day of Education focused conference presentations from educators in fields of biochemistry, molecular biology, plant science, cell biology and genetics. It was great to see the fantastic approaches that people were taking to improve tertiary science education for students. Some of the highlights of the Education sessions are described below.

Dr. Saw Hoon from the University of Melbourne described a ground-breaking student-led journal and conference she developed. The journal was inspired by the wonderful essays written by her students as part of the assessment in her course. The essays were so good Saw wanted to give them another life so she decided to create a student-led, peer reviewed journal, “Humans 2.0”. To launch the journal Saw and her students organised a conference to showcase the student work. The student presentations were mixed with those by staff. More can be seen at https://biomedicalsciences.unimelb.edu.au/study/humans2.0

Dr. Anna Galea from UNSW described a student ambassadors’ program which started in biochemistry but is now university wide. Students self-nominate in each course and provide periodic feedback to course coordinators. Students run surveys of their peers, a check in survey early in semester. They also write their own revision questions. https://www.teaching.unsw.edu.au/about-teaching/students-as-partners/student-focus-groups

Dr. James Tsatsaronis from LaTrobe University teaches large classes (approx. 200) of level 2 biochemistry. To manage the class with limited staff he established a program called “Near Peer Mentors”. The near peer mentors were students who had taken the class in the previous year and achieved excellent grades. They allocated 3 small teams of students (5-6) in tutorials where students were working through PBL activities. The near peer mentors supported the junior students, guiding them through the activities that they had themselves done the previous year.

As the students were working in teams part of the assessment was a self and peer evaluation undertaken at the end of each tutorial session. The self and peer evaluation was worth 50% of the tutorial marks. Team structure was not fixed, students were able to select new team members each week (avoiding the problem of students being absent).

There was a student panel discussion where students gave their thoughts and perspectives about online learning during the pandemic. It was very encouraging to see students thriving and prioritizing their mental health.

Student led panel discussion.

Plenary by Associate Professor Merlin Crosley.

It was fantastic to see an Education focused plenary in the ComBio program this year, Associate Professor Merlin Crosley (DVCA) from UNSW described the challenge of recognising excellence in teaching.

When student experience of learning and teaching at UNSW was analysed, it was apparent that teaching satisfaction scores were higher for Education Specialist staff than standard academics. Prompting the question why do students recognise and value excellence in teaching, but management do not? This observation led to the development of a teaching focused University College, called Scientia Education Academy. By a competitive process, academics were invited to apply for membership of Scientia Education Academy, 40 of the most outstanding educators were selected and celebrated. https://www.education.unsw.edu.au/teaching/scientia-education-academy

Happy Christmas everyone and have a restful New Year.

Please login and check your ASPS membership is up to date. Encourage your colleagues and students to join ASPS.Tweet to @asps_ozplants your news and upcoming events and follow to keep up to date.

Hello ASPS members,

November Phytogen is out now and can be accessed HERE.

If you missed it the October Phytogen can be accessed HERE.

The October Global Plant Council E-Bulletin can be accessed HERE.

Welcome to Phytogen for November 2022. Lots of Prizes and Grant Announcements ! Congratulations everyone and best wishes for those applying next time.

There are announcements for Superstars of STEM, click on the image below to read about the amazing recipients.

Australian Academy of Science held Science at the Shine Dome 2022 during November celebrating induction of Fellows and Honorific Awards for 2020, 2021 and 2022. There are plenty of plant people to celebrate along with all the other recipients in many amazing fields of science. Watch the videos below by clicking on play.

2022:

“All life is dependent on plants, and with the population increasing we had to work out ways to increase food production.” Dr Liz Dennis from CSIRO is working to ensure higher yields can continue beyond a hybrid seeds’ 1st generation, which could have a major impact on food supply.

2021:

Professor Susanne von Caemmerer from ANU. Research from leaf chloroplasts to global models of plant production aimed at enhancing photosynthetic rates in crop plants to increase their yield and adapt to climate change is now applied world-wide.

2020:

Professor Jane Langdale from Oxford University in the United Kingdom is elected a corresponding member.

The ARC has also announced funding, congratulations to all. Click on the links below for the media releases.

Discovery Projects 2023,

Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment and Facilities 2023,

Centres of Excellence 2023,

Discovery Indigenous 2023,

Discovery Early Career Researcher Award 2023.

Here is an article from the ABC about years with rain and rare flowering of a rainforest tree in western Queensland.

All the best with our changeable climate, contending with hay fever, floods in the east, and extreme heat in the west .

Upcoming Events

Next week is the Future of Food Summit at QUT.

Planning has started for ASPS meeting in Tasmania in 2023 and well underway for IUBMB 2024 in Melbourne.

Our President Elect Professor Martha Ludwig would like to share an upcoming Special Issue in Plants:

Please login and check your ASPS membership is up to date. Encourage your colleagues and students to join ASPS.

