Purdue University Professor Nick Carpita has become an officer of the American Society of Plant Biologists as Secretary. His tenure began October 1, 2005. As Secretary, Carpita chairs the ASPB program committee which plans and arranges the programs for all ASPB meetings. The ASPB annual meeting will be held August 5-9, 2006 in Boston. Carpita also keeps the official minutes of the ASPB Executive Committee.

”It is an honor to serve one of the finest scientific societies in the world today, Carpita said. With a membership of nearly 6000 that spans six continents, The American Society of Plant Biologists not only is a powerful group that promotes and disseminates the latest research in plant biology, but also provides a forum for public awareness of how this research impacts agriculture and human society.”

Carpita earned his degree in biological sciences at Purdue in 1972 and Ph.D. in plant physiology at Colorado State University in 1977. His post-doctoral work from 1977 to 1979 was at the Michigan State University Department of Energy Plant Research Laboratory where he studied biology of the plant cell wall.

Returning to Purdue in 1979 as assistant professor in the Department of Botany and Plant Pathology, Carpita became professor in 1989.

Carpita studies the unique cell wall of cereals and related species. He conducts research on the synthesis of cell wall polysaccharides in vitro. He heads a team of plant biologists at five institutions that use Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy as a high throughput method to recognize genetic mutations in maize and Arabidopsis that cause defects in cell wall composition. This program hopes to define biological functions for many of the 2,500 genes expected to be involved in wall biogenesis and disassembly.

“Plants and Civilization” is an undergraduate course Carpita teaches that traces the history of agriculture and the broad impacts plants have on human civilization. He teaches a graduate course on plant carbohydrate chemistry and various methods courses and research workshops for undergraduate honors students.

Carpita has served on several competitive grants panels, including those of the U.S. Department of Agriculture National Research Initiative and U.S. Department of Energy’s Energy Biosciences program.

ASPB publishes two of the most frequently cited plant science journals: The Plant Cell and Plant Physiology. The Society, founded in 1924, is headquartered in Rockville, Maryland.