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The SecondTwenty-Five Years

A History of The Canadian Society of Plant PhysiologistsLa Société Canadienne de Physiologie Végétale

Constance Nozzolillo

THE SECOND TWENTY-FIVE YEARS

A History of

The Canadian Society of Plant Physiologists

La Société Canadienne de Physiologie Végétale

Constance NozzolilloDepartment of Biology, retired

University of Ottawa,Ottawa, Ontario K1N 6N5

CSPP-SCPV Ottawa Ontario June 2008

II

PREFACE This history was written for the occasion of the 50th Anniversary of the Canadian Society of Plant Physiologists/La Societié Canadienne de Physiologie Végétale at the request of Past-President Norman Huner. I agreed on the condition that others such as previous Executive Committee members would cooperate in such an endeavour. During the following months, I contacted many of them by e-mail asking for their input and received a variety of replies which I carefully filed away. Then suddenly 2007 was nearly over! It was time to scan the archives and review the events of the past 25 years. In a letter to co-author Paul Gorham dated June 1, 1983, referring to their recently completed history of the first 25 years of the CSPP-SCPV, Tony Bidwell wrote “I’m sure the next edition will be vastly better.” The present volume is the next edition! Tony Bidwell is still around to compare it to the first one but, alas, Paul Gorham is not. I would like to acknowledge the invaluable assistance of Treasurer Harold Weger who devoted untold hours to exacting editing of the text. The contributions and comments of the many members to whom various draft versions were sent are much appreciated. However, any errors of fact or omission are entirely the responsibility of the author. Many thanks are due to past-Treasurer/past President Carol Peterson and Treasurer Harold Weger for their input to Chapters 2, 3, and 4 and to Ray Cummins for the enormous effort he put into Society affairs during his tenure as Secretary. His files comprise a major portion of the 1990’s Archives collection and provided a wealth of detailed information. And the fact that there is an Archives collection at all is due to the efforts of the late Don Mortimer. All photos, except those taken in 2006 and 2007, are from my own collection. It is my pleasure and honour to dedicate this second edition of the History of the CSPP-SCPV to the memory of Paul Gorham (see tribute in the Society Bulletin of May 2007) one of the founding members and its first president.

Constance (Connie) Nozzolillo,CSPP-SCPV ArchivistOttawa June 2008.

III

CONTENTS*

page

1- How things have changed, or not! .......................................................................... 12- Why is the Society now twinned? ............................................................................. 43- Old and new awards for old and young members .................................................... 64- Changing umbrella organizations ........................................................................... 245- Publications of the Society ...................................................................................... 266- Who we were and are- the Society Archives ............................................................. 317- Miscellany and final statement ................................................................................ 36

Table 1 Recipients of the Society Gold Medal ........................................................6 Table 2 Titles or subjects of the Society Gold Medal talks .......................................7Table 3 Recipients of the C. Donald Nelson Young Scientist Award ..........................8Table 4 Recipients of the David J. Gifford Tree Physiology Award .............................10Table 5 Recipients of the Gleb Krotkov Service Award ............................................11Table 6 Recipients of the President’s Award at the annual meetings .........................13Table 7 Recipients of the E.R. Waygood and Western Director’s Award ................................ 14Table 8 Recipients of the Eastern Director’s Award .................................................15Table 9 Board of trustees of the Oaks Doctoral Scholarship Fund ............................16Table 10 Dates and sites of the CSPP-SCPV annual national meetings 1983-2007 .....27Table 11 Dates and sites of the Western regional meetings 1983-2007 ....................... 28Table 12 Dates and sites of the Eastern regional meetings 1983-2007 ......................29Table 13 Executive Committee members 1983-2008 ...............................................34Table 14 Chairs of committees 1983-2008 .............................................................35

*Figures grouped on pages 17 to 22

Appendix: Report to the executive of the Canadian Society of Plant Physiologists, dated May 1986.

THE SECOND TWENTY-FIVE YEARS �

The major trends of CSPP-SCPV development are outlined in the history of the first twenty-five years written by Paul Gorham and Tony Bidwell (The First Twenty-Five Years available on the Society website www.cspp-scpv.ca) and still remain in effect. They are:

1. Careful choice of meeting place continues to include sites across Canada.

2. Time of the annual meeting remains in June, unless change is required by joint meetings with other societies. In recent years, sites selected for large joint meetings such as those with the American Society of Plant Biologists (ASPB) are less likely to be a university campus because few of such institutions can handle the numbers of registrants. 3. Symposia continue to be major components of the meetings with support now enhanced by commercial sources (e.g. equipment suppliers, publishers).

4. Joint meetings with the ASPP (now ASPB) continue to be held, usually every four years, as do joint meetings with other Canadian plant biology societies, currently as part of Plant Canada, approximately every two years.

5. Regional meetings also continue, yearly for the Eastern Region and every other year for the Western Region.

6. The Society Medal, often referred to as the Gold Medal, which was established in 1970, and the CD Nelson award, established in 1977, continue to be presented to deserving candidates nominated by the membership.

7. Publication of a newsletter at least two times per year continues.

8. Over the years, the problem of encouraging as many plant physiologists as possible to join the Society has been a concern of the Executive Committee. In the past, total membership has

Chapter 1

HOW THINGS HAVE CHANGED, OR NOT!

THE SECOND TWENTY-FIVE YEARS�

gone as low as 181 but in the past few years has held steady at 350 to 425 members. Many changes have also been introduced over the years:

1. The CSPP now consists of two entities. CSPP-SCPV is a charitable organization and CSPP-SCPV Inc, a non-profit incorporation. (see Chapter 2).

2. Several other awards have been added (Chapter 3). The Tree Physiology Award was first made in 1987 and the Gleb Krotkov Award for service to the Society was also introduced in 1987. Awards for student presentations were begun in 1986. Student Travel Awards (later renamed the George Duff Student Travel Awards, and most recently, the George Duff Student Travel Bursaries) were initiated in 1992. The Ann Oaks Doctoral Scholarship, funded by the estate of the late Gold Medal recipient Ann Oaks, with additional funding as charitable donations from Society membership, will be awarded for the first time this year (2008) to a post-graduate student of plant physiology. Finally, the Ragai Ibrahim award for best paper published by a student was first awarded in 2007.

3. The association begun with the Biological Council of Canada (BCC) in 1966 to enhance the efforts of the Society to affect science policy of the government was replaced in 1990 by association with the Canadian Federation of Biological Sciences (CFBS). After the Society withdrew from the CFBS in 1997, it became a founding member of an association of plant-related societies called Plant Canada (The Federation of Canadian Plant Science Societies). The first Plant Canada conference was held in 2003 as a joint meeting of the CSPP-SCPV and the Canadian Botanical Association -L’Association Botanique du Canada (CBA-ABC) in Antigonish, NS at St. Francis Xavier University. The next Plant Canada meeting was held in Edmonton in 2005 at the University of Alberta with participation of six member societies: CSPP-SCPV, CBA-ABC, Canadian Society of Agronomy, Canadian Society for Horticultural Science, Expert Committee on Weeds (now the Canadian Weed Science Society), and the Canadian Phytopathological Society (see Chapter 4 for further details).