Tweet to @asps_ozplants your news and upcoming events and follow to keep up to date.

Welcome to Phytogen for October 2022. Last month was ComBio2022 in Melbourne. Below are some reports by students who received travel awards. We will chase the rest of you up in 2023 or please send reports as you wish. ComBio2022 had many great talks and posters across many disciplines. There are also links below to opening and closing Plenary Talks to enjoy again.

Abi Ghifari, PhD Candidate, School of Molecular Sciences & ARC Centre of Excellence in Plant Energy Biology, The University of Western Australia.

I was grateful to be awarded a travel grant by the Australian Society of Plant Scientists (ASPS) to attend and present my research at ComBio 2022 Conference in Melbourne. ComBio is a combined meeting of five leading Australia and New Zealand societies focusing on all aspects of genetics, plant science, biochemistry, molecular biology, and cell and developmental biology. ComBio 2022 was the first in-person ComBio meeting after the pandemic, which was delayed for two years due to COVID-19 related lockdowns and border closure. As a result, more than a thousand scientists were keen to present and discuss their latest studies face-to-face. I was delighted to present my poster that highlighted the latest results of my PhD project focusing on proteolytic regulation of plant mitochondrial respiratory components. I was so excited to discuss my studies to scientists across multiple disciplines. I was especially delighted to meet and talk with other researchers that work on similar aspects of mitochondria, but on different organisms such as yeast and mammals, including human cell system. I also learned a lot about different scientific approaches to particular problems, particularly in areas of biochemistry and molecular biology that I interested in, such as post-translational modifications, protein homeostasis regulation by ubiquitin-proteasome system, and roles of mitochondria in health and diseases. Overall, I really enjoyed the experience of attending and presenting in such a massive and diverse conference. I encourage future and present graduate students working in all aspects of plant science to join ASPS, which is such as welcoming community for its members.

Linh B. Ton, PhD Candidate, Crop Genomics Group, School of Biological Science, The University of Western Australia.

It was my first time attending ComBio2022 thanks to the Travel Grant offered by ASPS and support from my supervisors. ComBio2022 in Melbourne was the first big conference I attended after the pandemic, and I had the privilege of presenting findings from my PhD on designing CRISPR/CasRx system targeting Turnip mosaic virus infecting canola (Brassica napus). It was a far more amazing and friendly environment than I imagined. My first impression is how it was professionally organised, and I had no difficulty in registering for attendance and accommodation booking near the conference venue.

The plenary talks were excellent in providing an overview on the achievements and the on-going studies, motivation and navigation for researchers at different levels of career development. Symposium presentations on cell biology and signalling were also so amazing they expanded my knowledge on the diverse applications of biological and molecular tools in exploring cellular networks. I was very impressed by the research journey leading to the success of the C4 Rice project by Dr Maria Ermakova and other talks about strategies to improve plant productivity. Poster sessions were my chance to catch up with other topics and discussions.

ComBio2022 offered me a great time learning new knowledge beyond my expertise and provided me with the opportunity to come up with new ideas for my PhD project. It also gave me the chance to expand my professional networks, not only within the research community but also extending to scientific services and businesses, where I could find solutions for my experiments.

Hanh Minh Vo, PhD Candidate, Biological Sciences, School of Natural Sciences, University of Tasmania.

ComBio2022 was a fantastic opportunity for a young researcher like myself to present my current project on understanding how plants can rapidly response to dehydration. As the climate gets drier, it is crucial for us to understand what controls stress responses in plants, so we can improve plant tolerance in preparation for the near future.

I used my talk as a conversation starter to tell people about my current experiments and get feedback thereafter. I also talked to new people from various backgrounds on their own projects, both to satisfy my curiosity, and to gather possible ideas for my own research. For example, the work done by Dr. Lim Chee Liew using single-cell RNAseq and the conversation with her gave me some ideas about for my project. Even the opportunity to explore outside of my scope into human and animal research, was amazing. It gave me glimpses into what we have achieved and what I might be able to apply to plant research. Everyone was professional yet friendly and approachable, which is encouraging for new researchers to strike up a conversation.

I would like to thank the ASPS for the student travel grant that allowed me to join such a vibrant face-to-face gathering community. I would also like to specifically thank my supervisors Dr. Frances Sussmilch, Prof. Timothy Brodribb and Prof. Michael Charleston for their support throughout my PhD.

Lots of great tweets at @asps_ozplants

Our President Elect Professor Martha Ludwig would like to share an upcoming Special Issue in Plants:

Wishing students, researchers and teachers all the best for studying and preparations as the year is ending. Some of the plants in this article may help with motivation.

Please login and check your ASPS membership is up to date. Encourage your colleagues and students to join ASPS.

Tweet to @asps_ozplants your news and upcoming events and follow to keep up to date.

