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Membership Corner

Name: Mel Oliver
Title: Plant Physiologist
Place of work or school: USDA Plant Stress and Water Conservation Lab, Lubbock, Texas
Research area: Desiccation tolerance mechanisms and cotton biotechnology
Member since: 1986, but I was a student member of the Canadian Society of Plant Physiologists (CSPP) from 1978 to 1983.

1. Has being a member of ASPB helped you in your career? If so, how?
I think being a member has helped my career in many ways, some subtle and some not so subtle. It has helped me keep abreast of this amazingly diverse and constantly shifting field. It has put me in contact with some very talented scientists, helped me put my ideas into a broader context, and has directly helped me initiate and foster several very worthwhile collaborations. In my role with the Southern Section, it has given me a very valuable outlet for my desire to contribute to the field in the less-tangible arenas of science and has taught me how to be effective in doing so.

2. Why has being a member of ASPB been important?
I can honestly say that my career would not be as rewarding to me, in so many ways, if I were not a member of ASPB. I have gained so much from the experiences of serving as an officer in the Southern Section, and now I am about to see how things are done at the national level. I am excited about the prospect of learning more and serving the Society in a much different way. In addition, as I work in an Agricultural Research Service lab that is not situated on a campus, it is easy to lose touch with the more basic aspects of plant science. ASPB offers me a venue and mechanism through which I can stay informed. We also have little contact with students, and my involvement in sectional affairs has allowed me to come in contact with some of the incredibly talented graduate students our field attracts.

3. Was someone instrumental in getting you to join ASPB?
Derek Bewley (not directly ASPB because we were in Canada), through his desire to train his graduate students, was very supportive of us taking an active part in CSPP.

4. What would you tell nonmembers to encourage them to join?
The benefits are enormous and never stop. Simply the ease of access to the journals for members is benefit enough without all the other opportunities one is offered as a member. The meetings are where lifelong friendships are made and where the exposure to the vastness of our field is offered. You get the chance to have a voice in how our science is viewed by the public and in particular our government and funding agencies. We do a much better job of this than many other societies and are envied by more than a few. The opportunity to participate in the future of your science, join a section and see what is happening at the grassroots level of your profession, interact with our wealth of incoming talent—all have much to offer. You are definitely at a disadvantage if you are not a member.

5. Have you gotten a job using ASPB job postings or through networking at the annual meeting?
No, but I am sure that being a member would help in a job search.

6. Have you hired anyone as a result of a job posting at the meeting or on our online Job Bank?
No, but I did have a postdoctoral associate who found a permanent position through a job posting at the meeting.

7. Do you still read print journals? Where do you usually read them: work, home, library, in the car, on the bus?
I get The Plant Cell because I still work better from the written page than from a screen. I usually read it at home when things settle down.

8. What do you think is the next “big thing” in plant biology?
I think it is upon us now. It is the integration of disciplines driven by bridging technologies that allow us to ask fundamental questions that we could not tackle before. Funding agencies are leading the way in this, and we are starting to see a breakdown in the traditional barriers that tended to isolate people in disciplinary niches. The desire and the means to tackle complex phenomena and problems in plant biology and agriculture are driving the need to form teams where individual talents are blended and synergistically enhanced.

9. What person, living or dead, do you most admire?
This is a hard one to address because the answers often sound trite, but here goes. Apart from my parents, for the sacrifices they made for me, it is hard to name just one person. So many good and admirable people have crossed my path, each with their own unique qualities. From the past I admire Winston Churchill for his tenacity in the face of overwhelming odds, Tolkien for his imagination and creativity in an exacting field (linguistics), Einstein for his incredible intellect, and Ben Franklin for his ingenuity both in his politics and in his inventions. In my career it would be Derek Bewley and Roger Beachy; both had an enormous impact, but in different ways, on the way I practice my trade and organize my thoughts. Most of all I admire my son.

10. What are you reading these days?
When it is not science (which is not often), I am trying to reread some of the old classics. My son has had me rereading Tolkien because of the films, and I have also been enjoying reading the Sherlock Holmes mysteries again.

11. What are your hobbies?
Fishing and keeping up with my 14 year old.

12. What is your most treasured possession?
I do not find possessions that valuable, as you can always do without them. Family and friends are much more important and vastly more valuable.

13. What do you have left to learn?
The list is too long and thankfully so. It is learning that makes life interesting. I know so little, and so life is a gas!