4. The former Newsletter is now called the Bulletin and, except for a few paper copies printed for those members lacking an internet connection, is an electronic publication on the Society website (see Chapter 5).


5. The makeup of the Executive Committee continues to evolve in response to changing circumstances, the first major change being the introduction in 1993 of a two-year term for the President (see Chapter 6).

6. The Society has an improved logo following upon President Peter Joliffe’s observation in 1990 that the quality of the logo on the Society letterhead (the logo is the symbol on the Society Gold Medal) was poor mainly because the original plates had been lost. The Executive Committee approved his decision to have a new version of the logo created and a year later in 1991 it was ready for imprinting on Society letterhead.

7. The Society award certificates were also improved as a result of President Joliffe’s and Secretary Bernie Grodzinski’s initiatives to include a bilingual text (see Chapter 3).


Worries about the liability of the Executive Committee for possible accidents that might befall attendees at Society meetings were first expressed by the then treasurer, André D’Aoust, in 1987. The first attempt to solve the problem was to look into obtaining liability insurance. However, this approach was abandoned by 1990 after Secretary Lorna Woodrow made some initial enquiries as to the cost of premiums (found to be ~$450 yearly) in favour of establishing the Society as a charitable organization. After some research and discussion with the Department of Consumer and Corporate Affairs, Carol Peterson, the 1989 treasurer, found that that was indeed the status of the Society, the Society having been officially declared a charitable organization on May 1, 1978 by the Department of National Revenue. At that time, membership dues were regarded as a charitable donation. However, as Treasurer André D’Aoust learned from correspondence with Revenue Canada, the granting of membership fees as income tax deductible charitable donations could not continue if such fees included payment of membership in an umbrella organization such as the BCC or the CFBS, neither of which held charitable status. Thus the EC decided to tackle the difficult question of incorporation and Carol dutifully and laboriously assembled the necessary information. Subsequent steps depended on the able assistance of various legal firms, first a firm in Edmonton where Treasurer Anne Johnson -Flanagan lived, and involved changes to the Constitution of the Society. The first application for incorporation as a non-charitable arm of the Society was turned down for reasons that were unclear to everyone, including the lawyers, but a subsequent attempt was successful. By December 1992, incorporation was apparently complete and the first meeting of the Directors of CSPP-SCPV Inc was held. An annual fee of $30 was paid to the Ministry of Corporate Affairs and continues to be paid to Corporations Canada for registration of the corporation. By December 1993, both arms of the Society were firmly established as CSPP-SCPV Inc and CSPP-SCPV but administration of Society business appeared quite complicated with requirements such as the need to maintain two membership lists, prepare two budgets, and to provide separate receipts for the dues paid for membership in CSPP-SCPV and dues paid to the CFBS, which by that time had replaced the BCC as an umbrella organization. Thus membership dues substantially increased because of the high cost of association with the CFBS. And with membership dues being paid to the corporation rather than the charity, they were no longer tax

Chapter 2

WHY IS THE SOCIETY NOW TWINNED?


deductible. In addition, the status of the charitable arm seemed imperilled as not enough was being spent on charity and office expenses were too high. The first official meeting as a dual-entity Society was held in 1993 in Minneapolis jointly with the American Society of Plant Physiologists (ASPP), a site which required the formulation of new By-Laws to satisfy the public servants in regard to meetings “outside of Canada”. When the Society ceased to be involved in lobbying (see Chapter 4), the role of CSPP-SCPV Inc was greatly reduced . As a result, membership fees were once again used only for the charitable activities of the CSPP-SCPV and were substantially lower. Thus by 2003, Treasurer Harold Weger issued membership receipts which could be claimed as a charitable donation. Despite its reduced role, the Executive Committee decided to maintain CSPP-SCPV Inc for the time being for two reasons:

1) the Society might be involved in lobbying activities in the future and2) the cost of maintaining it is very low, especially in view of the substantial work and expense in creating it.

The Society is indebted to the various members of the Executive Committee, mainly successive Presidents and Treasurers, who devoted untold unpaid hours to successfully dealing with the many complications of establishing the two arms, a debt that greatly exceeds the monetary sums paid out in legal fees!


The Society currently has four awards for fully fledged researchers and several awards for students as detailed below. In 1991 the framed certificate that accompanies the awards was redisigned by President Peter Joliffe to include reproductions of both sides of the images of the Society Gold Medal as well as, for the first time, text in both French and English.

Table � Recipients of the Society Gold Medal Year Name Institute

1970 Arthur C. Neish*1972 NRCC Halifax Nova Scotia

1971 Michael Shaw University of Saskatchewan Saskatoon

1972 David Siminovitch*2002 Agriculture Canada Ottawa Ontario

1973 G.H. Neil Towers*2005 University of British Columbia Vancouver

1976 Oluf L.Gamborg*2007 NRCC Saskatoon Saskatchewan

1979 R.G.S. (Tony) Bidwell Queen’s University Kingston Ontario

1981 David T. Canvin Queen’s University Kingston Ontario

1983 Jack Dainty University of Toronto Toronto Ontario

1985 Gordon MacLachlan McGill University Montreal Quebec

1987 Paul R. Gorham*2006 University of Alberta Edmonton Alberta

1988 Ann Oaks*2006 McMaster University Hamilton Ontario

1989 Richard P. Pharis University of Calgary Calgary Alberta

1990 Mary S. Spencer University of Alberta Edmonton Alberta

1992 J. Derek Bewley University of Guelph Guelph Ontario

1995 John E. Thompson University of Waterloo Waterloo Ontario

1996 Robert Hill University of Manitoba Winnipeg Manitoba

1998 Edwin A. Cossins University of Alberta Edmonton Alberta

2001 John King University of Saskatchewan Saskatoon

2004 Ragai Ibrahim Concordia University Montreal Quebec

2007 Anthony D M (Tony) Glass University of British Columbia Vancouver BC

*Deceased

Chapter 3OLD AND NEW AWARDS FOR OLDAND YOUNG MEMBERS


Society Gold Medal

The Society Gold Medal established in 1967 “for outstanding public contributions or for distinguished service to plant physiology in Canada” (By-Law 11) continues to be awarded at irregular intervals, the latest one in 2007 (Table 1). The accompanying certificate has a gold frame and black mat with a gold embossed seal of the Society. One of the conditions of the award is that the recipient address the Society at the next annual meeting (Table 2). In earlier years the talk was simply scheduled in the program with no title given. Usually the newsletter would later report on the subject matter but it was not until 1988 that a title might be included in the program and in 1989 title plus abstract. Table � Title/subject of talks by recipients of the Society Gold Medal

Year Name Title or (subject of talk)