Welcome to Phytogen for August 2022. It is getting closer now to ComBio2022 in Melbourne next month. Below are several wonderful reports from ASPS2021 to inspire your talk and poster preparations for ComBio2022. Also remember to book tickets for our dinner:

Dear ASPS members,

ASPS will hold a dinner for Society members during ComBio 2022 following our AGM on Thursday 29th September.

This will be a two-course dinner including some drinks at Melbourne Public in the Docklands a short walk from the Conference venue.

The ticket prices for members are subsidised by the Society:

Students members for $30

Other members for $60

Additional tickets can be purchased for $90

Tickets are limited, so don’t delay. Book today HERE.

Please indicate any dietary requirements when booking your ticket.

Here is Simon Williams, one of the organisers of ASPS 2021, ANU.

“It was fantastic that, after such a long hiatus, we could organise a meeting that incorporated local face-to-face interaction with a national vibe, via the virtual awards session presentation. A sense of comradery was formed (and welcomed) working across states and territories with motivated, hardworking plant science-ASPS colleagues. The Hybrid-ASPS meeting was a great event for our society, providing an opportunity, particularly for EMCRs, to showcase their important plant science research.”

Aaron Phillips, University of Adelaide.

I started my PhD under Professor Rachel Burton in 2019 at the University of Adelaide. Soon after, as the world came screeching to a halt due to the pandemic, there were many uncertainties. Chief amongst them was not knowing when the academic world would resume face-to-face conferences. It seemed like we had to bear the burden of a mostly digital existence for a lifetime. But then an exciting email arrived, letting us know about ASPS2021 – an in-person conference, with nodes operating in all major cities around the country! What a fantastic opportunity this would be for the students of the pandemic to spread the word of their research and finally get some networking under our belts. And we were not disappointed!

ASPS2021 was the first conference I was able to attend during my candidature. This two-day conference really had it all – from understanding sub-cellular processes involved in osmotic stress, to the challenges surrounding growing plants in space, to learning how to be more effective plant science teachers. As this was my first conference, one of the biggest highlights was being able to present and discuss some of my research from the preceding two years. I had the opportunity to present a poster and talk about my work on wild rice (Oryza australiensis) abiotic stress tolerance and genome sequencing. I was incredibly nervous, but I’m so glad to have had this opportunity as I met and had interesting discussions with some wonderful people from other institutions who were able to shed new light on my findings. I value the connections made at ASPS2021 highly and look forward to the next face-to-face event immensely!

Pieter-Willem Hendriks, Charles Sturt University.

How good was it to finally meet people in person again? After two years of Covid19 forced online conferences. The ASPS2021 meeting was my first opportunity to listen in person to other scientists’ presentations and give a presentation on my PhD research. The introduction by president Peter Ryan was genuinely inspiring. He was questioning why plant science may seem to be ignored while it will be so crucial in the next few decades to answer critical questions such as food security for an increased world population combined with climate change challenges.

Besides the possibility of networking with local scientists, it was also an excellent opportunity to present the work from my thesis. It was a highlight to have dinner with senior scientists and receive their constructive observations and questions. This will have helped me set up my thesis’s last year and made me think about how to construct my final discussion.

I enjoyed the scope of the research presented in the morning by fellow researchers. The breadth of presentations went from subcellular structures such as aquaporins all the way to broad field breeding. It was great to see the work and passion of fellow early career and PhD students. I particularly enjoyed the reward talk for the Education and Outreach reward from Dr Kim Johnson and Dr Monika Doblin. Their way of bringing science to young students was inspiring.

Fiona Kang, PhD candidate, School of Biosciences, The University of Melbourne.

Having the opportunity to speak at the ASPS 2022 Victorian node meeting was experiencing the best of both worlds.

I had the comfort and flexibility of attending an Australia-wide conference at my doorstep, the opportunity to network with the local plant research groups in-person and to tune-in to the major advancements in the field of plant science happening all-across Australia. It would’ve been a technologically mammoth effort pulled by the organisers but as an attendee it was such a rewarding experience after a difficult and isolating pandemic. I had the pleasure of presenting my research, followed up by an invigorating, fruitful discussion that has had an overwhelmingly positive impact on my research. As a co-chair of the student session, I also had so much fun connecting with my fellow graduate students from different universities. We not only spoke about our research but shared stories of our dilemmas and accomplishments to be reminded that we are sharing the graduate study experience together. The ASPS2022 meeting certainly reaccelerated my motivation and passion for research and I look forward to their next conference.

To those of you who has made it this far and is wondering what I do for research, I study plant cell wall biosynthesis in a basal land plant, Marchantia polymorpha. My end goal is to modulate the cell wall sugar composition to better equip plants to tolerate the conditions that is becoming exceedingly unpredictable due to climate change.

