About the North American Arabidopsis Steering Committee (NAASC)

NAASC Leadership- Current Steering Committee

Leadership Structure

  • NAASC is comprised of 10 members, nominated and elected by the North American Arabidopsis community, that serve 5 year, overlapping terms. Each fall, two new members are elected and two members rotate off. These members comprise the Board of Directors of the NAASC non-profit organization (incorporated: 2006, 501(c)3). The Board of Directors is not compensated for their service.

  • NAASC, the Board of Directors, has these officer positions: President, Vice-President, Treasurer, and Secretary. The positions are primarily assigned based on seniority (exception: Treasurer who serves for their full 5 year term).

  • NAASC is supported by a part-time Executive Director (ED) who is responsible for coordinating and implementing all NAASC activities. The ED reports to the Board of Directors who can delegate tasks to the ED. The ED will be financed from membership fees, sponsorships, in-kind services, and/or grants.

Purpose of NAASC & the Arabidopsis Community

NAASC’s Mission

The organization, the North American Arabidopsis Steering Committee (NAASC), was formed to forge relationships, foster communication among North American scientists, and provide North American representation to the international community involved in research and education using the plant Arabidopsis thaliana.

 The function of NAASC is to serve as a liaison between members of the community and government and not-for-profit granting agencies, to provide representation of the community to international research efforts and service facilities such as ABRC and to play a major role in planning, running, and fundraising for the annual International Arabidopsis conferences. Members of NAASC also participate in domestic and international efforts involving plant biology research and support of plant biology communities, especially Arabidopsis.

NAASC’s purpose in establishing the Arabidopsis Community group

The purpose of establishing the Arabidopsis Community group is to promote fundamental research, education and training using Arabidopsis; redouble efforts to ensure funding agencies know the value of research using Arabidopsis; engage the broader community in activities and initiatives that support a sustainable Arabidopsis community that is self-renewing and represents the true diversity of all its members; provide a new venue for the community to share resources, professional and personal development opportunities, and to ask questions and receive community input (a venue previously provided by a past Arabidopsis list-serv), and support NAASC’s community-serving efforts.

NAASC will achieve its mission through the following:

  1. Develop the Arabidopsis Community (AC) group website and Reddit communication resource

  2. Support and promote personal and professional development activities including:

    1. Seminars and workshops; projects, collaborations, conferences, training programs, and annual meetings with membership

    2. Secure funding to enable member participation in events such as the annual ICAR

    3. Develop an Arabidopsis Community awards program to recognize excellence across a number of axes

    4. Activities developed and implemented by NAASC and AC subcommittees and working groups

  3. Engage directly with US funding agencies to advocate for fundamental plant biology research, education, and training

  4. Seek opportunities to engage with partners in other countries to leverage collaborative power to advocate for Arabidopsis

  5. Center Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging (DEIB) in all activities, decisions, and discussions

  6. Regularly survey the Arabidopsis Community group members about their priorities

  7. Engage the Arabidopsis Community in activities to broaden participation, increase the diversity of perspectives, leverage community creativity, and provide development opportunities

NAASC Subcommittees & Working Groups

NAASC is comprised of a number of subcommittees and working groups. The primary difference is that subcommittees are long-standing whereas working groups are typically established to address a time-limited task or issue. Over time, working groups may evolve into subcommittees (and vice versa).

NAASC’s 10 elected members, and part-time Executive Director, serve on all subcommittees and working groups. Due to NAASC’s limited bureaucracy and flat democratic structure, we can be flexible and responsive to community needs and pivot to address things as they come up.

Subcommittees

  1. Inclusivity Scholars Subcommittee (ISS): The ISS was founded in 2013 (as the Minority Affairs Committee, MAC) to increase the presence of historically under-represented ethnic and racial groups in the fields of Arabidopsis research, education, and outreach, as well as to collaboratively address issues they face as plant scientists and in society. ISS seeks to coordinate activities related to promoting diversity in plant sciences, primarily through cultivating programs and communities around the ICAR Inclusivity Scholars Program (ISP, formerly the Under Represented Minority (URM) Travel Award Program). ISS will continue to provide resources, opportunities, mentoring and training to current and past members of this ISS cohort.

