GSA Pleased to Be a Founding Member of Plant Science Research Network

Newswise — BETHESDA, MD – The Genetics Society of America (GSA) is pleased to be a founding member of the Plant Science Research Network (PSRN), which was launched this week. This effort, supported by a Research Coordination Network award from the National Science Foundation (NSF), will seek to unite the plant science community and to harness its collective vision and broad expertise to support agricultural sustainability and the growth of the bioeconomy. "We are glad that GSA is able to join with our fellow societies to launch the Plant Science Research Network," said GSA President Jasper Rine, PhD. "We look forward to engaging many plant geneticists in the network and linking the plant science community more closely with colleagues among the GSA membership who span the breadth of genetics." James Birchler, PhD, a maize and fruit fly geneticist at the University of Missouri who represents GSA on the PSRN Steering Committee, added "As someone who works in both plant and non-plant systems, I see enormous potential not only to unite a diverse group of plant scientists, but to promote ways for the broader plant science community to benefit from closer interactions with colleagues working in other biological systems." The network will provide support for new collaborations, especially related to the development of community-wide standards for exchanging data and metadata, and foster the continued strength of the plant research community. Among planned PSRN activities are workshops to develop solutions to broaden participation in the plant sciences and better prepare graduate student and postdoctoral scholars for a wide range of careers. The PSRN is supported by NSF Award #IOS-1514765 to David Stern at the Boyce Thompson Institute for Plant Research and Crispin Taylor at the American Society of Plant Biologists (ASPB). In addition to GSA, founding members include ASPB; the Alliance of Crop, Soil, and Environmental Science Societies; the American Phytopathological Society; the American Society for Horticultural Science; the Botanical Society of America; and the Council on Undergraduate Research. * * *

About the Genetics Society of America (GSA)Founded in 1931, the Genetics Society of America (GSA) is the professional scientific society for genetics researchers and educators. The Society’s more than 5,000 members worldwide work to deepen our understanding of the living world by advancing the field of genetics, from the molecular to the population level. GSA promotes research and fosters communication through a number of GSA-sponsored conferences including regular meetings that focus on particular model organisms. GSA publishes two peer-reviewed, peer-edited scholarly journals: GENETICS, which has published high quality original research across the breadth of the field since 1916, and G3: Genes|Genomes|Genetics, an open-access journal launched in 2011 to disseminate high quality foundational research in genetics and genomics. The Society also has a deep commitment to education and fostering the next generation of scholars in the field. For more information about GSA, please visit www.genetics-gsa.org.