Willem Joubert, University of Adelaide.

I attended Phytogen in Adelaide 2021 during my final year of completing a Bachelor of Viticulture & Oenology and was lucky enough to present the work undertaken in my honours project in poster form.

Attending the conference allowed me to connect with others in the plant science community, as well as provided me with insight into research being conducted to address issues in industries other than the wine industry.

It was a real privilege to present results from my honours project in poster format, along with a short presentation addressing conference attendees. The experience allowed me to build confidence in communicating the results of my work and the response of other attendees taking an interest in my work was quite uplifting.

I would strongly urge any student to take part in ASPS events if provided with the opportunity. It is a fantastic opportunity get a broader perspective on current and future research being conducted in the field of plant science. Not to mention the great networking opportunities and spectacular food provided by the ASPS!

Lina Herliana, University of Adelaide.

Attending ASPS 2021 (Australian Society of Plant Scientists) was a rewarding and memorable experience. I am Lina Herliana, an international student from Burton Lab at the University of Adelaide. I have studied the molecular mechanism underlying Plantago ovata (psyllium) seed and fruit development since mid-July 2018 under the supervision of Prof Rachel Burton, Dr Tina Bianco-Miotto and Dr Nathan Watson-Haigh. I would like to express my gratitude and appreciation to the University of Adelaide for sponsoring me with a generous scholarship and Prof Rachel Burton for supporting all my PhD projects, including attending this meeting. ASPS conference in 2021 was unique because it was a hybrid conference. Each state has in-person presentations on the same days, including Adelaide, on 25-26th November at National Wine Centre. Due to the Covid-19 pandemic restriction, we could not gather in one place as the previous year. However, I was still delighted because I had a chance to attend a face-to-face meeting in Adelaide during my final PhD year before returning to Indonesia. In total, there were 16 speakers and ten posters. Listening, learning, and talking about plant science was a thrilling experience. I was honoured that I had been selected to deliver a presentation. My talk was “De novo Genome Assembly and Annotation of Plantago ovata”. I explained the process of generating a reference genome and how we can use it to accelerate the P. ovata breeding program. This work was a foundation for studying the molecular mechanism behind mucilage production and shattering mechanisms.

Joanah Midzi, University of Adelaide.

As a PhD candidate, supervised by Dr Vinay Pagay at the University of Adelaide, I had the privilege of attending the ASPS 2021 meeting. I was excited to have been selected to present a poster on my research study entitled: ‘Drought stress-induced inter-vine signalling via plant volatiles’. The main focus of my study is on the role of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) as chemical signal molecules facilitating plant communication in grapevine. Understanding the mechanisms involved in VOCmediated interactions and identifying the specific VOCs responsible for defence priming could underpin sustainable and eco-friendly plant-protection strategies against both biotic and abiotic stressors in agriculture. The opportunity to interact with other post-graduate students interested in plant communication, as well as networking with seasoned researchers in the field, made the symposium the ideal platform for scientific exchange, which I believe is very important for early-career researchers as myself. The highlight of the day for me at the conference was that I was able to showcase may research and receive great feedback from eminent scientists who had the chance to view my poster. I would like to extend my gratitude to the ASPS committee for the opportunity to attend the ASPS meeting and I look forward to attend similar conferences before completing my PhD studies. As an ASPS student member, I have been fortunate to be awarded an ASPS post-graduate travel grant to attend yet another exciting academic forum, ComBio 2022 (Melbourne), where I will once again present my results on a poster.

Zane Marks, Honours Student, University of Adelaide.

My name is Zane Marks and in 2021 I took part in the ASPS conference as an honour’s student, preparing both a poster and short talk. This being my first time presenting in a professional capacity, there was a lot of research into what information I needed to present and what to say. I presented my research on the effect of seed priming on hemp and barley germination. As I was near the end of honours this provided a good opportunity to get to know fellow researchers as well as find out what options were available to me post-graduation. There were some incredible insights from the GDRC about the acquisitions of scholarship. There were some very refreshing and realistic insights from university scholars into the future of both industry and academia. The presentations themselves were incredibly impressive ranging from AI developed recognition of organelles within a cell to the nutritional content of Plantago. As my poster went up there was no shortage of people curious about my work and my understanding of the significance of my results. This also gave me good insight into possible avenues for investigation as well as just general ideas both careerwise and how to handle myself in a professional setting. Overall the conference was a valuable insight into the future of research and what career paths are available to young scientists.

Lauren Philp-Dutton, Flinders University of South Australia.

Last year I attended the ASPS conference at the National Wine Centre in Adelaide where I got the opportunity to present some of my research in the form of a poster. My PhD has focussed on mitochondrial alternative pathway and the role it plays in abiotic stress tolerance in bread wheat. It was great to be able to share some of my findings with other plant scientists and thank you to the APPF and ASPS for awarding me the best student poster! I also got the chance to co-chair one of the sessions which was something I had never done before and pushed me out of my comfort zone, but it turned out to be quite enjoyable as well as a great learning experience.

