Name: Muhammad Sohail Akram
Title: Research Scholar
Place of Work or School: SBS, University of the Punjab, Pakistan, and MU–PTCF, Columbia, Missouri 
Research Area: Plant Genetic Engineering/Crop Biotechnology
Member Since: 2009  

1. Has being a member of ASPB helped you in your career? If so, how?
Yes. With every day that passes, ASPB helps me to improve my knowledge and to make new contacts. I just have a one-year association with the Society, that affiliation helps build my professional approach as an early career researcher. I do hope that being a member of this prestigious organization will allow me many more opportunities in the future, and writing this article for Membership Corner is just one of those.  

2. Why has being a member of ASPB been important to you?
Being a member of ASPB, I have opportunities to access two highly-rated journals—Plant Physiology and The Plant Cell—to learn what’s going on in the field of plant science, to make new contacts with scientists all over the world, to keep apprised of new discoveries and technologies related to my field, to get discounts for registration fees and various biotech products, and to nominate myself for various awards announced by the Society.

3. Was someone instrumental in getting you to join ASPB?
No, it was my personal decision. I wanted to join a society, so I searched on the Internet for different societies and finally made the decision to join ASPB. I think I chose one of the best. Why? Because ASPB is giving equal emphasis to all fields of plant science.

4. What would you tell nonmembers to encourage them to join?
ASPB is providing a lot of opportunities to scientists/young researchers from all fields of plant science. The Society is involved in organizing conferences and meetings. It encourages its members to write articles, giving them a platform to discuss their scientific issues and to make scientific contacts. The Society publishes two high-quality journals as well as books. One should have a membership to a plant society for a better future career. I think if anyone begins searching for societies, he or she will find ASPB at the top. 

5. Have you found a job or hired anyone using ASPB job postings or networking at the annual meeting?
Not yet. But I always read ASPB job postings and forward them to my friends and colleagues. They always reply back to me with good remarks. 

6. Do you still read print journals? If so, where do you usually read them: work, home, library, in the car, on the bus, or somewhere else?
I prefer to read e-journals. If an article seems important to me, then I make a hard copy of it. To keep print journals (in the office or lab) in an organized way is a tedious job.

7. Have there been any issues in plant biology in which you thought ASPB should be involved or that led you to consider becoming active in the governance of the Society, and if so, what were they?
Yes, I would like ASPB to take steps that lead to effective involvement of graduate students and young researchers from Pakistan in the field of plant science. 

8. What do you see as the most important role for scientific societies such as ASPB?
The most important role for scientific societies is to bring scientists, students, farmers, and industrialists from all over the world closer together.

9. What advice would you give to a plant scientist just starting out?
I personally need advice, as I am just starting my career. But I would like to say always be positive. Sometimes, you don’t get your desired results or job, but try to look at the bright side. You will find many opportunities.   

10. What do you think is the most important discovery in plant biology over the past year and why?
No one particular discovery in 2009 jumps out at me.

11. What do you think is the next “big thing” in plant biology?
The use of small plant RNA (sRNA) species in understanding the biosynthetic pathways and the use of plants/crops for biofuel.

12. What person, living or deceased, do you most admire?
Professor Dr. Atta-Ur-Rehman, former chairman, Higher Education Commission of Pakistan. He, with his personal scientific vision, totally changed the quality of higher education in Pakistan within a few years. Thanks, Dr. Atta-Ur-Rehman. You did a lot for the Pakistani nation.

13. What are you reading these days?
Scientific journals such as Plant Physiology, The Plant Cell, Trends in Plant Science, and so on.

14. What do you still have left to learn?
There are still many things for me to learn on the research bench and in the field of life.

15. What could ASPB do better?
ASPB should provide special opportunities for young researchers from developing countries. For a prosperous world, we have to involve all nations.