1971 Arthur Neish (cell walls and algal culture)

1972 Michael Shaw (rust fungus-host relations)

1973 David Siminovitch (frost hardiness and foams)

1975 Neil Towers (searching for medicinal plants)

1977 Oluf Gamborg (tissue culture)

1980 Tony Bidwell (photorespiration)

1982 David T. Canvin Plastids, dwarfs, and photorespiration

1984 Jack Dainty (biophysics and water uptake)

1986 Gordon MacLachlan (cell wall synthesis)

1988 Paul Gorham Don’t drink the water, don’t take the pills

1989 Ann Oaks Regulation and nitrogen metabolism during early seedling growth

1990 Richard Pharis (gibberellic acid)

1991 Mary Spencer Ethylene, nature’s secret agent

1993 Derek Bewley The drying game

1996 John Thompson Senescence, a dichotomy of options

1997 Robert Hill What are hemoglobins doing in plants?

1999 Edwin Cossins Nutrition, health and one-carbon metabolism: the fascinating world of folate

2002 John King Metabolism by mutation

2005 Ragai Ibrahim A forty-year journey in plant research: original contributions to flavonoid biochemistry


CD Nelson award

The CD Nelson award was established in 1977 to recognize young plant physiologists whose outstanding research contributions showed originality and independence of thought (By-Law 12, Table 3). The accompanying certificate has a silver frame and black mat with a red embossed seal of the Society. Don Nelson (1927-1968) received his BA, MA and PhD at Queen’s University under Gleb Krotkov. He was one of the youngest Fellows of the Royal Society of Canada and was only 41 when he died of leukemia in 1968. He was the first Dean of Science at Simon Fraser University, the third position in his tragically shortened but highly productive, career, a post taken up after being a staff member at NRC and a professor at Queen’s University.

Table � Recipients of the CD Nelson award

Year Name Institute

1978 J. Derek Bewley University of Calgary Alberta

1979 Melvin T. Tyree University of Toronto Ontario

1982 John D. Mahon NRC-Plant Biotech Institute Saskatoon

1984 Desh Pal Verma McGill University Montreal Quebec

1987 Norman P. Huner University of Western Ontario London

1988 Bryan D. McKersie University of Guelph Ontario

1989 David H. Turpin Queen’s University Kingston Ontario

1990 David B. Layzell Queen’s University Kingston Ontario

1991 Vincenzo De Luca Université de Montréal Québec

1992 Stewart B. Rood University of Lethbridge Alberta

1993 William C. Plaxton Queen’s University Kingston Ontario

1995 Gregory J. Taylor University of Alberta Edmonton

1996 Bruce M. Greenberg University of Waterloo Ontario

1998 J. Kevin Vessey University of Manitoba Winnipeg

2000 Luc Varin Concordia University Montreal Quebec

2001 Daphne R. Goring University of Toronto Ontario

2003 Peter J. Facchini University of Calgary Alberta

2004 Daniel P. Matton Université de Montréal Québec

2006 Gregory B.G. Moorhead University of Calgary Alberta

2007 Robert T. Mullen University of Guelph Ontario


Award in Tree Physiology At the joint CSPP/CBA meeting in 1988, an award in tree physiology was made for the first time to Dick Pharis. This award had its genesis in the face of the paucity of research into the physiology of forest trees and of woody species in general. A survey of the membership indicated a high level of interest in such research by university biology departments but not by forestry schools. In light of an extensive report on the status of forestry research in Canada submitted by Dick Pharis in 1986, Treasurer André D’Aoust proposed at the June, 1987, Executive Committee meeting that a new award specifically to honour tree physiology research should be sponsored. He noted that a) forestry was historically and financially an important Canadian industry, b) the number of Canadians working in this area was lower than it should be and c) it was difficult to work and publish on these taxing perennials let alone be funded for long term studies. His motion, seconded by David Canvin, was carried by a show of hands and the steps necessary to present the proposal at the next annual meeting was begun (By-Law 13). President Martin Canny suggested that the award should be named after an eminent tree physiologist such as M. Zimmerman but this step was temporarily put into abeyance Following the untimely death of David Gifford (1944-2003), the decision to name the award for him was made by the Executive Committee. David was born in Liverpool, England, and moved to Canada in 1967. He first obtained a BSc and then, with Ed Cossins, a PhD at the University of Alberta. Supported by an NSERC fellowship, he studied mobilization of seed reserves with Derek Bewley at the University of Calgary. In 1986 he returned to the University of Alberta as assistant professor in the Department of Botany, becoming a full Professor in 1997. His research there focussed on mobilization of reserves in seeds of gymnosperms and led to his being the fourth recipient of the Tree Physiology award. Over the years, he had served the CSPP-SCPV as Western Director, Senior Director, Communications Director, and finally President-elect and would have been the President in 2005. Presentation of the accompanying certificate is the same as that of the CD Nelson award. To date six awards have been made (Table 4)

THE SECOND TWENTY-FIVE YEARS�0

Table � Recipients of the Tree Physiology Award Year Name Institute

1988 Richard P. Pharis University of Calgary Alberta

1991 Erwin B. Dumbroff University of Waterloo Ontario

1992 C. H. Anthony Little Canadian Forest Service Fredericton NB

1999 David J. Gifford*2003 University of Alberta Edmonton

2004 Stewart Rood University of Lethbridge Alberta

2007 Melvin T. Tyree University of Alberta Edmonton

*Deceased

Award for Service to the Society

An award for service to the Society was also proposed and accepted in 1988 (By-Law 14). It was later decided to name it for Dr. Gleb Krotkov (1901-1968), CSPP president 1960-1961, born in Moscow, Russia, son of a university professor. He obtained his first degree in agricultural engineering in 1925 in Czechoslovakia but only after many adventures due to the Russian revolution, and emigrated to Canada that same year. He had the good fortune to meet Professor GH Duff while working as a labourer at the Vineland Experiment Station and soon was enrolled as a graduate student in plant physiology at the University of Toronto, obtaining an MA in 1931 and a PhD in 1934. He began his 37-year career at Queen’s University in Kingston, Ontario as a lecturer in biology in 1931 and became head of the department in 1958. During WWII he translated Russian reports on work done on the Russian dandelion as a possible source of natural rubber for the Canadian and US governments. In 1946 he spent a sabbatical year in DM Hoagland’s laboratory in California where he learned the techniques of using radioactive tracers in biological research, thereafter establishing the first such laboratory in Canada. In this laboratory, he and talented graduate students and post-doctorate fellows produced a steady flow of papers that won Queen’s an international recognition in photosynthesis research (see Photosynthesis Research 88: 83-100, 2006). He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1950 which awarded him the Flavelle Medal in 1964. In 1962 he was appointed a Member of the NRCC and for the next six years devoted a great deal of energy to national scientific matters. At the time of his sudden death, he was deeply involved in research on photorespiration. Members of the CSPP-SCPV who were his students remember him for his cheerful “How things are?” greeting, a reflection of his keen interest in their welfare.

