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Name: Aruna
Kilaru
Title: Postdoctoral Research Associate
Place of work or school: University of North Texas
Research area: Lipid Signaling and Hormone Physiology
E-mail: kilaru@unt.edu
Member since: 2001
1. Has being a member of ASPB helped you in your career? If so, how?
I was a doctoral student when I joined ASPB. I have benefited from the
access to online journals, newsletter, and job postings and reduced registration
fee to the ASPB meetings (sectional and annual). But most of all, I continue
to gain inspiration from the community of plant sciences; specifically,
the wide range of symposia, discussions with peers, and up-to-date information
on plant sciences at the annual meetings have provided a broader perspective
of my own research and a sense of direction. Interactions with researchers
at the meetings generated collaborations and also aided me in finding
a postdoctoral mentor.
2. Why has being
a member of ASPB been important?
A sense of belonging! Most of my friends switched from plant sciences
to animal sciences under the presumption that the latter provide better
career opportunities. However, my continuing interactions with ASPB members
helped me see not only what we all do as plant biologists, but also what
we can do together for the progress of the field. I realize that opportunities
are limited only by our imagination. The Society inculcated a familial
relationship with other plant biologists, without which I would find myself
in a labyrinth.
3. Was someone
instrumental in getting you to join ASPB?
Professor Karl H. Hasenstein, my PhD adviser at University of Louisiana,
Lafayette, encouraged our lab members to join ASPB. He believed in the
need for students to interact and communicate with peers and relentlessly
supported our travel to ASPB annual meetings. After my first meeting,
I referred several colleagues to join ASPB.
4. What would you
tell nonmembers to encourage them to join?
Progress in plant biology is a cooperative effort. As Henry Ford said
about teamwork, “Coming together is a beginning. Keeping together
is progress. Working together is success.” ASPB membership is the
beginning.
5. Have you gotten
a job using ASPB job postings or through networking at the annual meeting?
Yes, I interacted with Professor Kent Chapman at an ASPB meeting, subsequent
to which I gladly responded to his advertisement for a postdoctoral position
on the ASPB site.
6. Have you hired
anyone as a result of a job posting at the meeting or on our online Job
Bank?
Not yet, but I certainly hope to in the future.
7. Do you still
read print journals? Where do you usually read them: work, home, library,
in the car, on the bus?
I enjoy flipping through the print journals and am always delighted to
look at the cover page. But most often, I print articles of interest to
read at a later time, either waiting for my daughter to finish her after-school
activities, on weekends, or during travel.
8. What do you
think is the next “big thing” in plant biology?
Interestingly (and unfortunately), politics seems to decide the next “big
thing” in science; I wonder what is after global warming and biofuels.
Personally, I think we are in an era of exploding –omics.
The breadth of information we are gaining is overwhelming. With this knowledge,
it will soon be time for us to reach the depths of basic physiology and
biochemistry of plants, specifically in response to stress (biotic and
abiotic); we will see more receptors, signaling molecules, multiple pathways,
and lipid–hormone cross-talks . . . back to basics.
9. What person,
living or dead, do you most admire?
Several people (family, friends, teachers, at times even a stranger) had
an influence in shaping my life. Most of all, my grandparents and my PhD
adviser are the ones whom I admire the most; they are the epitome of hard
work, dedication, and passion. They not only provided education and discipline
but encouraged me to discover myself.
10. What are you
reading these days?
You mean if there is time left between doing experiments and answering
a 10-year-old, reading science, and nonsense …just kidding! I enjoy
reading, mostly narrative authors; some of my favorites are Gabriel García
Márquez, José Saramago, Salman Rushdie, etc. Currently,
I am reading Rembrandt’s Whore by Sylvie Matton, The Hungry
Tide by Amitav Ghosh, and The Trial of Socrates by I. F. Stone.
11. What are your
hobbies?
Research, reading, Rachana (challenging time with my daughter)! I also
enjoy travel, photography, and dance.
12. What is your
most treasured possession?
Experiences and memories; good and bad, they are truly (and only) mine.
I cherish them.
13. What do you
still have left to learn?
There is so much to learn; the day I can answer all the questions of a
child, I will feel learned. On my wish list, however, is learning German
and Bharatanatyam (an Indian classical dance).
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