2018-19 ASPB Conviron Scholars program highlights

The ASPB Conviron Scholars Program aims to support the next generation of plant scientists by helping students build their foundation for a successful career. The program selects exceptional undergraduate and graduate students studying Plant Biology and delivers a year-long experience which includes, career planning, written communications, leadership, effective presentations and independent projects:

For the 2018-19 program, 40 students were chosen from Universities around the world, including the University of Nottingham (UK), University of Lagos (Nigeria), Stanford University (USA), University of Málaga, (Spain), Stellenbosch University (South Africa) and others. For a full list of participating institutions and scholars, click here.

Workshops and mentoring tapped the expertise of plant scientists from academia, government and industry, including Yale University, National Space Centre in the UK, University of California Riverside, the University of Maryland, Federal University Oye Ekiti in Nigeria, Bayer Crop Science and others.

Students remarked on the importance of the program to their career development:

“I just want to thank the ASPB Conviron Scholars program for an amazing experience. It was such a great opportunity that I am very grateful for. They have helped me so much with career development.”

“It was a really enjoyable experience where I could really grow as a scientist.”

“They helped me so much to write more efficiently and more concisely. They were also very supportive, constructive and respectful while doing that because we were all coming from different levels of scientific writing. I know for a fact that helped me get into the internship I have now. ”

“The ASPB Conviron Scholars program provided me with excellent communication practice and the opportunity to make connections with mentors in the field that I will pursue a career in. I highly recommend this program for other students in plant sciences, particularly those who are early in their educational path.”

“It has solidified for me the idea that I want to pursue a career related to plant sciences and that I want to get a PhD related to plant sciences.”

“One thing that makes this program so unique is each student is assigned a mentor based on their career goals. My mentors gave me great advice on how to tailor my cv, what I should add, what makes a strong applicant for different jobs, and what are some opportunities I should pursue during my time as a graduate student - especially if I want to be a professor. This sort of mentorship is something that is very unique to the program.”

In their independent projects and presentations students pursued a wide variety of topics such as:

• Chaperone-Assisted Membrane Protein Trafficking in the Chloroplast
• Flowering Response to Winter
• Startch Biosynthesis in Sweet Corn
• Plant Responses to Relative Humidity
• Hyperspectral Imaging and its Applications in Agriculture
• Drought Relations in Clarkia
• Grapevine Red Blotch Virus
• Chloroplast Engineering in Higher Plants
• How do Plants Sense and Acquire Nitrate?
• Moss Transformation

Additional projects, presentations and highlights for the 2018-19 ASPB Conviron Scholars program can be found on ASPB’s Plantae blog below:

About ASPB

The American Society of Plant Biologists was founded in 1924 to promote the growth and development of plant biology, to encourage and publish research in plant biology, and to promote the interests and growth of plant scientists in general. In 1926, Plant Physiology began publication and is one of the world’s oldest and most well-respected plant science journals. In 1989, The Plant Cell began publication and is ranked first in impact among journals publishing primary research in the plant sciences. Over the past decades, the Society has evolved and expanded to provide a forum for molecular and cellular biology as well as to serve the basic interests of and to promote the advancement of plant science.

About Conviron

Conviron is the world’s largest designer and supplier of plant growth chambers and rooms. Leading universities, government agencies and agricultural biotech companies around the globe rely on Conviron’s highly engineered controlled environments to solve many of today’s challenges in food production and safety. Headquartered with design and manufacturing facilities in Winnipeg, Canada, and wholly-owned Argus Controls in Surrey, BC, Conviron employs a global sales and distribution network with offices in the US, Europe, Australia and China.