WOMEN IN PLANT BIOLOGY

Leaving Plant Science
by Jennifer Henry
Former Managing Editor, Functional Plant Biology (Australia); Publishing Manager, Nature Publishing Group (New York); j.henry@natureny.com

In December 2007, my career as editor of Functional Plant Biology (FPB, based in Melbourne, Australia) took a sharp right turn when I accepted a position as publishing manager with Nature Publishing Group, based in New York.

I had long dreamed of moving to the United States, and every time I was able to get to an ASPB meeting, I would lap up the sights, the food, the accents, and the culture. I also loved terrifying new audiences with Vegemite tastings. Honolulu (2003) was my first meeting, and I had been trying to track down one of my FPB reviewers, the elusive Steve Long, for days when I finally bumped into him at the starting line for the Plant Runner’s Stampede! That meeting will always have a special place in my memory for another reason, as it was there that I realized I was pregnant with my first daughter. I also met John Kiss, who encouraged me to write a piece or two (which turned into four!) for the Women in Plant Biology column.

By the time of the Seattle meeting (2005), word was out, and I had to bring a large jar of Vegemite! Whenever I see the Space Needle on Gray’s Anatomy, I remember that sunny week in a great city. Particularly memorable was my visit to Gerry Edwards’s lab in Pullman, Wash.; he took me cherry picking on the way back to the airport!

At each ASPB meeting, I got to know the wonderful ASPB office bearers better (bring back the Seattle foot massagers, John!) and also meet so many brilliant U.S. researchers. I had enjoyed e-mail correspondence with many of them as authors and reviewers for FPB, so meeting them face to face at last was a bonus—certainly one of the most valuable aspects of international conferences.

My third ASPB meeting, in Chicago last year, was also great for networking, particularly with other plant science editors and publishers. I met Peter Minorsky and Don Ort and had a great time at the Plant Cell–Plant Physiology Editorial Board dinner. Nancy Winchester scurried away every time I approached her with that plate of Vegemite crackers. I had an application in with Nature at the time and nervously checked my messages several times a day, lest they take me up on my offer to fly myself over to New York for a meet-and-greet. That job never came through, but a subsequent application did; in fact, I actually applied for 12 different positions over five years with Nature in New York, and it finally paid off!

Moving one’s life from Australia to New York in the space of six weeks is no mean feat, particularly with two daughters under four, a husband who had only just resumed his career after six months as a stay-at-home dad, and an only-just-completed home renovation. Before we left, I even practiced U.S.-style cooking by whipping up a dish of buffalo wings for my family. Hmm, a taste of things to come? This meal had 70% meat, 25% fat, and a mere 5% vegetable matter. We didn’t know where to put the blue cheese dressing (On top? Do we dip?), and where does the celery go?

I started work here in January, and the job is like New York: exhausting, thrilling, frustrating, full-on, colorful, overwhelming, coffee-fueled, and thoroughly rewarding. I love every minute of it! My office in Soho has a great view over the water. I am surrounded by wonderful, enthusiastic, skilled, and supportive staff and management. I saw Steven Spielberg the other day while walking to my local subway station. I must have gained three pounds already from trying all the new food, but I also get up at 6 a.m. a few times a week to jog around Prospect Park in Brooklyn. We constantly get stopped on the street so people can listen to our girls’ “cute accents.”

Rather than reading, reviewing, and accepting plant science manuscripts, my job now revolves around facilitating smooth relationships between societies and their (actual or potential) publishers. I oversee the publishing of four biomedical journals and fight fires daily in production, web publishing, marketing, strategy, and budgeting.

So what do I miss? Australian plants, particularly the smell of the Australian bush. One day, as a treat, I will buy a bunch of eucalyptus stems to fill my house with the scent.

I also miss keeping up with plant science research. I am learning about fascinating developments in hypertension research, nephrology, dermatology, and clinical pharmacology, but I do miss the world of zeaxanthin, anthocyanins, Rubisco, signal transduction, and plant biotechnology. It is great to see so much climate change research in the popular press—articles about the carbon footprint consequences of supporting our carnivorous habits and biofuels research, for example—and the world is starting to listen en masse. I pester the Nature Biotechnology editors regularly to add more plant science content. I often ask management why they don’t have more plant science titles in their ever-growing stable of journals, and I will continue to do so!

Working in plant science publishing for eight years has given me a heightened love of plants and a recognition of their beauty, adaptability, and usefulness that I hope to pass on to my children. Thank you all for being so brilliant, committed, passionate, and driven in your efforts to further plant science. I will miss you all (and particularly the chance to get to Mérida)!

View past columns of Women in Plant Biology at http://www.aspb.org/newsletter/wipb.cfm.