The conference was an excellent opportunity to talk and network with other researchers interested in plant science. I really enjoyed listening to the talks and looking at the different poster presentations on such a wide range of plant research. It’s amazing to see how broad of a field plant science really is. I also particularly enjoyed the EMCR plant science forum, its always so interesting to hear about how other scientists started and progressed in their research career, and the different pathways they have taken.

The ASPS did a fantastic job of hosting the conference during such a difficult time. If you can, I highly recommend attending the next ASPS conference next year in Tasmania!

Vanessa Tonet, PhD candidate, Discipline of Biological Sciences, University of Tasmania.

 ASPS21 was the first conference I was allowed to attend in real person and I had the great opportunity to share some exciting results with other plant scientists in Hobart, Tasmania. I gave an oral talk that initiated a very stimulating conversation around leaf water transport system. As the environment is getting dried and drier, plants need to face more intense and more frequent drought events that impact their fitness and survival. We are now assisting to unprecedented rates of tree mortality. Understand how water moves through leaves and how they respond to dehydration is the major goal of my research.

This conference was a great opportunity to refine my skills as an oral presenter, and I’m glad the environment was friendly even if professional. At ASPS21, I was able to meet many scientists with different backgrounds but that can collaborate to bring together exciting discoveries, unravelling the fantastic world of plants.

Sam Henderson, Postdoctoral Researcher, School of Agriculture, Food and Wine, University of Adelaide.

The 2021 ASPS meeting was held at the National Wine Centre in Adelaide in November. This was the first time in two years that I attended a face-to-face conference due to the pandemic. It was good seeing many familiar faces in person and meeting several plant scientists who have moved to Adelaide recently.

I was fortunate to be selected to present unpublished research on the plant electroneutral cation-chloride cotransporters, which I first began studying at the University of Adelaide in 2010. Thanks to the ASPS and the local organising committee for their support and for giving me an opportunity to share my work.

Some highlights of the meeting included a great talk by Sunita Ramesh on the mechanisms of anion and GABA flux through the wheat ALMT1 protein, which is important for abiotic stress tolerance. Sunita has pioneered the rapidly expanding field of plant GABA research as it relates to ion channel function. Another interesting presentation was given by Jiaen Qiu, describing how water and ion conductivity of the aquaporin PIP2;1 is regulated, including the potential involvement of intracellular loop D. This would represent remarkable conservation between plants and animals, as the analogous loop D in human aquaporin-1 also regulates its activity.

The local organising committee, led by Megan Shelden, did a wonderful job delivering a high quality, professional symposium. I was pleased to re-join the Australian plant science community and was impressed by the kindness and inclusivity of our ASPS members.

 See you in Melbourne soon …..    https://www.combio.org.au/combio2022/

#ComBio2022 The Programme Timetable, Plenary and Symposium Schedule’s are looking great.

Please login and check your ASPS membership is up to date. Encourage your colleagues and students to join ASPS.

Tweet to @asps_ozplants your news and upcoming events and follow to keep up to date.

Welcome to Phytogen for July 2022.

In this issue:

• ASPS Awards 2022
• Science and Technology Annual Professional Scientist Employment and Renumeration Survey
• National ScienceWeek 2022 – 13th-21st August and National Science Quiz 7th August
• Next Superstars of STEM
• Plant Cell Atlas
• State of the Environment 2021
• ASPS Carers’ Support Travel Grants for ComBio2022

Announcing ASPS awards 2022

********Congratulations*********

Jan Anderson Award – Frances Sussmilch, University of Tasmania

Peter Goldacre Medal – Maria Ermakova, Australian National University

J.G. Wood Award – Rudi Appels, University of Melbourne

Education and Outreach Award: Adelaide University 2021 National Science Week Team

RN Robertson Travelling Fellowships (1) Oscar Fung (Melb Univ) will visit the John Innes Centre, UK; (2) Nattiwong Pankasem (Uni California San Diego) will visit the ANU.

tenor.com

Student Travel Grant recipients:

Anoma Sudarshani Rangalage     UQ
Andrew Tuckey UWA
Abi Ghifari           UWA
Sabrina Davies   UWA
Hanh Minh Vo   UTas
Kim Melville       UWA
Pravin Khambalkar          ANU
Carl McCombe  ANU
Nipuni Peththa Thanthrige           QUT
Joanah Midzi      UoA
Daniel Hawkins UoA
Ming Cheng        UQ
Zheng Gong        UQ
Yuhan Liu             UQ
Hannah Drieberg Wilkins               UQ
Rebecca Degnan               UQ
Yan Zhang           UQ
Samantha Norman          UWA
Suyan Yee           ANU
Bao Linh Ton      UWA
Rose Zhang         ANU
Judith Eglitis-Sexton       UQ
Leroy Mangila    UQ
Mabel Gill-Hille  UWA

Science and Technology Australia and Professionals Australia Annual Survey – closes 7th August 2022.

