ASPB members share a common goal of promoting the growth, development, and outreach of plant biology as a pure and applied science. This column features some of the dedicated and innovative members of ASPB who believe that membership in our Society is crucial to the future of plant biology. If you are interested in contributing to this feature, please contact ASPB Membership at info@aspb.org.

Membership Corner

Name: Anita Klein
Title: Associate professor, biochemistry and molecular biology; temporary assignment, program officer
Place of Work or School: University of New Hampshire; on leave at the National Science Foundation
Research Area: Molecular population genetics and evolution
Member since: early 1980s

1. Why has being a member of ASPB been important?
ASPB provides a strong community that stimulates me intellectually and supports me emotionally. I read both The Plant Cell and Plant Physiology.

2. Was someone instrumental in getting you to join ASPB?
All of the faculty and graduate students at Michigan State University–Department of Energy Plant Research Lab, where I did my PhD work, were members. My postdoc adviser was a member. It was natural for me to join as soon as I could afford to.

3. What would you tell colleagues to encourage them to join?
There are dozens of good reasons: ASPB puts on great meetings (the recent Plant Genetics meeting in Snowbird, Utah, was fantastic), publishes excellent books (Biochemistry & Molecular Biology of Plants, by Buchanan, Gruissem, and Jones) and journals (Plant Physiology and The Plant Cell), and provides a collective voice in communicating the importance of our science to the public. These things don’t happen without a professional organization. Our organization has had excellent leadership and really makes things happen.

4. Have you enhanced your career using ASPB job postings or through networking at an ASPB function?
My first ASPB meeting was in Pullman, Washington, in 1980, a few months after the volcanic eruption of Mount St. Helen. The science was great, but what was most important for me was the opportunity to meet investigators who were recruiting postdocs. After the meeting, my CV was passed on to Oliver Nelson, Jr., another long-term ASPB member. Oliver subsequently made me an offer for my dream postdoc position, a chance to work on Barbara McClintock’s transposable elements.

5. Have you had any success at finding candidates as a result of a job posting at the Plant Biology meeting or on our online Job Bank?
I haven’t had occasion to seek an applicant.

6. Do you read print journals? If so, where do you usually read them?
I read both The Plant Cell and Plant Physiology. I usually read them in my office, over lunch. Having the online version is extremely helpful when I want to look up older references: My office is too small to hold back issues for more than a couple of years.

7. What do you think is the next “big thing” in plant biology?
Integrative plant biology—from genes and molecules to complex phenotypes.

8. What person, living or deceased, do you most admire?
It is hard to narrow this down to one person: for science, Barbara McClintock; for his impact on the modern world, Nelson Mandela; for her long-term creativity in science and her efforts to help others, Debby Delmer.

9. What are you reading these days?
Jared Diamond’s Collapse and Cristina Garcia’s The Aguero Sisters. I generally have a couple of books representing different genres on my bedside table.

10. What are your hobbies?
The same ones I’ve had since graduate school: bicycling and cross-country skiing.

11. What is your most treasured possession?
The experience of watching the Boston Red Sox win the World Series for the first time in 86 years!

12. What do you still have left to learn?
How to contribute to making the world a better place in my lifetime.