2007 Midwest ASPB Annual Meeting Summary The Midwest Sectional meeting of the ASPB was held at the Michigan State University campus on March 24th and 25th. The meeting was organized by Dr. Susanne Hoffman-Benning and Colleen Doherty. Over 140 persons attended the conference from throughout the Midwest section and 69 abstracts were submitted. Dr. Mike Tomashow, past president of ASPB, welcomed the students to the meeting. Dr. Richard Sayre, president of the Midwest section, discussed recent funding opportunities for the plant sciences in biofuels and international agricultural development. Dr. Crispin Taylor, executive director of ASPB, presented an overview of the ASPB and its young scientist career engagement activities. The plenary lecture was presented by Dr. Dan Voytas from Iowa State University. The title of Dan?s talk was, ?Plant Genome Modification through Homologous Recombination?. Dan discussed the use of zinc-finger nucleases for high frequency homologous recombination in plants and the zinc-finger nuclease consortium.

It was generally agreed that the student presentations were among the best in recent years. Best graduate student oral presentations were awarded to; Andrea Braeutigam, Eliana Gonzales-Vigil and Nicola Harrison-Lowe. Best graduate student poster was awarded to; Yungjing Wang and Colleen Doherty.

The best undergraduate oral presentation awards went to, R. Ryan McNally and Brandon Wojcik. The best undergraduate poster award went to Joyce Bower (see photo of awardees). Abstracts of the presentations are posted on the Midwest section web site.

Next year's meeting will be held at Iowa State University and will be hosted by Dr. Gustavo McIntosh. This year the position of Secretary is open for nominations. Dr. Sarah Wyatt from Ohio University was nominated for Secretary at the meeting. Additional nominations will be sought from the membership and a vote will take place in a few months. Next year?s officers are, Dr. Susanne Hoffman-Benning, president, and Dr. Chris Wolverton, vice president.

Sincerely, Richard T. Sayre, Past President MW-ASPB

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