Workshop: Pan-American Plant Membrane Biology Workshop - Asilomar, CA (May 16-20, 2012)

The 4th Pan American Plant Membrane Biology Workshop will be held at Asilomar Conference Center, Pacific Grove, CA, USA from May 16-20, 2012. The workshop will include sessions that cover the most important recent breakthroughs in understanding both basic and applied aspects of plant membrane biology. The workshop will focus largely on membrane transport, signaling and trafficking, as these fields are experiencing rapid progress. In addition, the workshop will focus on the membrane transport process of secretion for cell wall synthesis, given current intense focus and interest in biofuels and the development of sustainable energy sources. Another specific focus is the regulation of membrane transport processes in response to abiotic stresses; thus, the workshop should facilitate interactions that accelerate progress in the development of plant varieties that have improved properties for biofuel production and/or that show enhanced ability to tolerate stresses (such as those predicted to increase as a result of global climate change).

A small meeting like PAPMBW provides an outstanding opportunity for interaction of attendees. This meeting is heavily focused on PhD students, postdocs and early-career scientists. Each session is anchored by 1-2 invited speakers and includes talks from 1-2 early-career scientists and 2 PhD students. NSF funds will be used specifically to help defray the travel and registration costs of 20 outstanding graduate students, postdoctoral fellows or early career investigators. Every effort will be made to include women, participants from under-represented groups and scientists from predominantly undergraduate and minority-serving institutions Thus, support from NSF will contribute directly to the career development and educational goals of the next generation of scientists.