THE SECOND TWENTY-FIVE YEARS ��

Gleb had been proposed as a candidate for the first Society Gold Medal but the decision not to make the award posthumously ruled him out. The first recipient of the Gleb Krotkov award was Dorothy Forward who was presented with a framed certificate to that effect at the 1990 annual meeting. Presentation of the accompanying certificate is the same as that of the CD Nelson award. To date six awards have been made (Table 5)

Table � Recipients of the Gleb Krotkov Award

Year Name Institute

1990 Dorothy Forward*1993 University of Toronto Ontario

1992 Donald C. Mortimer*2000 National Research Council Ottawa Ontario

1994 David S. Fensom*1998 Mount Allison University Sackville NS

1997 W. Raymond Cummins University of Toronto Mississauga Ontario

1999 Iain A.P. Taylor University of British Columbia Vancouver

2001 Carol Peterson University of Waterloo Ontario

* Deceased

Student travel bursaries (George H. Duff Student Travel Bursary)

A fund for providing travel assistance to students wishing to attend the annual meeting and to present their research results was initially proposed in 1984. Travel awards were established in 1992, at least that is the first year in which they were advertised in the Bulletin. In December 2000 a motion by Gregory Taylor to name them the George H. Duff Student Travel Awards, seconded by Elizabeth Weretilnyk, was carried unanimously. The following citation accompanied the motion: “The Canadian Society of Plant Physiologists/La Societé Canadienne de Physiologie Végétale originated from a series of meetings of plant physiologists and biochemists that were held during the period following World War Il. The first of these meetings was the Colloquium on Problems of Plant Metabolism convened by Dr. George H. Duff, Professor of Plant Physiology, Department of Botany, University of Toronto. Dr. Duff invested enormous energy over the next eight years in his efforts to establish the CSPP-SCPV. In addition to promoting a series of nine meetings that provided the impetus for our Society, Dr. Duff played a role in drafting a Constitution and By-Laws that were to be presented at the Fall 1958 meeting in Saskatoon. Regrettably, Dr. Duff died after a short illness on September 28, 1958. The Society was officially founded one month later on October 27, 1958, by a unanimous vote.”

THE SECOND TWENTY-FIVE YEARS��

The George H. Duff Student Travel Awards recognize Dr. Duff’s outstanding contributions to our Society. The awards are funded from a combination of donations from members and Society general revenues. At the AGM in 2005, a motion was passed to change the name of the award to “bursary” since the basis for awarding it is not primarily academic merit but rather financial need. Students apply for the bursary using the official form provided by the Society. The bursary program is run by the two regional directors. The only requirements for receiving the bursary are that the students must be members of the Society and must make oral or poster presentations of their research results at the annual meeting.

Awards for student presentationsPresident’s award

At the annual general meeting (AGM) in 1985, a motion to establish a prize of $100 for the best oral presentation at the annual meeting by a student member of the Society, proposed by Derek Bewley and seconded by Doug Ormrod, was carried. A By-law to detail the conditions of the award was also accepted at the meeting. A trust fund of $1500 was set aside for investment by the Executive Committee to finance the award, a fund to which members were also invited to donate. The award was given the name “President’s Award” at the AGM of 1986. The accompanying certificate presently has a dark grey frame with no mat and a red embossed seal of the Society and is presented by the earliest-serving past-president of the Society attending the meeting. At the AGM of 1987, the number of awards was increased to three and included poster as well as oral presentations. In that same year and the following two, an award was also presented by the Society to the best National Science Fair project relating to plant physiology. However, this award was not continued after that time. The names of those who have received President’s award are listed in Table 6.

E.R.Waygood Award (Western Director’s Award) presented at Western Regional Meetings

A new student prize named for E.R.Waygood and presented by him at the Western Regional Meeting was awarded to Elaine Wright, University of British Columbia, for best oral presentation in 1987. Dr. Michael Shaw introduced the award with a tribute to Professor Waygood, an excerpt of which follows:


Table � Recipients of the President’s Award at the annual meetings

Year Best Oral Institute Best Poster Institute

1986 Paul Morris Queen’s U

1987 Allison KermodeSteven McCutcheonLorna Woodrow

U Guelph Brock UU Guelph

1988 David Kelly Queen’s U

1989 Sheila Macfie U Alberta

1990 Emilio de Carolis U Montreal Maurice OishiTracey Reynolds

U GuelphU Guelph

1991 Zoran RisticGregory Varney

U AlbertaCarleton U

Francois Ouellet UQAM

1992 Kathi Hudak U Waterloo Gordon Gray UWO

1993 Micheline WattMaria Theodorou

Carleton UQueen’s U

David Gauthire UBC

1994 Jihad AttiehMichelle Watt

U MontrealCarleton U

Sirinart AnanvoranichKathleen Ismond

Concordia UCarleton U

1995 Gordon Gray UWO Istvan Rajcan U Guelph

1996 Jules Ade Laval

1997 Rachael Morgan UWO Alison JohnsonJanice King

U CalgaryU Alberta

1998 Jacqueline BedeChantal Nunes

U TorontoMcGill U

Brenda Chow U Alberta

1999 Sandra StoneAlexandra Reid

U AlbertaU Alberta

Sonya Kujat U Alberta

2000 Michelle Quick UWO Thomas Burian Mcmaster U

2001 Matthew BrymanNancy Silva

U AlbertaU Toronto

2002 James Blonde Queen’s U Tanya Hooker UBC

2003 Pauline Quesnelle Trent U Yeen Ting Hwang U Guelph

2004 Andrius Baleris UWO Priya Dhanoa U Guelph

2005 Jessica Brown U Alberta Beth Szyszka UWO

2006 Donna YeeChantal Beauchemin

U TorontoInst. Frappier

2007 Nicole Dafoe U Victoria Gholamreza Babajani SFU

“It is an honour and privilege for me to pay tribute to Roy Waygood, Emeritus Professor of the University of Manitoba where he was Head of the Department of Botany from 1954 to 1979. Ernest Roy Waygood was born in Bramhall, England. He obtained his B. Sc. from the Ontario


Agricultural College in 1941 and his M.Sc. and Ph.D. in 1947 and 1949 at the University of Toronto, where he studied under Professor George Duff. Professor Waygood, who had carried out important work on the mechanism of action of ascorbic acid oxidase in the wheat leaf for his Ph. D., initiated an active program of research at McGill. Moving to the University of Manitoba in 1954, Professor Waygood quickly established the Department of Botany as a centre of excellence for plant physiology, his own interests being the mechanisms of action of respiratory and photosynthetic enzymes and the physiology of rust-infected wheat.” Dr. Waygood was the first Vice-President of the CSPP and its second President in 1959. Subsequently, the award was renamed The Western Director’s Award and has been made at every Western Regional Meeting since 1998 (Table 7)

Table � Waygood Prize �� and Director’s Awards presentedat Western Regional Meetings Year Best Oral Institute Best Poster Institute

1987 Elaine Wright UBC

1998 Benjamin Forward U Vic Anna May Schmidt U Vic

2000 Christopher Todd U of A Christie Hamilton U of A

2004 Jaqueline Hulm SFU Weiping Liu U Sask

2007 Mathias Schuetz U Sask Raju Soolanayakanahally UBC

Awards presented at Eastern Regional Meetings

Awards for student presentations have been made at the Eastern Regional Meetings since 1997 (Table 8) and have been called the (Eastern) Director’s Awards since 2002.

Ann Oaks Doctoral Scholarship.

