Fall 2025 NAASC election

(1) North American* scientists can submit nominations of other North American* scientists: September 10-30, 2025 (self-nominations accepted)

NOMINATE BY GOOGLE FORM: only use this form to nominate a North American* Arabidopsis scholar & you are also a North American* Arabidopsis scholar (self nomination accepted)

*There are no citizenship restrictions but you must work/reside in North America to be on the ballot

Nominate in one or both categories:

  • FACULTY- 5 YEAR TERMS

  • EARLY CAREER SCHOLARS: GRADUATE STUDENTS & POSTDOCS- 1 YEAR TERMS

(2) Nominees will be contacted to confirm that they want to be on the ballot & to request a candidate statement for the ballot (due by Oct 9)

(3) 9 October: Deadline to email Nominee Statements to Joanna Friesner, NAASC Coordinator. She will email eligible nominees to request the statement. See example statements for Faculty & Early Career Scholars

(3) ~13-29 October: Online NAASC election (candidate statements will be placed on the ballot; only North American Arabidopsis scholars may vote)

(4) ~31 October: the top vote-getters (2 for faculty, 3 for early career) will be offered a NAASC term. Term begins: 1 November.

YOU MUST BE IN NORTH AMERICA (USA, CANADA, MEXICO) TO NOMINATE, BE NOMINATED, OR VOTE

What NAASC members do

Scroll to 1:30 - 5:45 to hear: What is NAASC? What does NAASC do?

For NAASC elected in 2025, a key priority is to organize ICAR 2027. The location has not yet been finalized but is expected to be in the US or Canada.

NAASC MISSION

  • Our mission is to promote Arabidopsis research and researchers to perform cutting edge biology, and provide opportunities to engage and diversify the next generation of scientists. 

  • Our foci are:

    • Advocate/Support Fundamental Plant Biology using Arabidopsis: See NAASC fundamental biology activities here.

    • Support excellence in the Arabidopsis community: See NAASC community awards recipients, here.

    • Support Diversity, Equity, Inclusion & Belonging in the Arabidopsis Community: See NAASC DEI activities here.

    • Organize North American International Conferences on Arabidopsis Research, currently in a 3 year rotation with Europe & Asia. See NAASC ICAR actitivies here; We recently organized ICAR 2024-San Diego and next will plan ICAR 2027.

    • To increase input from early career scientists, we now have 1 year NAASC committee terms.

      NAASC Steering Committee & elected Early Career Scholar members will:

    • Interact with elected faculty & early career scholar (ECS) leaders in Arabidopsis biology & the NAASC Executive Director to execute NAASC’s mission, including organizing North American ICAR & other activities.

    • Serve on NAASC subcommittees/working groups (Footnote 1) to develop & implement activities (w/staff support)

    • Interact with community members on working groups & subcommittees.

    • Interact with key groups such as MASC, ABRC, TAIR, etc. to coordinate improvements for Arabidopsis researchers, educators, and for collaboration, coordination, and communication 

Examples of past NAASC Faculty activities: 

    • Select ICAR 2024 mini-symposia from community submissions

    • Solicit nominees for NAASC awards, Select awardees (Footnote 2)

    • Discuss/decide location & format of ICARs

    • Implement community webinars e.g., career development, DEIB, fundamental biology

    • Develop funding proposals to support NAASC activities

    • Engage in grant-funded activities, e.g., workshops, training, outreach

    • Advertise/disseminate information about NAASC activities

    • Represent NAASC to the Multinational Arabidopsis Steering Committee & other groups

    • Participate in community initiatives, e.g., as a society in the Root & Shoot NSF RCN award

Examples of past NAASC Early Career Scholar activities: 

    • Collaboratively plan professional development webinars for the community

    • Participate in NAASC working groups and subcommittees

    • Advise NAASC members on initiatives & activities

    • Network with NAASC Faculty & Executive Director

    • Participate in NAASC career scholar professional development activities

    • Connect with peer Early Career Scholar members

    • Wrote a blog on the topic of their choice & that is of interest to the Arabidopsis community

      • See Margot Smit’s blog here

      • See Arif Ashraf’s blog here

      • See Luis de Luna’s blog here

The 2025 election cycle is 10-30 September (nomination period)
& 13-29 October (online election period)

You must be in North America (USA, Canada, Mexico) to nominate, be nominated, or vote.

*see Candidate Statement examples, below

Electing 2 Faculty NAASC Nominees for 5 year terms

Faculty Nominees (5 year term)

You must be in North America (USA, Canada, Mexico) to nominate, be nominated, or vote.

Review “What NAASC Members Do” and “Examples of past Faculty activities” above.

