Name: Sandro Jube
Title: M.Sc.
Place of Work or School: University of Hawaii at Manoa
Research Area: Plant Genetic Engineering
Member since: 2004

1. Why has being a member of ASPB been important to you?
Being a member of ASPB has been extremely important for a variety of reasons. First and foremost, ASPB is the leading society in the field of plant biology. Through my membership in ASPB, I was able to attend and participate in meetings where I had the chance to learn about new research ideas in my area and also was able to interact with other scientists from all over the world. This is especially important for me, since I am conducting research in Hawaii, which is a geographically isolated place. In research, the exchange of ideas is of utmost importance, and ASPB offers a venue for this exchange to take place.

2. Was someone instrumental in getting you to join ASPB?
Yes, my primary investigator and mentor, Dr. Dulal Borthakur, stressed early on in my research career the importance and benefits of belonging to a professional society such as ASPB.

3. What would you tell colleagues to encourage them to join?
I would say that if you plan to succeed in the field of plant research, be it in academia or in the private sector, you would be doing a huge disfavor to yourself and your career by not joining ASPB. With the array of resources available through a full membership in the Society, such as access to various publications and access to job offers online, the membership fee that we pay to become a member is well worth the money.

4. Have you enhanced your career using ASPB job postings or through networking at an ASPB function?
By attending the annual ASPB meetings, I enhanced myself as a researcher through interaction with other researchers and by watching the presentations and seminars. Now that I am nearing completion of my PhD work, I will most certainly start looking for available jobs and postdoc positions at the Job Bank on the ASPB website.

5. Do you read print journals? If so, where do you usually read them?
Yes, I do read print journals. I read them mostly at home at night, after work.

6. What do you think is the next “big thing” in plant biology?
Since my interest lies in plant genetic engineering and the expression of important compounds in plants, I believe that the next “big thing” in plant biology will be the renewed interest in pharming, mainly due to enhanced expression of exogenous proteins in plants, using a transformation method called “magnifection.” Also, accelerated research on the use of plants as efficient biofuels will be the next “big thing” in plant biology for many decades to come.

7. What person, living or deceased, do you most admire?
In my personal life, I admire most my mother, who instilled in me the value of education and inspired me to want to become an educator and mentor as she was. On the professional level, I greatly admire the work of Dr. Ingo Potrykus and Dr. Charles Arntzen, not only for their fantastic careers, but also for their strong desire to benefit others with their research.

8. What are you reading these days?
The books I have been reading lately are Worth the Fighting For: A Memoir, by John McCain, and Dreams from My Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance, by Barack Obama. I chose books written by both presidential candidates in an effort to understand better the men behind the politicians. I think it is essential to be well informed in order to make a good decision. Both books are actually surprisingly good reads.

9. What are your hobbies?
My favorite thing to do is to spend time with my wife and my unborn, 24-week-old son and to have breakfast with them on Sunday mornings, as well to read the newspaper at a local coffee shop. I also like to ride motorcycles, play the acoustic guitar, and donate my spare time to the Institute for Human Services, which is a charitable organization that provides shelter and meals to homeless people in Hawaii.

10. What is your most treasured possession?
My most treasured material possession is my motorcycle, which is the best (and most affordable) mode of transportation in the always-sunny Hawaii. But without a doubt, my family is my most treasured possession.

11. What do you still have left to learn?
That is a difficult question to answer, since I think I am still at the early stages of my career and I have so much more to learn. It would probably be easier to answer what I do know rather than what I don’t. Probably, one important thing that I still need to learn is how to be a more effective communicator. My goals are to become a teacher and a mentor, and communication is a very important skill. In fact, I think that scientists in general need to become better communicators in order to educate the public about the potential benefits and impacts of their research. In my opinion, the widespread anti-genetically modified organism sentiment in the general population is a perfect example of our poor ability, as scientists, to communicate in a manner that is well understood by the public and the decision makers.