The Ann Oaks Doctoral Scholarship is one of the Society’s newest awards, and provides for NSERC-level funding for a student undertaking doctoral research in plant biology at a Canadian university. Ann Oaks (1930-2006) received a BA (Honours Biology) from the University of Toronto in 1951, and MA and PhD degrees from the University of Saskatchewan in 1954 and 1959 respectively. She was a faculty member in the Department of Biology at McMaster University from 1965 to 1989, and an adjunct faculty member in the Department of Botany at the University of Guelph from 1989 to 1999. She was Professor Emeritus at McMaster


Table � Director’s Awards presented at Eastern Regional Meetings

Year Best Oral Institute Best Poster Institute

1997 Christopher Smith Queen’s U

1998 Gale BozzoDeborah Lorenzin

York UMcMaster U

1999 Darrell Deseveaux U de M Linda Nowak U Waterloo

2000 Michael McConnell Brock U Richard Bourgault U of G

2001 Andrew McCartney U of G Tessa Pocock UWO

2002 Gregory Perry U Waterloo Andrew McCartney U of G

2004 Dominic Rosso UWO Jeffrey Waller Queen’s U

2005 Jeffrey Waller Queen’s U Allison McDonald U of T

2006 Amanda Rochon Brock U Dylan Levac Brock U

2007 Linda Tyng-Shyan Huang UWO Bogumil Karas UWO

University, and in 2004 was awarded a DSc from McMaster. For most of her career, Dr. Oaks’ research focussed on plant nitrogen metabolism, especially in maize seedlings. She was made a fellow of the Royal Society of Canada in 1986, and received the Gold Medal from the CSPP–SCPV in 1988. Her prominence and leadership in plant physiology were recognized through an invitation to describe her career in a prefatory chapter for the Annual Review of Plant Physiology and Plant Molecular Biology (Oaks, A. 2000. Fifty years of plant science: was there really no place for a woman? ARPPPMB 51:1-16). The genesis of the award was in June of 1991 when Ann first proposed to the Executive Committee (EC) that she establish a life insurance policy naming the Society as beneficiary for the purpose of establishing a scholarship for PhD students. After thorough investigation by both parties of the legal and charitable status ramifications of such a plan, the EC accepted the proposal at their December 1991 meeting. The Society agreed to pay legal fees associated with setting up the award and to issue Ann a yearly charitable donation receipt for her payment of the insurance premiums. Ann’s stated reason for establishing the fund was her concern over the falling numbers of student members. In 1995, a standing committee for the Scholarship Trust was formed with Ann as a member. This entailed writing a new By-Law. In December 1999, a motion to establish a three member Board of Trustees committee was passed with, at Ann’s request, Frédérique Guinel, Ray Cummins and Harold Weger as members.


Table � Board of Trustees of the Oaks Scholarship Fund

Ray Cummins 1997-2002

Frédérique Guinel 1997-2004

Frédérique Guinel 2004-2008

Harold Weger 1997-2002

Harold Weger 2002-20081

Connie Nozzolillo 2002-2005

Elizabeth Weretilnyk 2002-2006

Elizabeth Weretilnyk 2006-2010

Doug Campbell 2003-2007

Doug Campbell 2007-2011

Sheila Macfie 2005-2009

George Espie 2002-20082

1 Ex officio as Treasurer

2 Advisor as Past-Treasurer

The initial funds for the award came from two gifts of stock from Ann to the Society. At that point, the main function of the Board committee was to oversee the fund management and to solicit further donations to the fund. In addition to growth of the fund due to investments, Society members donated about $1250 each year to the award fund. Such accumulation had to, and did, receive special permission from Revenue Canada in order that CSPP-SCPV could retain its charitable status. In 2001, CSPP by-law 16 was amended, and the Board of Trustees was expanded. The Board was to include four full members of the Society, the Society Treasurer as ex officio member, and the immediate Past-Treasurer as an advisor to the Board. As well, term length was defined as four years. Ann Oaks died at age 76 on January 13, 2006, having been in failing health for some years. With her passing, a sum in the order of $310,000 was added to the fund from Ann’s life insurance policy and also other gifts from Ann’s estate. Thus it was time to begin considering the mechanism of awarding a scholarship for approval by the membership. At the end of the fiscal year 2007, about $430,000 was in the fund, most of it under the management of the investment firm BMO Nesbitt Burns. The fund is managed in a conservative manner with a rate of return of just under 5%. Such an interest rate


Dorothy Forward and Gold Medal awardee Jack Dainty, Waterloo, June 1983

Robert Hill, Dutch Dumbroff, John Thompson, Dave Canvin, and Dave Turpin, Waterloo, June 1983

(Right to Left) Ragai Ibrahim, Desh Pal and Mrs. Verma, Gordon Maclachlan and unidentified couple, Montreal, January 1984

Don Mortimer at his poster Providence RI, June 1985

Queen’s students sport the traditional kerchief, Ottawa, December 1985

André Laroche and his poster, Providence RI, June 1985


Judith Frégeau and Sylvie Séguin, Providence RI, June 1985 David Gifford at his poster, Providence RI, June 1985

Eduardo Blumvald and Ragai Ibrahim, Montreal, June 1990 Christiane Charest and Mark Hodges and their poster, Ottawa, December 1991

François Cormier and Marianna Krol, Ottawa, December 1991 President Peter Joliffe presents the Gold Medal to Mary Spencer, Edmonton, June 1991


Secretary Dave Layzell takes notes at the AGM as CJB editor Iain Taylor gives his report, Edmonton, June 1991

Bob Thompson and Mike Dixon, Ottawa, December 1991

Ayra Bal and Norm Huner, Montreal, December 1992 Trevor Thorpe, André and Madame Fortin, Montreal, December 1992

Deep Saini, David Dennis, David Turpin, Kingston, December 1993

Martin Canny and Michelle Watt, Kingston, December 1993


Ann Oaks, Bernie Grodzinski, Doug Ormrod, Kingston, December 1993

John Coleman and Alan Bown, Kingston, December 1993

Ann Oaks and David Fensom, Burlington, December 1994 Trevor Thorpe and Jas Singh, Burlington, December 1994

John Williams and Raj Dhindsa, Montreal, June 1994 Richard Coté, Mike Dixon and John Hoddinott, Guelph, June 1995


President Carol Peterson chairs the EC meeting, Montreal, June 1998

Carol Peterson presents the Nelson Award to Kevin Vessey, Montreal, June 1998

Marilyn Griffiths and student, Montreal Botanic Garden, June 1998

Harold Weger, George Espie and Dan Lefebvre at The Balzac rodeo, June 2002

Carol Peterson presents the Gold Medal certificate to Ed Cossins, Montreal, June 1998

Claude Willemot, Elizabeth Weretilnyk and Barbara Moffatt, Montreal Botanic Gardin, June 1998


Anja Geitmann, Brian Ellis and Mark Bernards, Hernder Estate Wines, June 2004

Ann Oaks and Stewart Rood, Guelph, June 2004 Sharon Regan andn Jonathon Plett, Guelph, June 2004

Vince De Luca, Frédérique Guinel, Mark Held and Ewa Cholewa Guelph, June 2004

Rob Guy presents the Nelson Award to Greg Moorhead, Boston, June 2006

© Nicole Burkhart

Ragai Ibrahim presents his award to Amanda Rochon, Saskatoon, June 2007

Taken from the CSPP Bulletin

Commitee


does not allow for the $23,000 award first envisaged without depleting the capital fund. After much discussion among members of the Oaks Board, the CSPP-SCPV Executive Committee and with the membership at the annual meeting in June 2007, the value of the scholarship was set at $21,000, which is equivalent to NSERC’s PGS-D award. Furthermore, similar to the PGS-D award, the scholarship is potentially renewable for two additional years. Full details of the scholarship are found in By-Law 16 of the Society constitution. Preliminary adjudication for the award was done by NSERC in conjunction with their own doctoral scholarship competition. All plant biology PhD students who applied for an NSERC PGS-D award were automatically considered for the Oaks Doctoral Scholarship as well. The Board of Trustees of the fund is looking forward to awarding the scholarship for the first time in 2008, the 50th anniversary year of the Society, and also acknowledges the substantial logistical aid provided by NSERC.