Eligible: Faculty (any rank or type) at North American research & academic institutions that conduct research and training using Arabidopsis (at least in part)

Term: Nov 1 , 2025-Oct 31, 2030 (see 3 and 4, below, for activities /duties by year)

Estimated Time Commitment*: ~1-2 hours/Per month, average*: Meetings (~1h) Email discussion (~0.5h) Activity implementation (~0.5h) *expected to be somewhat more the year prior to a NAASC-organized ICAR. Next expected NAASC-organized ICAR: ICAR 2027

(1) Compensation for Faculty Members: NAASC funding for ICAR travel support depends on our fundraising success; we seek to provide up to $1,000 USD/year per NAASC member to participate in non-domestic ICARs and seek to provide more support at NAASC-organized ICARs (ie free registration & contribution to travel expenses). Next expected NAASC-organized ICAR is summer, 2027. NAASC is a non-profit without a dedicated funding stream. We recently instituted paid membership for sustainability. Otherwise our potential revenue comes from (1) grant proposals to fund activities and (2) any fundraising success that exceeds costs for ICARs that we organize. Our next possible ICAR revenue is summer, 2027.

(2) Benefits of being a NAASC faculty member

While NAASC members primarily serve as volunteers to support the Arabidopsis community, there are numerous personal & professional benefits, e.g.,

  • we fundraise to enable NAASC members to attend ICARs via travel support (described above)

  • we publish papers based on our activities

  • members build professional & personal networks

  • members help shape ICAR program and location

  • members decide which community-supportive activities to engage in

  • opportunities to network with early career scholars and members of under-represented groups in STEM via the NAASC Early Career Scholars (ECS) program and Inclusivity Scholars (ISP) program and ISP cohort.

NAASC members are expected to fulfill their duties (regular engagement in email, meetings & activities) to receive travel funds and to remain in good-standing on NAASC.

(3) Elected Faculty members will:

  1. Join a subcommittee/working group of their choice (usually meets ~1 hour/month or 3 hours/quarterly) (Footnote 1)

  2. Join quarterly all NAASC zoom meetings (meets ~1 hour, quarterly)

  3. Regularly participate in email discussion of NAASC issues (~0.5h/month, less in non-ICAR years, more in ICAR years)

  4. Participate in NAASC activities (~1h/month; more in an ICAR year)

  5. Be willing to take on a NAASC Board of Director role, as shown (Footnote 3)

(4) Example activities by term (actual activities are decided by NAASC)

  1. Year 1: Nov '25-Oct '26: Preparation discussions for ICAR 2027- North America (i.e., choose location, develop program); participate in annual community awards (winter/spring)

  2. Year 2: Nov '26-Oct '27: Organize ICAR 2027 in North America; participate in annual community awards (winter/spring)

  3. Year 3: Nov '27-Oct '28: Off-ICAR year activities* as decided by NAASC

  4. Year 4: Nov '28-Oct '29: Preparation discussions for ICAR 2030- North America (i.e., choose location, develop program); participate in annual community awards (winter/spring)

  5. Year 5: Nov '29-Oct '30: Organize ICAR 2030 in North America; participate in annual community awards (winter/spring)

    *EXAMPLE: Off-ICAR year activities as decided by NAASC, for example: reviewing/selecting: travel awards if we have funding for foreign ICAR; supporting NAASC community award selection; participating in a working group; helping to support a community webinar

Apply: Faculty Nomination & Application Steps

  1. You can nominate excellent community-minded Arabidopsis faculty in North America; you may also nominate yourself.

  2. NAASC will contact nominees for a Candidate Statement for the ballot (see example Faculty Candidate Statements). Statement prompts ( ~200-600 words): Motivation/interest to serve on NAASC; Brief description of your work using Arabidopsis; Your priority area(s) if elected to NAASC; How you promote Community, and Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging (DEIB) in plant biology, or science, generally.

  3. You will provide this statement by 9 October to arabidopsisconference@gmail.com

  4. NAASC will place Candidate Statements on the ballot. Voting will occur for 2 weeks

    You must be in North America (USA, Canada, Mexico) to nominate, be nominated, or vote.

Electing 3 Early Career Scholar Nominees for 1 year terms

Early Career Scholar Nominees (1 year term)

You must be in North America (USA, Canada, Mexico) to nominate, be nominated, or vote.

Review “What NAASC Members Do” & “Examples of past Early Career Scholars activities ” above.

Eligible: Graduate students & postdoctoral scholars (in a postdoc title) at North American research & academic institutions that study and/or conduct research using Arabidopsis (at least in part)

Term: Nov 1 , 2025-Oct 31, 2026

Estimated Time Commitment: ~1-2 hours/Per month on average: Meetings (~1 h) Email discussion (0.25h) Organizing event (~0.5h) Writing blogs (~025h).

(1) Compensation for Early Career Scholar Members: $250 stipend at conclusion of your term & successful completion of service

(2) Benefits of being a NAASC Early Career Scholar member

  • $250 stipend at conclusion of your term & successful completion of service

  • Gain new leadership and communication skills

  • Include this position on your CV

  • Career development opportunities

  • Expand and strengthen your professional network

(3) Elected ECS members will:

  1. Join the Early Career Scholars Subcommittee (ECSS) which meets 1-2 times quarterly to plan activities such as seminars & workshops aimed at early career scholar interests (~2 workshops/activities in a 1 year term).

