President's Letter Autumn 2017

I have been involved with the SEB since my days as a PhD student and joined the Plant Section back in 2001, taking over as Section Chair in 2007 and then Vice President of the Society two years ago. My association with the Society has played an important role in the development of my career, from giving a talk at the Annual Meeting in York which led to an invite to apply for a lectureship – which I was appointed to at Essex in 1988 – to taking on the Editor in Chief role of JXB in 2012.

President's Letter

Raines

By Christine Raines

It is with some regret that I have to let you know that our CEO, Paul Hutchinson will be leaving us later this year. Paul joined us in January 2011 and has played an instrumental role in putting the SEB on a professional footing and in supporting Council to take bold steps to ensure our Society remains relevant to its members.

We are also saying goodbye to Sarah Blackford, after over 20 years with the Society. Sarah was our education link and worked closely with the SEB+ Section, produced the SEB Bulletin and organised Women in Science (now Diversity) events.

On behalf of Council and our membership I would like to thank both Paul and Sarah for their contributions and wish them well in the future.

I have been involved with the SEB since my days as a PhD student and joined the Plant Section back in 2001, taking over as Section Chair in 2007 and then Vice President of the Society two years ago. My association with the Society has played an important role in the development of my career, from giving a talk at the Annual Meeting in York which led to an invite to apply for a lectureship – which I was appointed to at Essex in 1988 – to taking on the Editor in Chief role of JXB in 2012. Through these roles I have learned a lot about myself in addition to expanding my scientific knowledge and making new collaborations.

My research interests are in the area of plant molecular physiology, including the isolation and characterisation of photosynthetic genes, analysis of gene expression and production and analysis of transgenic plants. Current research is focused on improving photosynthesis by re-engineering leaf carbon metabolism and electron transport. I have been very fortunate in that my research has been supported by BBSRC, NERC, Leverhulme and, currently, through the Realising Increased Photosynthetic Efficiency (RIPE) project with the University of Illinois, funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

Taking over as President prompted me to think about the role of learned Societies such as SEB. By definition, a learned Society is a membership organisation the aims of which are to provide opportunities for exchange of ideas, crossing institutional and country boundaries to enable the continuing development of the discipline. Enabling connections between researchers and providing opportunities for exchange of knowledge is at the core of what we are about, with a particular aim to support early career scientists. Our Annual Meeting and Symposia provide opportunities for scientists at all levels to come together to share their research and to develop new ideas. Another important communication strand is our five journals: The Plant Journal, Plant Biotechnology, Journal of Experimental Botany, Conservation Physiology and our newest addition, Plant Direct.

I encourage all of you as members of SEB to be engaged with your Society and if you have any ideas on how the SEB can do more for our membership please do let us know.

In this time of rapid changes in technologies and in the world of publishing it is important that we continue to evolve as a Society. I am looking forward to the next two years as President and to working with you on ensuring that our Society continues to provide support for you as members and for the further growth of our discipline.

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