We hope all of our members impacted by Hurricane Sandy and its remnants are safe and sound.  The GSA office in Bethesda, MD, is back open after two days of closure, along with nearly everything else in the Washington, D.C., area.

Meanwhile, Happy Halloween to all of our members.

GSA Membership for 2013

GSA Awards Program

Please contribute to the DeLill Nasser Fund, which supports the DeLill Nasser Awards for Professional Development in Genetics, travel grants for graduate students and postdoctoral researchers. In the decade since these awards were established in memory of DeLill Nasser (1929-2000), National Science Foundation Program Director in Eukaryotic Genetics, more than 75 early career researchers have received these travel grants to attend national and international meetings and laboratory courses. Your charitable support of the DeLill Nasser Fund is essential for its continued vitality. Please help GSA support graduate students and postdocs by giving generously to support the next generation of genetics researchers. 

GSA Conferences

Next Thursday, November 8, 2012 is the abstract deadline for the 54th Annual Drosophila Research Conference, April 3-7, 2013 in Washington, DC.  Avoid the last-minute deadline crush; submit your abstract now.  Thesis advisors may continue to submit student nominations for the Larry Sandler Memorial Lecture held the opening night of the Conference.  Any student completing a PhD in an area of Drosophila research between July 2011 and December 2012 is eligible to be nominated.  For more information, visit the website. Nominations for the Larry Sandler Award must be received by December 21, 2012.

The website for 27th Fungal Genetics Conference, March 12-17, 2013 in Pacific Grove, CA is open and accepting abstracts, meeting registration and housing reservations.  Sign up early to ensure your place at this conference because space is limited.  Regine Kahmann (Max Planck Inst for Terrestrial Microbiology), molecular phytopathologist, who studies smut disease in maize, will present the Perkins/Metzenberg Lecture.

Information about the 19th International C. elegans Meeting, June 26-30, 2013 at the University of California, Los Angeles, is now online.  The keynote speaker is GSA member Victor Ambros (Univ of Mass Med Sch), recipient of the 2006 GSA Medal.  Visit the website to see the plenary speakers and important dates for abstract submission, registration, financial aid, etc.

The GSA Journals

Congratulations to GSA Executive Editor Tracey DePellegrin Connelly who was invited to join the editorial board of Science Editor, a quarterly journal published by the Council of Science Editors.

Policy – Action Alert

We need your help to prevent the automatic, draconian budget cuts to federal agencies that will take effect unless Congress takes action before the end of the year. Under a process known as sequestration, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) could lose $2.8 billion (2,300 fewer grants would be funded – one quarter of the total grants the agency would award for the year). NSF could be reduced by nearly $600 million. The Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology (FASEB) has issued an Action Alert asking you to contact your Senators and House representative, urging your elected officials to stop sequestration and the devastating cuts that would occur to the nation’s research enterprise. Please send your own letters through the Action Alert website and urge all colleagues who depend on support from NIH, NSF, and other federal agencies to contact their Congressional representatives as well. Congress needs to hear from the research community by the thousands.

GSA on Your TV

Were you watching the October 19 episode the NBC television show Grimm? Did you catch the reference to GSA’s Edward Novitski Prize? There was an explicit mention of “the Novitski from the Genetics Society” as evidence of a character’s scientific credentials. Unfortunately, the genetics discussed in the episode left something to be desired, but we’re glad the show’s producers view GSA prizes as a mark of success in science. GSA continues to work to improve public understanding of genetics and science more generally.

GSA Members in the News

Congratulations to the several GSA members who were recognized for photographs submitted to the Nikon Small World Photomicrography Competition.  Jessica Von Stetina (Whitehead Inst) received 11th place for her image of Drosophila larva.  Photos taken by Denise Montell and No Lam Tang (Johns Hopkins Univ Sch of Med) and James Clemens (Purdue) and colleagues were designated as Images of Distinction. To see their photos and to learn more about this competition, which is open to anyone with an interest in microscopy and photography, and which also offers a video completion, visit the Nikon Small World website.

Fellowships and Awards

Applications will be available for the L’Oréal USA Fellowships for Women in Science 2013 Program on November 5, 2012.  The program awards five post-doctoral women scientists with grants of up to $60,000.  Young women scientists engaged in “breakthrough research projects at leading universities and research institutions across the country” are encouraged to apply.  For more information, visit the L’Oréal USA For Women in Science website or Facebook page.

The National Science Foundation (NSF) is advertising for a paid Student Trainee position for up to four weeks during the winter break at their offices in Arlington, Virginia, just outside of Washington, D.C.  If you are a U.S. citizen, at least 16 years old, and will be enrolled in a degree or certificate-seeking program with at least a half-time course load, you may be eligible to apply.  For more information, visit the announcement website.  Hurry!  Deadline for application is Wednesday, November 7, 2012.

Position Available

NIH's National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS) is searching for a Director, Division of Biomedical Technology, Bioinformatics, and Computational Biology.  For more information, visit the announcement website.

Do you have a brief announcement to submit to GSA e-News? E-news items include news about GSA members -- new positions, book publication, awards or grants received and obits; short policy items; brief research news items and grant programs; and, award nomination announcements. Deadline for next issue: November 7, 2012.  Send items to Phyllis Edelman, pedelman@genetics-gsa.org.