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 info@aspb.org.

Membership Corner

Name: David Christopher
Title: Professor
Place of work or school: University of Hawaii, Department of Molecular Biosciences and Bioengineering
Research area: Plant and Chloroplast Development, Redox Regulation, Biotechnology
Member since: Around 1992 or 1993

1. Has being a member of ASPB helped you in your career? If so, how?
Through its journals and conferences, ASPB has provided a forum for communicating research results and opportunities to interact with other plant biologists. It is one of the most exciting parts of science—sharing what you have discovered with others. There is a moment in the lab where you are the only one who knows the results of your experiment. The next step is to communicate the results to the world. ASPB provides that link between discovery and communication.

2. Why has being a member of ASPB been important?
The colleagues I have met at the ASPB conferences are the most important part of my ASPB membership. It’s wonderful to see old friends and meet new people. Interactions with colleagues have given me new research ideas and experimental approaches; they have helped trouble-shoot research problems. I have developed collaborations through my membership. Membership has also helped me keep up-to-date on new advances in plant biology.

3. Was someone instrumental in getting you to join ASPB?
Not really. As a postdoc, I was very interested in attending the annual ASPP conference, and I joined at that time.

4. What would you tell nonmembers to encourage them to join?
Being a member of ASPB greatly broadens the career-enhancing opportunities available to you. These opportunities include publishing your research in well-respected journals, networking and meeting key people, learning the latest results in your area, developing funding ideas, and getting new perspectives on your research. You have to be active, participate in the conferences, read the journals, respond to job ads, and take risks to introduce yourself to people.

5. Have you found a job using ASPB job postings or through networking at the annual meeting?
My current job was advertised in the ASPP Newsletter in 1993.

6. Have you hired anyone as a result of a job posting at the meeting or on our online Job Bank?
I’ve hired four fine individuals who applied to positions I posted on the ASPB online Job Bank. It’s an excellent way to reach people.

7. Do you still read print journals? If so, where do you usually read them?
I’m definitely reading more e-versions of articles, but I do get tired of staring at a computer screen. I like to scribble notes and ideas on printed copies. I still read printed journal articles at home, on the bus, and at my favorite beach.

8. What do you think is the next “big thing” in plant biology?
With the fascinating plethora of genomic and proteomic information available and new molecular tools, I hope we’ll have a renaissance in functional biochemistry and cell biology to determine what the various genes/ proteins are doing. I think the systems biology approach will provide a big-picture model of how large multigene families are fitting together. Collaborations between engineers and biochemists will yield useful biomolecular motors. But all our advances will only be academic if we cannot convince the public that our research efforts will benefit them. We are all familiar with the rapid growth of new information in biology and the need for an educated public.

9. What person, living or dead, do you most admire?
I admire my grandparents. They grew up in a time of outhouses, iceboxes, world wars, economic depression, no antibiotics or vaccines, and little technology. They worked hard, made the best of it, survived, and were happy. From time to time, we need to remember what our grandparents endured and where we came from.

10. What are you reading these days?
In science, I’ve been reading more about protein folding, redox regulation, and potassium channels. My wife gave me a new book on undersea life in Hawaii, and I’ve been learning names of reef fish, corals, sponges, etc. Outside science, I’ve been getting into Robert Parker novels, many of which take place near where I grew up in Massachusetts.

11. What are your hobbies?
I enjoy running the most, gardening, hiking, and snorkeling.

12. What is your most treasured possession?
My memories growing up in New England and the moments with family. These are not possessions, but they are most treasured.

13. What do you still have left to learn?
Many, many things.