Science & Technology Australia and Professionals Australia invite you to participate in the annual Professional Scientist Employment and Remuneration Survey.

Through this survey, you will contribute to the most comprehensive benchmark report of scientist remuneration and employment conditions in Australia. The survey will also provide important insights into the unprecedented and continuing impact that COVID19 has had on Australia’s scientific workforce.

Your responses will provide an important glimpse into Australia’s science sector which, in turn, will help us advocate with and for this sector to Government, policymakers and the Australian public. The more scientists who participate, the more comprehensive and meaningful these results will be.

What do people need to know?The survey takes 10-15 minutes to complete.
It is entirely anonymous.
It is open to all science professionals in Australia.
All survey participants can enter the draw to win one of two $500 JB HiFi vouchers.
The survey closes on 7 August 2022.

TAKE THE SURVEY

National Science Week 2022 – 13th-21st August 2022 and National Science Quiz 7th August.

Many events (August 13th-21st 2022) are happening nationally. It features more than 1000 events around Australia, including those delivered by universities, schools, research institutions, libraries, museums and science centres. Find an Event

In the lead up to Science Week is: The National Science Quiz hosted by Charlie Pickering on the 7th August 2022. Attend in person at Fed Square Melbourne, or play along online for cash prizes!

Two teams of Australia’s top scientists, with special guest team captains Nate Byrne meteorologist and weather presenter for ABC-TV’s News Breakfast and Lawrence Leung comedian and host of Our Brain on ABC-TV, will battle it out to be this year’s National Science Quiz champions.

www.nationalsciencequiz.com.au

Superstars of STEM – closes 14th August 2022.

A nationwide search has begun for Australia’s next constellation of Superstars of STEM – a game-changing initiative to advance gender equity by turning more diverse science experts into media stars.

Industry and Science Minister Ed Husic will launch the national talent search today for the program, run by Science & Technology Australia and funded by the Australian Government.

“Australia needs to draw on the full diversity of our talent pool to deliver the next huge science and technology breakthroughs and galvanise STEM gender equity to strengthen our skilled workforce,” Minister Husic said.

“Visible diverse role models in the media and in our schools send a powerful message to the next generations of diverse young Australians that there is a place for them in STEM.

“Our Government is committed to supporting programs that equip Australian smarts with the skills to confidently communicate their research and be recognised for their work.”

Open to women and non-binary STEM professionals, the program has created 150 Superstars of STEM since 2017. Another 60 more Superstars will be chosen this round.

Science & Technology Australia CEO Misha Schubert said the program tangibly helped diverse young Australians to see themselves in science and technology careers.

“It’s really hard to be what you can’t see,” she said. “Women are around half the Australian population – and yet are seriously under-represented in STEM careers and leadership, and, at last count, only one in three experts talking about science in the media were women.”

“To fix the visibility challenges, we need to create even more diverse role models who are household names appearing regularly in the media as science experts and authorities.”

“The program is transforming and challenging ideas about what a scientist looks like, turbo-charging gender equity in science, and giving more young Australians inspiring role models to encourage them into STEM studies and careers.”

The Superstars of STEM program has nurtured media stars such as health expert Dr Kudzai Kanhutu (now a regular on ABC’s The Drum), mask safety expert Dr Kate Cole (whose media work led to stronger safety checks on masks amid a pandemic), whale expert Dr Vanessa Pirotta (seen on a vast array of media) and Gamilaraay astrophysicist Karlie Noon (author of the new book Sky Country).

“Visible role models matter,” said Superstar of STEM Dr Cayt Rowe, a STEM research leader with Defence Science and Technology Group (DSTG) in the Department of Defence.

“In its first few years, the Superstars of STEM program has started to powerfully boost the visibility of Australian women in science. It’s shown how building a media profile can turbo-charge careers, helping to secure leadership roles,” she added.

“Superstars of STEM has meant more women STEM experts on our airwaves and in the nightly news bulletins,” said Superstar of STEM Pearl Li Ng, a Digital Implementation Manager at engineering company Aurecon.

“The program gives participants the skills, knowledge and opportunities to become regular media commentators,” she added.

Superstar of STEM and CSIRO conservation team leader Dr Rebecca Jordan said the program had given her opportunities to inspire more Australian young people into exciting careers in the sciences.

“It’s been such an incredible experience to be able to do school visits, open young people’s eyes to the joys of studying science, and inspire them into future careers as scientists. I can’t wait to see some of them as future Superstars of STEM.”