  2. Join a NAASC working group or subcommittee of your choice, some options
    (a) Inclusivity Scholars Subcommittee
    (b) Awards Subcommittee (see Footnote 2 below for details on the awards)
    (c) Fundamental Plant Biology Subcommittee
    (d) could propose a new topical committee/initiative/activity (if there’s enough interest)

  3. Join NAASC quarterly Board Member zoom calls: these are quarterly meetings for 1 hour aimed at discussing important topics to NAASC, making decisions, and brief discussions with working groups and subcommittees (if discussion is needed; otherwise updates are written). These quarterly calls are also a chance to get to know the 10 faculty members on NAASC.

  4. Write 1 blog post on a topic of interest to you and relevance to the Arabidopsis Community for a NAASC blog on our website. SEE EXAMPLES FROM PAST ELECTED ECSS ABOVE.

  5. Do 1 interview of a past NAASC member and write a short (1 page) summary for a NAASC blog for our website.

  6. Help organize at least 1 online workshop, panel or seminar. Examples of previous events here.

Apply for the Early Career Ballot: Nominate yourself (or be nominated) & Submit 2 brief documents

  1. You are nominated/self-nominate: By 30 Sept. (nominators: North American scientists only)

  2. NAASC will email you for 1 candidate statement & 1 paragraph:
    (1) Candidate Statement (150-400 words) about your interest to serve, your background, your priorities (see example ECS Candidate Statements). This will go on the ballot.
    (2) Informational paragraph: A brief outline of one activity idea for a NAASC working group or subcommittee (e.g., a webinar, a session at ICAR 2027, etc.) This information is for NAASC internal use. Our objective is to be open to experienced and inexperienced scholars who wish to be engaged and the “idea” statement can stand in for previous experience. Both experience & ideas are valued by NAASC. ECS will also be on ECSS.

  3. Provide information in this template (candidate statement & name(s) of committee/group and idea) by the deadline (9 OCTOBER) to Joanna Friesner, NAASC Coordinator: arabidopsisconference@gmail.com

  4. NAASC will review submissions & select some or all Candidate Statements for the ballot. Voting will occur over ~2 weeks in October

    You must be an Arabidopsis community member in North America (USA, Canada, Mexico) to nominate, be nominated, or vote.

“The ECSS member selection was the most democratic process. As I started working with the ECSS, it has not only enhanced the networking opportunity, but also provides a good idea how an organization work. I will highly recommend ECSs consider this opportunity.”
— Arif Ashraf, past ECS member
“The NAASC is the most community-driven and community-oriented organization out there. Joanna is the highlight here, extremely supportive and truly committed with DEIB.”
— Luis deLuna, past ECS member

Footnotes

(1) Working Groups & Subcommittees (subject to change based on NAASC member interest)

  1. WG1: Financial Sustainability & Membership- develop the membership model started in 2023 for NAASC financial sustainability & community engagement;  other sustainability considerations.

  2. WG4: ISS/DEIB workshops- Inclusivity Scholars Subcommittee- supports initiatives for members of under-represented groups in US STEM, primarily via the Inclusivity Scholars Cohort Program for ICAR; also develops Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging workshops for ICAR.

  3. WG6: Fundamental Biology- develop activities to ensure that funding agencies and others understand the value and impact of fundamental plant biology

  4. WG7: ECSS- Early Career Scholars Subcommittee- provides representation ECS to NAASC, provide a forum to address issues specific to ECS

  5. WG9: NAASC Awards- described in Footnote (2)- annually: help solicit nominations, refine rubrics, select awardees. 2023 was the first award cycle; awardees will be selected ~early November. Members elected this term can help with the award selection process for 2025 (fall/winter) and future years.

(2) NAASC Community Awards- Past Recipients

  1. NAASC Arabidopsis Community Lifetime Achievement Award

  2. NAASC Arabidopsis Community Impact Award (later & early career)

  3. NAASC Dissemination of Arabidopsis Knowledge Award (later & early career)

(3) Board of Director Roles- by year on NAASC*

Year 1: 1 of the 2 members elected in 2025 will become the NAASC Treasurer, replacing Cris Argueso, who is rotating off after 5 years. This role is for the 5 year term and does not require significant effort; the primary duties are occasionally discussing & presenting budgets during NAASC meetings as needed (the draft budgets will be provided by the NAASC Coordinator) and annually submitting NAASC taxes (taxes are currently drafted by the NAASC Coordinator). Both members are '“Directors” on the NAASC Executive Board of Directors.

Year 2: Treasurer from year 1 continues in this role. The second Director typically becomes Vice President in Y4, then President in Y5.

Year 3: Treasurer continues.

Year 4: Non-Treasurer typically becomes Vice-President

Year 5: Vice President from Y4 becomes President

*these roles are open to flexibility as needed, e.g., if a member needs to switch from one to another for any particular reason. The roles are structural guidelines to help manage NAASC and share the effort on the Board.