The Annual Meeting of
the Southern Section of the American Society of Plant
Biologists was held in Mobile, AL on March 3-5, 2007.
Download a copy of the program for the meeting by clicking this link.
To download a full size copy of the image above, click this link.
For other images of the event, click this link.
Meeting Summary
The meeting opened with the annual SS-ASPB evening mixer. Dinner included a traditional southern shrimp boil held outside on the patio. It was a great opportunity for old friends and colleagues to discuss the year’s news and to meet new attendees. Each year, the Southern Section prides itself in providing a relaxed, comfortable atmosphere that fosters the interaction of fellow scientists and their students. The 2007 meeting was no exception. On Sunday, March 4th, the meeting began at 8:00 am. Attendance was excellent, with 21 oral presentations, 16 of which were given by students (14 graduate; 2 undergraduate). There were six competitors in the Aubrey Naylor undergraduate poster competition and 19 poster presentations in all. The day concluded with a sit-down dinner at the Dauphin Island Estuarium; fabulous catering was provided by Alan Naman’s Catering of Mobile. Following the meal, student awards were presented to the winners of the graduate and undergraduate competitions.
THE 2007 KRITON HATZIOS SYMPOSIUM
Plant Oils for Enhanced Sustainability
Sponsored by Delta and Pine Land Co.
"Engineering Plant Oils as High Value Industrial Feedstocks for Biorefining"
John M. Dyer
Research Scientist, USDA-ARS-Southern Regional Research Center,
New Orleans, LA
“From Fields to Fuels: Developing a Biodiesel Industry in the USA”
Jack Brown
Professor of Plant Breeding and Genetics,Department of Plant, Soil
and Entomological Sciences, University of Idaho, Moscow, ID
“Engineering Oilseed Plants to Produce Nutritional Fatty Acids”
Anthony J. Kinney
Research Leader, Pioneer Crop Genetics,
DuPont Experimental Station,Wilmington, DE
Organizer, Kent Chapman and speakers: John Dyer, Jack Brown, and Tony Kinney
Links to the speakers:
To see recent publications from John Dyer, follow this link:
http://www.ars.usda.gov/pandp/people/people.htm?personid=1524
Jack Brown has information on his program and biofuels at: http://www.ag.uidaho.edu/brassica/
Tony Kinney spoke recently at Oregon State University in a lecture series entitled ‘Food for Thought”. Links to their site and a related site about his work with omega-3 fatty acids are:
http://wwwdata.forestry.oregonstate.edu/orb/events/lectureseries/index.htm
http://www.gmofoodforthought.com/2006/08/industry_races_to_get_green_gm.html
“Best Graduate and Undergraduate Student Oral Presentations”
Judges: Gloria Burow, Cliff Ross, and Chris Tanner
Judges were charged with a very difficult task as student oral presentations were outstanding (and appear to be getting better with each passing year). In fact, this year’s committee decided to recognize one graduate and one undergraduate for their excellent presentations. The award winners were: graduate, James H. Chappell, from Louisiana State University for his presentation titled “Is oxidative stress the cause of recalcitrant seed death in Spartina alterniflora?
“Aubrey Naylor Award for the Best Undergraduate Poster Presentation”
Judges: Anne Boettcher, Emily Boone, and David Longstreth
This year’s undergraduate posters were equally impressive. The 2007 Aubrey Naylor Award winner was Brooke Roberts from Rollins College for her poster titled “The cloning and characterization of a putative bifunctional nuclease in Nepenthes ventricosa”
Brooke Roberts with mentor, Paul Stephenson
Louisiana State University, Shreveport, was chosen this year’s site for the 2008 annual sectional meeting. More information is forthcoming – stay tuned!