The next 60 Superstars of STEM will participate in the program for two years, starting in January 2023. Applications are open now and close on Sunday 14 August 2022.

Plant Cell Atlas – was at Plant Biology July 2022.

The Plant Cell Atlas was involved in the Plant Biology 2022 conference at the beginning of July. To learn about the Plant Cell Atlas initiative or find out about the amazing current research being done by scientists from the Plant Cell Atlas community (@CellAtlas) milestones can be viewed here: Motivation and Goals.

Australia State of the Environment 2021 – released July 2022.

Click: Explore all chapters in the report to access the report chapters online. Good for a study, research or work break to bring you up to date.

ASPS Carers’ Support Travel Grant for ComBio2022

Since interstate conference attendance is often difficult for ASPS members who are primary carers of young or high needs children, the Society has set aside funds to mitigate this situation and allow the professional development of these members to continue. These funds will provide return air fares to the conference location for a support person to accompany eligible ASPS members with dependent preschool age children (0-4 years) or children with high needs. The award is open to general members and students whose child-caring duties would normally prevent them from travelling due to their circumstances or because alternative child-minding options are unavailable. Note that the accompanying carer need not be a parent or legal guardian.

Support will be awarded on first in first served basis and will vary from year to year depending on the Society finances, meeting location and the number of applications. The Treasurer will apply a formula in calculating individual entitlements and take these factors into account.

Applicants (and their supervisor if applicant is a student) must be financial members of ASPS. Funding is contingent on the applicant having an accepted poster or oral presentation at the conference. Assessment will begin from 15 August 2022. We are ready to receive your applications: ASPS Carers’ Support-Travel-Grant-for-ComBio2022

See you in Melbourne soon …..    https://www.combio.org.au/combio2022/

#ComBio2022 The Programme Timetable, Plenary and Symposium Schedule’s are looking great.

Please login and check your ASPS membership is up to date. Encourage your colleagues and students to join ASPS.

Tweet to @asps_ozplants your news and upcoming events and follow to keep up to date.

Dear ASPS Members,

 Hello ASPS members,

The June edition of Phytogen is out now and can be accessed HERE.

A reminder that the 2022 Annual Meeting for the Australian Society of Plant Scientists will be held in Melbourne (27-30 September) as part of ComBIO2022  (see ComBio2022 ).

ComBIO is the joint meeting of five biological and genetics societies from Australia and New Zealand. It provides us all with the opportunity to experience a much larger and exciting meeting and hear outstanding international and local speakers from the plant and animal worlds (including Nobel Laureate Jennifer Doudna). Among the wide range of symposia are streams dedicated to plant biology, signalling and evolution.

Deadline for Abstracts is Friday 24 JUNE – see the website.   

Note: Student members of ASPS who attend ComBIO and present a talk or poster are eligible to receive funding to support their travel. See ASPS website HERE.

We encourage everyone to participate.  

Peter

This Friday is the 24th June and hopefully you are managing to form together your abstracts and will be able to submit for the early bird registration. Here are some pointers from the ComBio 2022 website:

• Abstracts cannot be accepted without prior registration and payment of a registration fee.
• All abstracts must be submitted online via this page.
• Abstracts sent as attachments will not be accepted.
• Abstract submission is restricted to one oral or one poster communication per registrant. However, those registrants submitting an abstract in the “Education” theme are also welcome to submit an additional abstract relevant to another theme.

After you submit your abstract by 24th June 2022, students are encouraged to apply for travel awards to pay for travel to ComBio2022.

Here is the link: https://www.asps.org.au/awards/combio-travel-awards-2 Your applications have to be in by 4th July 2022.

Very topical is the price of lettuce. Here are some articles you might find interesting; 

Freshmark representing the central markets across Australia, explains crops lost to the floods and now cooler winter conditions will cause shortages in fresh produce to continue.

The Winter 2022 issue of Vegetables Australia also has an article on page 16 describing the floods in New South Wales and Queensland that occurred in April 2022. The magazine has many interesting articles, R&D, reports on horticultural meetings, innovation and high tech, another on page 58 investigates urban horticulture.

Insider Guides, International Student Resources have a link from their article to the seasonal food guide to explore what is available in the meantime seasonally:

PB2022 registration at lowest rates ended June 8 2022. On Demand Plant Biology Extended will be available for purchase for those not able to attend the meeting in person. More details to come…..

Please login and check your ASPS membership is up to date. Encourage your colleagues and students to join ASPS. Go to: https://www.asps.org.au/members/join

Tweet to @asps_ozplants your news and upcoming events.

Hi ASPS members,

May Phytogen can be accessed HERE.

The local ASPS organising committee would like to gently remind you that early bird registration for ComBio 2022 (Melbourne, 27-30^th Sept) closes June 24^th.

This conference is a great opportunity to meet friends and colleagues face-to-face after long periods of zoom-based interactions.