Ragai Ibrahim Award for best published paper by a student (By-Law ��)

Another new award of the Society is the Ibrahim Award for best paper published by a student member of the CSPP-SCPV and announced at the 2005 annual meeting in Edmonton. The first award was presented at the 2007 Plant Canada meeting in Saskatoon to Amanda Rochon, Brock University, for her paper in Plant Cell 12, 3670-3685, 2006 and included a framed certificate and a cheque for $350. The award also calls for selecting a paper for honourable mention, but because of the high quality of the 10 nominations received, the committee, chaired by Robert Hill, decided to select two: Yo Miyashita (University of Alberta) and Ian Major (Victoria University). This annual award was established by a gift from Ragai Ibrahim. Ragai was born in 1929 in Heliopolis, Egypt. He obtained his BSc at the University of Cairo in 1949 in Honours Botany and Chemistry, then worked in industry for 5-6 years. In 1958, he earned an MSc in Plant Physiology at the University of Alexandria, and then moved to Canada. In 1961 he obtained a PhD in Plant Biochemistry at McGill University with Neil Towers. During his long career as a professor at Sir George Williams College (which later became part of Concordia University) he trained many students, published many papers and earned recognition for his outstanding contributions to the biochemistry of flavonoids. Honours bestowed on him include: Alexander von Humboldt Scholar, 1975, Groupe Polyphenols Medal 1992, past President and Honorary Life Member, Phytochemical Society of North America, CSPP-SCPV Society Gold Medal, 2004, and Distinguished Professor Emeritus Concordia University. A peer-reviewed paper is nominated by the student’s supervisor and is evaluated for its (potential) impact on plant science. The first author of the paper must be the nominated student and the paper must be a report of work performed by that student. The award is based on the calendar year (January 1-December 31) and is open to students currently registered in a program or who have completed their graduate/undergraduate programs no more than 12 months prior to the date of publication of the paper.


The CSPP-SCPV was a part of the International Association of Plant Physiologists (IAPP) when the annual meeting was held in Calgary in 1973. However, at the annual business meeting of 1984 the motion to withdraw from the IAPP because the dues paid to it were excessive in view of the limited benefits accrued was carried and so the association was ended. Initially, the CSPP-SCPV was associated with the Biological Council of Canada (BCC) from the time of its founding in 1966, and membership dues included the fees of such association. Representatives of the Society were appointed to attend BCC meetings and to report back to the Society. However, by the late 1980’s financial problems arose and the BCC ceased to exist at the end of 1989. Association with the Canadian Federation of Biological Sciences (CFBS), which had also been a member of the BCC, was begun with similar representation by the Society but with significantly higher membership dues. However, many Society members felt that plant biology in general was not well-represented by the CFBS, which included a number of medically-oriented societies. Many members thus felt that the large increase in Society membership dues was not a justifiable expense, and membership levels declined precipitously. Association with the CFBS remained a contentious issue for some time. A motion to withdraw from the association was passed at the AGM of June 1994 but in June 1995, a motion to rescind the decision to withdraw was passed and the CSPP paid past due fees of $1605 to the CFBS. At the same meeting, a motion to explore increased collaboration with other Canadian plant societies, especially the Canadian Botanical Association - Association Botanique du Canada (CBA-ABC) and the Canadian Society of Plant Molecular Biology (CSMPB) which was in financial difficulties due to low membership, was made. Finally at the joint meeting with the ASPP in Vancouver in 1997, the decision was made to withdraw the Society from association with the CFBS. As a result of leaving the CFBS, the Society was no longer involved in lobbying activities and thus the role of CSPP-SCPV Inc was greatly reduced. A further result was that membership dues were considerably lower and paid only to the charitable arm, thus supposedly making them again eligible as a charitable donation for tax purposes. However, Treasurer André D’Aoust discovered that Revenue Canada regulations indicated that memberships in charitable organizations are tax-deductible only if there is no demonstrable benefit to membership. Reduced registration

Chapter 4

CHANGING UMBRELLA ORGANIZATIONS


fees for members at the Society meetings are such a benefit. Therefore membership fees could be claimed only as dues paid to a professional society. With the affirmation by the Executive Committee in 2004 that conference registration fees for Society members should be lower than for non-members, this meant that dues would not be tax-deductible. It goes without saying that the Society treasurers have been kept busy by these changing rules. As Treasurer Harold Weger puts it: “Nothing is ever simple!”. One of the primary reasons for membership in such umbrella organizations was/is to maximize efforts to inform various government bodies of the importance of research in biological fields such as plant physiology to the economy of the country and the pressing need for increased funding of such research. Lobbying included one-on-one meetings with members of parliament as well as letter writing, exercises more effective when strong arguments were presented. An example of the kind of argument made is a report written at the request of the Executive Committee in 1986 by a three member team composed of Derek Bewley, John Thompson and David Dennis (Appendix). The contents of this report remain valid today. Whether to merge with other plant societies such as the CBA-ABC or to join the newly formed federation given the name of Plant Canada was decided in favour of the latter at the annual meeting in 1999. The CSPP-SCPV played an important role in setting up Plant Canada. Events were set in motion in 1997 by a letter from Carol Peterson (then president of the CSPP-SCPV) to C.C. Chinnappa (then president of the CBA-ABC) suggesting that a merger between the two societies be considered. The idea was met favorably by both societies and a committee, headed by Iain Taylor, was struck to consider the concept. The decision of the committee was not to merge the societies but rather to set up a federation of like-minded Canadian societies. The reasons for favoring a federation were threefold:1. To facilitate communication among plant biologists from all areas of research,2. To join with other plant biologists so as to provide a greater impact than would the relatively small numbers of members in the individual societies.3. To increase the visibility of plant biology and attract more plant biologists to annual meetings. The committee drew up a constitution and by-laws which were ratified by both the CSPP-SCPV and the CBA-ABC at their 2000 annual general meetings; thus, these two societies became the founding members of the new federation. It was decided to meet for the first time as a federation at the annual meeting in Antigonish and every two years thereafter. Over the next short while, several other Canadian plant biology societies joined Plant Canada. As already mentioned in Chapter 1, a second very successful meeting was held in Edmonton, Alberta, in 2005 with six plant societies. A third joint meeting was held in Saskatoon in 2007.


In 1991, Secretary Ray Cummins wrote a detailed proposed publication policy for the Society. The following is excerpted from that proposal:

“Programs and abstracts of Society meetings have been intermittently published since its formation. These programs were known as the Proceedings of the Canadian Society of Plant Physiologists/Délibérations de la Société Canadienne de Physiologie Végétale. Sometime after 1986 these proceedings were assigned an International Standard Serial Number (ISSN 0842-0602). According to international protocol the ISSN number should appear on the top right hand corner of the front cover, or the back cover or title page as alternative locations.” However, this number rarely appears!

