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Name: Stephen Ebbs
Title: Assistant Professor
Place of work or school: Department of Plant Biology, Southern Illinois University Carbondale
Research area: Plant physiology, phytoremediation
Member since: 1998

1. Has being a member helped you in your career? If so, how?
   Being a member of ASPB has definitely helped my career. First and foremost, I have formed and maintained valuable professional relationships through ASPP meetings that have led to important collaborative opportunities. In addition, my paper and poster presentations at meetings have raised my visibility among scientific peers, which is extremely important for a young scientist like myself. Finally, I have benefited from the monetary support provided by ASPB, beginning with the complimentary membership that first introduced me to the Society, to a travel grant to present my first paper at the San Diego meeting in 2000, to other useful opportunities.
2. Why has membership in ASPB been so important?
   Nearly all the scientists I hold in high esteem as experts in plant biology are members of this Society, and my membership allows me to be considered within that elite group. Participation in ASPB events allows me to interact with these professionals and to share my work and ideas. The professional bar I've set for myself is based in no small part on the ideals reflected by the Society, its publications, and its members.
3. Was anyone instrumental in getting you to join ASPB?
   My doctoral adviser, Leon Kochian, paid for my first trip to the Society's annual meeting in Madison (1998) and was probably the person who recommended me for a free membership that year. The previous year, my first year in his lab, my colleagues attended the meeting but I did not. I was admittedly jealous when I heard them talking about how good it was. When Leon took me to the meeting the following year, I finally understood what everyone was talking about. Because of this experience, I nominated two of my own students this year for complimentary memberships in ASPB.
4. What would you tell nonmembers to encourage them to join?
   There are three benefits that I would stress to a potential member: contacts, opportunities, and resources. Membership and participation in ASPB meetings provide a venue to establish professional contacts, some of which you may not even realize you need until the circumstance arises. Second, these interactions and contacts will almost certainly provide important professional opportunities, including the opportunity for students and young faculty to present papers alongside established experts, travel support for meetings, and other educational and scientific opportunities. Finally, the perks of membership, such as electronic access to Plant Physiology and The Plant Cell and online features like CiteTrack (the electronic personal research alerting service), are resources that will quickly become something that you can't believe you ever lived without.
5. Have you gotten a job using ASPB job postings or through networking at the annual meeting?
   Although I have not gotten a job directly as a result of an ASPB posting, I think my membership and participation in ASPB had a definite impact on the search committee that hired me for my current position.
6. Have you hired anyone as a result of a job posting at the annual meeting, on our online Job Bank, or in the newsletter?
   Not yet, but ASPB would be the first place I would look.
7. Do you still read print journals? Where do you usually read them: work, home, library, in the car, on the bus?
   All my journals are electronic, from Plant Physiology and The Plant Cell to my year-end CD-ROM copies of other society journals. When I do read papers from these journals, it is usually at home in the evening or while I'm traveling.
8. What do you think is the next "big thing" in plant biology?
   I think the next big thing in plant biology will be the effort to demonstrate the safety of transgenic plants. The justification for many scientific efforts is to understand and to increase plant tolerance, resistance, growth, and productivity for human benefit. Yet large segments of the world's population resist these efforts, and we cannot yet allay all their concerns. If we are to use biotechnology to help mankind, I think we need to listen to these questions and respond accordingly, balancing caution against the world's more immediate needs.
9. What person, living or dead, do you most admire?
   I would say I most admire the authors J.R.R. Tolkien and Frank Herbert. These men created entire universes in which they immersed themselves. These worlds have a magnetism of their own that continues to draw people in. The men and their creations inspire individuals to think, question, and explore for themselves-first in these fictional worlds and then in the real one. These authors had a tremendous impact on me when I was growing up and influenced the creativity and analytical abilities I use every day.
10. What are you reading these days?
    I make an effort to skim through Plant Physiology, Chemical and Engineering News, and the articles picked up by CiteTrack and my e-mail alerts. We use articles from Plant Physiology and The Plant Cell every semester in a seminar course in my department, so I read those articles as well. I also reread at least one Tolkien or Herbert book each year for relaxation and inspiration.
11. Do you have any hobbies?
    When I have the time, I like to read, watch Sci Fi movies, and play computer games. I also try to spend as much time with my kids as possible.
12. What is your most treasured possession?
    A first edition autographed hardbound novel by Carl Sagan.
13. What do you still have left to learn?
    Patience (particularly with students) and how to say no.