Hello ASPS members
I have been remiss in not sending out a Presidential message earlier, so I will take the opportunity of the lunar New Year since I was in the wilds of Tasmania over summer. Firstly I would like to thank our past president Tim Colmer for his contributions to the society. Under his stewardship, the society has maintained a steady membership and joined with the Global Plant Council. I would also like to acknowledge the work of Martha Ludwig, Brent Kaiser and Janet Wheeler. We rely heavily on their efforts to keep the society website and database functional. Unfortunately, we continue to run into problems associated with membership renewals and I hope that you let us know if there are any mistakes so that we can correct them.
The Australian Society of Plant Scientists needs your support to recruit and retain members if it is to continue to provide our vision for Australian Plant Science which is well captured on the home page. Key tasks of the society are the professional recognition awards (Goldacre, Teaching), support for students to attend ComBio, the Robertson fellowship for Early Career Researchers and our online textbook Plants in Action.
Nominations for the Goldacre and Teaching awards are needed (closing 6 April, 2015).
The Robertson fund has been built from member donations and we are seeking applications for this year’s fellowship award (closing 13 April, 2015).
I hope this year will be productive for research and your teaching/education is rewarding.
John Evans