As per usual there is an excellent line up of plenary speakers. The highlight being Nobel Laureate Jennifer Doudna and the two plant-specific speakers Siobhan Brady and Niko Geldner.

Attached (ComBio2022TT) is an outline of the program.

The plant stream symposia are as follows:

EXTRACELLULAR MATRICES

PLANT DEVELOPMENT

PLANT GENOMICS, GENETICS & GENE EDITING

FROM LAB TO FIELD

PHOTOSYNTHESIS & CARBOHYDRATES

PLANT WATER TRANSPORT & UTILIZATION

PLANT SUCCESS – ENLISTING THE POWER OF MODELS

REPRODUCTION & SEED BIOLOGY

PLANTS & THEIR ENVIRONMENTS

Importantly, there is also ASPS student travel support for conference attendance (application due 4 July 2022):

https://combio.org.au/combio2022/student.html

As a small favour could we ask you to print out the attached ComBio2022 flyer and distribute in your department/institute to help with advertising.

Please do come along and enjoy the science, cold/wet Melbourne and the opportunity to socialise.

Looking forward to seeing you all,

John/Ros (ASPS – LOC ComBio)

ComBio2022: 27 – 30 September 2022, Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre
Early Registration & Abstract Deadline: Friday, 24 June 2022
https://combio.org.au/combio2022/

After a long pause in our plans, we are very pleased to advise that the ComBio2022 online registration and abstract submission forms are now available at:

https://www.combio.org.au/cgi-bin/combio-registration-form.cgi
and
https://www.combio.org.au/cgi-bin/combio-abstract-form.cgi respectively.

This will be a full face-to-face meeting.

ComBio2022 is a combination of five societies holding their annual meetings:

Australian Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
Australian Society of Plant Scientists
Australia and New Zealand Society for Cell and Developmental Biology
Genetics Society of AustralAsia
New Zealand Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology

The program timetable can be accessed from: https://combio.org.au/combio2022/timetable.html

You can also see the plenary speakers and their photographs and biographies at:
https://combio.org.au/combio2022/plenary.html

We are pleased to advise that this year, the very popular “Career Development Forum” will be almost a full day of sessions held on Tuesday, 27 September offsite. 


Further information:

Sally Jay
combio@asbmb.org.au

Hi ASPS members,

May Phytogen can be accessed HERE.

The local ASPS organising committee would like to gently remind you that early bird registration for ComBio 2022 (Melbourne, 27-30^th Sept) closes June 24^th.

This conference is a great opportunity to meet friends and colleagues face-to-face after long periods of zoom-based interactions.

As per usual there is an excellent line up of plenary speakers. The highlight being Nobel Laureate Jennifer Doudna and the two plant-specific speakers Siobhan Brady and Niko Geldner.

Attached (ComBio2022TT) is an outline of the program.

The plant stream symposia are as follows:

EXTRACELLULAR MATRICES

PLANT DEVELOPMENT

PLANT GENOMICS, GENETICS & GENE EDITING

FROM LAB TO FIELD

PHOTOSYNTHESIS & CARBOHYDRATES

PLANT WATER TRANSPORT & UTILIZATION

PLANT SUCCESS – ENLISTING THE POWER OF MODELS

REPRODUCTION & SEED BIOLOGY

PLANTS & THEIR ENVIRONMENTS

Importantly, there is also ASPS student travel support for conference attendance (application due 4 July 2022):

https://combio.org.au/combio2022/student.html

As a small favour could we ask you to print out the attached ComBio2022 flyer and distribute in your department/institute to help with advertising.

Please do come along and enjoy the science, cold/wet Melbourne and the opportunity to socialise.

Looking forward to seeing you all,

John/Ros (ASPS – LOC ComBio)

ComBio2022: 27 – 30 September 2022, Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre
Early Registration & Abstract Deadline: Friday, 24 June 2022
https://combio.org.au/combio2022/

After a long pause in our plans, we are very pleased to advise that the ComBio2022 online registration and abstract submission forms are now available at:

https://www.combio.org.au/cgi-bin/combio-registration-form.cgi
and
https://www.combio.org.au/cgi-bin/combio-abstract-form.cgi respectively.

This will be a full face-to-face meeting.

ComBio2022 is a combination of five societies holding their annual meetings:

Australian Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
Australian Society of Plant Scientists
Australia and New Zealand Society for Cell and Developmental Biology
Genetics Society of AustralAsia
New Zealand Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology

The program timetable can be accessed from: https://combio.org.au/combio2022/timetable.html

You can also see the plenary speakers and their photographs and biographies at:
https://combio.org.au/combio2022/plenary.html

We are pleased to advise that this year, the very popular “Career Development Forum” will be almost a full day of sessions held on Tuesday, 27 September offsite. 


Further information:

Sally Jay
combio@asbmb.org.au