Proceedings

Ray proposed that the system should be put into effect and that the time of the annual meeting be the end of the publishing year with the programs for the three annual meetings- Eastern Regional, Western Regional and National as a single volume with three issues, or only two issues in years when there was no Western Regional meeting. In the past it had often been the custom to publish the regional abstracts (again) with the national program, but this was difficult to do when joint meetings with other societies were held. He settled the problem of Volume number by assuming #1 appeared in 1958 when the Society was formed, with one volume every year thereafter and proposed that the program of the Eastern Regional Meeting of December 1991 be Volume 35, Issue 1, the program of the Western Regional Meeting be Volume 35 Issue 2, and the program of the National Meeting be Volume 35 Issue 3. Such a system would make it easier for libraries to whom the programs are sent to make them available to their readers but it has not been consistently followed since then. Programs of the annual and regional meetings with abstracts of talks and posters are distributed at the meetings. Copies of most of these programs are available in the Archives and were usually distributed to several libraries

Chapter 5

PUBLICATIONS OF THE SOCIETY


Table�0 Dates and sites of the CSPP-SCPV annual national meetings��-�00�

Year Date Proceedings Joint Place

1983 Jun 19-22 Vol 26 No 3 no U of Waterloo Waterloo Ont

1984 Jul 29-Au 1 Vol 27 No 2 no Simon Fraser U Whistler Mountain BC

1985 Jun 26-28 Pl Phys 77S ASPP Brown University Providence RI

1986 Jun 16-18 Vol 29 No 2 no U of Sask (NRC) Saskatoon Sask

1987 Jun 9-12 Vol 30 No 3 CSPMB Queen’s U Kingston Ont

1988 Jun 5-9 Vol 31 No 2 CBA U of Victoria Victoria BC

1989 Jul 30-Au 3 Pl Phys 81S ASPP Royal York Hotel Toronto Ont

1990 Jun 17-20 Vol 33 No 3 no U du Québec a Montréal (UQAM) Qué

1991 Jun 23-27 Vol 34 No 2 CBA U of Alberta Edmonton Alta

1992 Jul 11-16 Vol 35 No 3 no Memorial U St John’s Newfoundland

1993 Jul 31-Au 4 Pl Phys 105S ASPP Hyatt Regency Hotel Minneapolis MN

1994 Jun 16-18 CFBS 142 CFBS Palais des Congrès Montréal Qué

1995 Jun 24-27 Vol 38 No 2 CBA U of Guelph Guelph Ont

1996 Jun 9-12 Vol 39 No 3 CSPMB U Laval Québec Qué

1997 Aug 2-6 Pl Phys 109S ASPP UBC Vancouver British Columbia

1998 Jul 11-14 Vol 41 No 3 no U de Montréal Jardin Botanique Qué

1999 Jun19-23 Vol 42 No 2 no Bessborough Hotel Saskatoon Sask

2000 Jun 24-28 Vol 43 No 3 CBA U of Western Ontario London Ont

2001 Jul 21-25 Pl Phys 113S ASPP R I Convention Centre Providence RI

2002 Jun 8-12 Vol 45 No 2 no U of Calgary Calgary Alta

2003 Jun 25-28 Vol 46 No 2 PC St Francis Xavier U Antigonish NS

2004 Jun 19-22 Vol 47 No 3 no U of Guelph Guelph Ont

2005 Jun 15-19 Vol 48 No 2 PC U of Alberta Edmonton Alta

2006 Aug 5-9 Pl Phys 118S ASPB Hynes Convention Center Boston MA

2007 Jun 10-14 Vol 50 No 3 PC U of Saskatchewan Saskatoon Sask

ASPP, ASPB- American Society of Plant Physiologists/BiologistsCBA- Canadian Botanical AssociationCFBS- Canadian Federation of Biological ScienceCSPMB- Canadian Society of Plant Molecular BiologistsPC -Plant Canada


Table �� Dates and sites of the Western regional meetings ��-�00�

Year Date Proceedings Place

1983 Feb 24 Vol 26 No 2 U of Alberta Edmonton Alta

1985 Feb 17-18 Vol 28 No 2 U of Calgary Calgary Alta

1987 Feb 18-20 Vol 30 No 2 UBC Vancouver BC

1990 Feb 22-23 Vol 33 No 2 U of Calgary Calgary Alta

1992 Mar 15-171 Vol 35 No 2 U Alberta Banff Springs Hotel

1994 Feb 17-182 Vol 37 No 2 UBC Vancouver BC

1996 Apr 15-163 Vol 39 No 2 Malaspina College Nanaimo BC

1998 April 7-84 Vol 41 No 2 UVic Victoria BC

2000 May 6 Vol 43 No 2 U Alberta Edmonton

2004 Dec 9-10 Vol 48 No 2 U Saskatchewan Saskatoon

2007 Feb 22-24 Vol 50 No 2 UBC Kelowna Manteo Resort Okanagan BC

1. Jointly with Alberta Crop Molecular Biology Workshop2. Jointly with 14th U of Victoria Forest and Tree Research Colloquium3. Jointly with 16th U of Victoria Forest and Tree Research Colloquium4. Jointly with 18th U of Victoria Forest and Tree Research Colloquium

Newsletter/Bulletin

The Society Secretary has published a newsletter since the earliest days with a new issue two or three times per year. Copies of most of them are stored in the Society Archives. The issue for October 1989 carried a bilingual title, Newsletter and Bulletin de Novelles ( corrected to Nouvelles in the April 1990 issue) introduced by Secretary David Layzell. In October 1990, the title became simply Bulletin which it has remained to the present. In August 1991, Secretary Ray Cummins applied for and received an ISSN number (ISSN 1183-9597) for the Bulletin of the Canadian Society of Plant Physiologists/Bulletin de la Société Canadienne de Physiologie Végétale. Of course, the copies were printed and mailed by post until the more widespread advent of electronic means of communication. The final exclusively “hard copy” Bulletin is dated October 1993. Electronic communication began from the University of Guelph Environmental Biology and Horticulture computers with Richard Côté as internet coordinator. Secretary Deep Saini sent out Bulletins by e-mail with annual summary printouts through to December 1996. Lorna Woodrow took over as editor of the Bulletin in January 1997 and resumed the publication of printed issues mailed to the members through to October 1999 as well as continuing e-mailed Bulletins.


