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: David R. Gang
Title: Assistant Professor
Place of Work: University of Arizona
Research Area: Plant Specialized Metabolism
Member since: 1997

1. Why has being a member of ASPB been important?
When I was a graduate student, I went to the (then) ASPP meeting in Vancouver, B.C. It was incredible. Not only was the meeting in a great city, but I found that I hardly spent time going around Vancouver for wanting to soak in as much as I could from the great meeting. Here was a group of more than a thousand scientists who were also interested in plants. And the things that they studied! I learned about QTLs, floral patterning, apomixis, cell wall structure, alkaloid biosynthesis, salt stress tolerance, leaf development, and plant–insect interactions. It really opened my eyes to the breadth of the field and to the possibilities for the future of plant biology research. It lit a fire under me, and my interest in learning all that I could about plant biology took off.

2. Was someone instrumental in getting you to join ASPB?
I joined when I went to the meeting in Vancouver. Since my PhD adviser wanted me to go, I guess you could say that he was instrumental in getting me to join.

3. What would you tell colleagues to encourage them to join?
If you are interested in a broad-based society that includes all aspects of plant biology, this is the place for you.

4. Have you enhanced your career using ASPB job postings or through networking at an ASPB function?
When I was a postdoc looking for an academic position, I found two of the universities at which I interviewed through the ASPB job postings.

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?
Yes, I have. I have hired two postdocs so far who I found in this manner. I will definitely use the online Job Bank again.

6. Do you read print journals? If so, where do you usually read them?
Yes, at home, in my office, on the plane when traveling, in the library, although the latter doesn’t happen now as often as I wish it did.

7. What do you think is the next “big thing” in plant biology?
That is always such a difficult question. People’s responses are always so biased by their own interests, and I’m no exception. First of all, what we need is a plant metabolome “sequencing” project for plants like Arabidopsis, rice, maize, wheat, tomato, and Medicago (and ginger in my opinion). Several groups are now working in this area, but we need the same large-scale, coordinated effort that has been brought to bear on the genome sequencing projects. This will open the same number of doors that the genome sequencing projects have opened. NIH has begun this for the human metabolome. The plant community should not be left behind, especially because the plant metabolome is much richer than the human metabolome. Second, the field of plant metabolic engineering is ready to explode. We finally have most of the tools needed to drive this area forward. The rest of the tools should mature or be developed within the next few years. These tools include not only biology-based technologies, but also theoretical, mathematical, and visualization tools needed to describe metabolic systems accurately.

8. What person, living or deceased, do you most admire?
Scientists: Einstein and Darwin. Politician (yes, it’s possible to admire these guys too, at least the ones that lived a long time ago): George Washington… who among our current politicians would give up the chance to be king? (Most of the ones we have now act like they are king already.) Athlete: Bob Beamon…what a jump! Writers: Goethe, Shakespeare, and Peter Handke (look between the lines). Philosophers: Kierkegaard and Heidegger, among others. Religious leaders: Jesus Christ and Joseph Smith.

9. What are you reading these days?
The mass spectrometry literature. Understanding Control of Metabolism (again) by David Fell. The Mismeasure of Man by Gould. Factor analysis literature. “Nero Wolf” books and short stories by Rex Stout (highly recommended).

10. What are your hobbies?
Bicycle riding, camping, hiking, woodworking (cabinets and furniture), playing board and computer games with my children, reading.

11. What is your most treasured possession?
My family.

12. What do you still have left to learn?
How to derive the equations of quantum mechanics (that one is still on the back burner). How to rebuild a Chevy Suburban transmission. What keeps bumble bees up in the air. How to write the perfect novel. How to make designer plants. What isn’t left to learn?