  2. Early Career Scholars Subcommittee (ECSS): The ECSS was founded in 2020 to 1) ensure that Early Career Scholars (ECS) have representation in NAASC activities at all stages of activity development and implementation, and 2) to provide a forum where we can collaboratively address issues specific to ECS. ECSS liaises with NAASC via DEILC.

  3. Diversity, Equity, Inclusion Leadership Committee (DEILC): was founded in 2020 to more effectively and inclusively coordinate efforts between NAASC and its subcommittees, and to expand community input and participation in areas of diversity, equity and inclusion of multiple identities of the Arabidopsis community. DEILC will ensure NAASC uses a lens of social and racial equity and inclusion during activity development and implementation; particular attention is paid to ensure that historically less-resourced racial and ethnic groups, and early career scholars, have representation in NAASC activities.  

Working Groups

  1. Membership & Financial Sustainability: To develop membership components for the "Arabidopsis Community”, address membership issues, and develop fundraising plans.

  2. North American ICARs

  3. ISP: To implement the Inclusivity Scholars Program (part of ISS). Has evolved to include the DEIB workshop WG to develop DEIB workshops, including at ICARs

  4. AAA: Allies/Advocates/Accomplices: Started in 2022 and currently evolving. To develop awareness, activities and initiatives aimed at non-minoritized plant scientists to complement the ISP working group.

  5. Fundamental Biology: To advocate for fundamental Arabidopsis research, education, and training, including to funding agencies and the public.

  6. Awards: To award community awards in several categories.

NAASC Community Town Hall during ICAR 2021-Virtual

NAASC History

During the first years of the Arabidopsis Genome Project, an ad hoc committee was formed to forge relationships and foster communication among the groups and countries world-wide who were involved in the genome sequencing effort. It was determined that the committee should be made up of three representatives from North America, two representatives each from continental Europe and the United Kingdom, and one representative each from Australia and Japan. These representatives would be elected by the groups that they would represent, and they would serve terms of three years. This committee was known as the Multinational Science Steering Committee. In February of 1992, in response to the need for elected North American representatives to the Multinational Science Steering Committee, Howard Goodman, Elliot Meyerowitz and Chris Somerville called for the formation of a North American Arabidopsis Steering Committee (NAASC). In the first election, six North American Arabidopsis researchers were elected.

In its first year, the NAASC dealt with a number of issues including the decision to have a National Arabidopsis meeting in Ohio in 1993, determining who should represent North America on the Multinational Science Steering Committee, and advising the NSF and other funding agencies of the community's needs for database services.

It was additionally determined that the committee would consist of six members and that members would serve for three years. Two new members would be elected annually via the Arabidopsis Newsgroup , and two members would retire.

Since that time, the NAASC has evolved into the main organizing and fundraising body for the International Conference on Arabidopsis Research (ICAR) when it is held in North America. ICAR is now held annually and rotates between North America, Europe, and Austral-Asia.

The NAASC also collaborates with MASC members that volunteer to host the annual ICAR. NAASC solicits funds to help North American early career stage scientists travel to these international meetings. Since 2004, the NAASC has applied for funding to allow members of underrepresented groups in US STEM, and scientists from US Historically Black Universities and Minority-Serving Institutions, to fully participate in ICARs. Additionally, the NAASC serves as a liaison between members of the community and government and not-for-profit granting agencies and provides representation of the community to service facilities.

The process for NAASC has been amended several times over the years. Currently, NAASC members serve 5 year terms. Further, members of the North American Arabidopsis research community who have served previously on NAASC may be re-nominated for the election, and if elected, may serve another term on the committee.

NAASC By-laws

  1. 1:30 - 5:45: What is NAASC? What does NAASC do?

  2. 5:45-9:45: ICAR 2024 information; NAASC approach including community-organized concurrent sessions

  3. 9:45-12:35: Benefits of NAASC membership

  4. 12:35-13:08: PMEX: Plant Methods Exchange Platform

  5. 12:08-13:35: 2024 membership stats

  6. 13:35-on: NAASC audience survey; art show raffle prize; Q&A

NAASC Town Hall during ICAR 2024 San Diego (18 July)