We need your help! Phylo: The Trading Card Game has released a beta version of a GSA Model Organisms Deck. This deck was created in an attempt to raise awareness about the diverse nature of experimental questions, techniques, and model organisms in our field. We are looking for beta-testers to provide feedback not only on the game, but on the specific cards themselves. If you are interested, and we hope you are, here's what you need to do: PLAY! And then let us know how we can make it better. [more…]

One more month for student and postdoc members to submit applications for GSA Trainee-Organized Symposia. This new member benefit will provide up to $2,000 in funding for local and regional symposia organized by our trainee members in subject areas relevant to the GSA mission. Applications must be received by July 10, 2015. See the GSA website for complete details.

GSA is pleased to announce the recipients of the society’s DeLill Nasser Award for Professional Development in Genetics. The ten graduate students and postdocs selected will receive a $1,000 travel grant to attend any national or international meeting, conference, or laboratory course that will enhance his or her career. Congratulations to the following recipients: Graduate students:

• Keir Balla (University of California, San Diego)
• Cara Brand (University of Rochester)
• Sarah Deng (Columbia University Medical Center)
• Kevin Wei (Cornell University)
  

Postdocs:

• Carol Myrick Anderson (University of California, San Francisco)
• Patricia Jumbo Lucioni (Vanderbilt University)
• Hannah Seidel (University of Wisconsin–Madison)
• Hagen Tilgner (Stanford University)
• Jeremy Yoder (University of Minnesota)
• Qi Zhou (University of California, Berkeley)
  

• The Thomas Hunt Morgan Medal recognizes lifetime contributions to the field of genetics;
• The Genetics Society of America Medal recognizes outstanding contributions to the field of genetics in the last 15 years;
• The George W. Beadle Award recognizes outstanding contributions to the community of genetics researchers;
• The Elizabeth W. Jones Award for Excellence in Education recognizes significant and sustained impact on genetics education; and
• The Edward Novitski Prize recognizes an extraordinary level of creativity and intellectual ingenuity in solving significant problems in genetics research.

Image credit: Jian Han

Included in this Issue:

• Society News

• The GSA Journals

• Members in the News

• Education and Professional Development

• Funding, Fellowships, and Awards

• Policy

• Community Announcements

• And finally...

May Issue May Issue

NEW POSTINGS IN GeneticsCareers.org Postdoctoral Fellows - Computational Biology of Psychiatric Diseases, UC San Diego, La Jolla, CA Postdoctoral Fellows – Molecular and Cellular Neurobiology, UC San Diego, La Jolla, CA Assistant/Associate Professor in the field of Translational Genomics of Infectious Diseases, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC Genetics and Genomics Psychiatry Faculty Position, University of Cincinnati College of Medicine, Cincinnati, OH Bioinformatics Engineer/Scientist, Centrillion Biosciences, Palo Alto, CA Research Technician I, Scripps College, Claremont, CA Genetics Counselor, Memorial Healthcare System, Pembroke Pines, FL Senior Postdoctoral/Research Fellow, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD Pharmacogenomics Scientist, Assurex Health, Mason, OH Bioinformatics Scientist, Assurex Health, Mason, OH Director, Genomics/Cytogenetic Lab, Phoenix Children's Hospital, Phoenix, AZ Clinical Associate (Genetic Counselor), LSU Health Sciences Center, New Orleans, LA Clinical Geneomics Lab Automation Scientist, GeneDx, Inc, Elmwood Park, NJ

"Rewilded" bread what plants on left. Image credit: International Center for the Improvement of Maize and Wheat/NYTimes

• Luther College celebrates Jenna Johnson, who said that “It is really fun to be able to say that you have discovered something that no one else knows.”
• The University of Oregon reports on Ben Blue in a news announcement and an interview with Ben and his mentor Patrick Phillips.
• The Ellensburg, WA, Daily Record reports on junior Tykayah Baird, who is developing a worm model to study the long-term effects of the active ingredient in drugs such as Prozac.

Jenna, Ben, Tykayah, and the other 12 recipients of Undergraduate Travel Awards will present their research at GSA’s 20th International C. elegans Meeting later this month in Los Angeles.

Education and Professional Development
 
Through a network of people and programs, CUREnet is showcasing course-based undergraduate research experiences (CUREs) in biology. These CUREs aim to help students understand core concepts in biology, develop scientific competencies, and become active, contributing members of the scientific community. Browse projects or submit your own project! 

Partnership for Undergraduate Life Science Education (PULSE) revealed the certification levels of eight schools that had been selected to participate in the the PULSE pilot certification for undergraduate biology education project. The participating science departments were selected based on initial evidence of transformed and innovative educational practices, and represent a wide variety of schools.

Funding, Fellowships, and Awards

NIGMS has issued a new expansion to the Maximizing Investigators’ Research Award (MIRA) pilot program to include new and early stage investigators. Letters of intent (requested, but not required) are due by August 9, 2015, and the application deadline is September 9, 2015. As a reminder, MIRA supports a lab’s entire NIGMS-funded research program and offers both longer funding periods and increased stability than traditional R01s. See the NIGMS Feedback Loop Blog post and request for applications for more information.

The Howard Hughes Medical Institute announced a new competition for science education grants to colleges and universities. The goal of this initiative is to help institutions build their capacity to engage all students in science throughout their undergraduate years, especially those who come to college via non-traditional pathways. The first application deadline is July 14, 2015. Ever wanted to turn your PhD research into an interpretive dance video? Now you can! And you have the chance to win $1,000 and a free trip to California. Science’s “Dance Your PhD” Contest offers a cash prize of $500 for the best PhD dance in each of the following categories: physics, chemistry, biology, and social sciences. An additional $500 and a trip to Stanford University will go to the best overall PhD dance. Submission deadline is October 28, 2015. 

Policy

The White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) is encouraging the community to share stories about basic research on social media using the hashtag #BasicResearch. In a blog post last week, OSTP Associate Director for Science Jo Handelsman motivates the need for basic research, but acknowledges that "those who pay for the national research agenda may not always be aware of the early and fundamental work that makes today’s technologies possible." Share your stories about why basic research is important to you on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and more with the hashtag #BasicResearch. [more…]

Community Announcements

The Division of Comparative Medicine (DCM) within NIH’s Office of Research Infrastructure Programs (ORIP) is hosting a symposium, Linking Disease Model Phenotypes to Human Conditions, September 10-11, 2015, in Rockville, Maryland. The purpose of the meeting is to convene a colloquium on the current status of phenomics and its role in closing the gap between biomedical research and clinical medical practice. Registration is free, but space is limited, so sign up early.

And finally...

Thanks for helping us reach 4,200 likes on Facebook and 5,600 followers on Twitter! Keep up with highlights like these by joining GSA on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Google+:

• Nobel laureate and GSA member Marty Chalfie explains why he hates the impact factor.
• Thanks to advances in genomic sequencing technology, food poisoning outbreaks are becoming easier to track.
• Matt Wawersik, associate professor at The College of William & Mary, shares his experiences with his and his students involvement of the G3 paper characterizing the Drosophila dot chromosome.