Table �� Dates and sites of the Eastern regional meetings ��-�00�

Year Date Proceedings Place

1984 Jan 4-5 Vol 27 No 1 Concordia U Montreal Que

1984 Dec 16-18 Vol 28 No 1 Queen’s U Kingston Ont

1985 Dec 9-10 Vol 29 No 1 U of O Ottawa Ont

1986 Dec 15-16 Vol 30 No 1 U of T Toronto Ont

1987 Dec 17-19 Vol 31 No 1 U of G Guelph Ont

1988 Dec 15-17 Vol 32 No 1 McGill U Montreal Que

1989 Dec 14-16 Vol 33 No 1 UWO London Ont

1990 Dec 13-15 Vol 34 No I U of W Waterloo Ont

1991 Dec 15-17 Vol 35 No 1 Carleton U Agr Can Ottawa

1992 Dec 13-15 Vol 36 No 1 U de M Montreal Que


1994 Dec 11-13 Vol 38 No 1 McMaster U Hamilton at Royal Botan Gdns Burlington Ont

1995 Dec 9 Vol 39 No 1 York U Downsview Ont

1996 Nov 30 Vol 40 No 1 Wilfred Laurier U Waterloo Ont

1997 Dec 5-6 Vol 41 No 1 U of O at Lord Elgin Hotel Ottawa Ont

1998 Dec 12-13 Vol 42 No 1 U of T at Marriott Hotel Toronto Ont


2000 Dec 10 Vol 44 No 1 U of Waterloo Waterloo Ont

2001 Dec 15 Vol 45 No 1 U of Guelph Guelph Ont

2002 Dec 7 Vol 46 No 1 Brock U St. Catharines Ont

2003 Dec 12-13 Vol 47 No 1 Concordia U Montreal Que


2005 Dec 16-17 Vol 49 No 1 Wilfred Laurier U Waterloo Ont

2006 Dec 2* Vol 50 No 1 McMaster U Hamilton Ont

2007 Dec 1 Vol 51 No 1 UWO London Ont

*jointly with 40th Plant Development workshop

CSPP-SCPV website

In 1999, Richard Côté stepped down as internet coordinator, the electronic address was moved to the University of Guelph mainframe and the first steps in setting up a Society website were made with Michael Stasiak (University of Guelph) as web master. President Gregory Taylor undertook the uploading of the first 25 years history to the site but its main purpose was as a


place to advertise job openings and upcoming meetings. In 2000, Lorna Woodrow proposed that the site be moved to a commercial one in order not to give the impression that the CSPP was part of the university. The move was made to www.cspp-scpv.ca with Michael Stasiak continuing as webmaster. Currently the Bulletin is published on the website together with the minutes of the annual general meeting and the Society Charter and Constitution. A few printed copies of the Bulletin are still sent to members without e-mail access.

Directory of Members

Another regular publication of the Society is its membership list which usually also includes the current constitution. Membership lists at first were added to the Newsletter, but as the Society grew a separate publication became necessary. Initially, a joint listing of CSPP and CBA members was produced with those with dual membership indicated. More recently publication of the ever changing membership list has been exclusively restricted to those of the CSPP-SCPV and is made approximately every two years. Of the original 86 founding members, six still remain as paid-up members in the latest edition of the directory. They are Tony Bidwell, Jan Bonga, Jim Craigie, Connie Nozzolillo, Michael Shaw, and Mary Spencer. Several others are still living but are no longer members. Included in this list are Stew Brown, Vern Burrows, Morris Kates, Nestor Rosa, George Setterfield and Saul Zalik.

Journal

The Society has no journal of its own but members have always been encouraged to submit papers to the Canadian Journal of Botany (CJB) which recently became Botany, An International Journal for Plant Biology. The editor of the CJB usually reports on the journal to the CSPP-SCPV membership at the annual meeting. Society members continue to have a major presence at the journal and have typically been conscripted as editors, associate editors and members of the editorial board. The change of name of the journal has also been discussed at many CSPP-SCPV meetings over the years.


The CSPP-SCPV archives owe their existence to the late Don Mortimer. In the preface to their history of the first 25 years, Gorham and Bidwell express their gratitude to “the Society archives and records” that the Executive Committee made available to them. However, at that time, the “archives” existed only as a collection of papers stored in filing boxes and transferred from one EC to its succeeding one and eventually to Don Mortimer’s office at NRCC in Ottawa. At the 1983 AGM, Secretary Roger Horton emphasized the importance of maintaining Society records in his report. Bidwell suggested placing some records in the National Archives and that Don Mortimer could be asked to look into this possibility. Dick Pharis suggested that microficheing was also a possibility. By the following year, the EC had asked Mortimer to chair a committee to look into the National Archives as a possible repository for Society records and at the AGM, President King reported that Mortimer had signed a contract with the National Archives and was asking for contributions of appropriate material for storage there. The archives are not mentioned again until the AGM of 1991 where it was noted that the duties of the archivist are not clear and that steps should be taken to find a replacement archivist for the aging Mortimer. By December 1992, President Canny reported to the EC that he had asked Connie Nozzolillo, recently retired from the University of Ottawa, to assume the duties of archivist. However, as Mortimer was not yet ready to withdraw from the post, Connie agreed to act as assistant archivist for the time being. The archives at that time were stored alongside the NRCC archives which Mortimer had established in the Sussex Street building in Ottawa and for which a professional archivist had been hired on a part time basis by the NRCC. In the end, the CSPP-SCPV archives were never deposited with the National Archives despite the contract that Mortimer had signed. When Connie enquired as to the possibility of moving the CSPP archives to the National Archives, she was informed that they were already storing the CBA-ABC archives and had no room for those of other botanical societies. In December 1995, President Ron Poole wrote a letter to Dr. Carty, head of the NRCC at the time, for permission to keep the archives with those of the NRCC, arguing that the NRCC had been very involved in the founding of the society and that Dr. Mortimer, who had started the archives of both the NRCC and the CSPP, was a retired employee of the NRCC Thus the archives remain at the Sussex St. NRCC building and presently occupy about 22 archival boxes in Room 1308a under the charge of Archivist Steve Leclair, from whom permission to access them must be obtained. Dr. Mortimer retained his interest in the archives until his death at age 76 in the millenium year.

Chapter 6

WHO WE WERE AND ARE- THE SOCIETY ARCHIVES


Changes in makeup of the EC and committees over the years.

Initially, the EC consisted of only five persons: president, vice-president, secretary-treasurer, and eastern and western directors. By 1972, the duties of secretary and treasurer were separated and of course, the past-president position became available after the first year (Table 13). Committees were appointed as necessary, especially those devoted to determining the winners of the Society awards. Thus the 1983 line-up included two award committees composed of three members each and a nominations committee (Table 14). Two years later, the vice- president’s job also included that of running the newly established student cash award for best oral paper at the annual meeting and two CSPP representatives to the BCC (Robert Hill and Connie Nozzolillo) were appointed, to be replaced in the following year by Judith Frégeau and Frank Wightman. Two years later, Frank Wightman was replaced by John Arnason. In 1987 a second vice-president, who became vice-president the following year and hence is not included in Table 13, was named. This policy was followed in succeeding years until 1993 when the term of President was extended to two years. In 1988 an Atlantic Region Special Representative (Roger Lee) was named to encourage interest in the society in that region and to investigate the possibility of holding an annual meeting there. In 1989 a Society Archivist was named (Don Mortimer) and two new award committees appointed, one for the Tree Physiology Award, the other for the Gleb Krotkov Award (Table 14). The 1990 EC included a new addition: Science Policy/CFBS representative (David Canvin). As well as the CSPP President and Secretary, who were automatically members of the CFBS Board, the 1991 list of CSPP representatives included Dick Pharis replacing David Canvin on the Committee for Science Policy and two new ones: Ragai Ibrahim on the Programme Committee and Lorna Woodrow on the Equal Opportunity Committee. The 1993 report lists two Senior Directors (Brian Colman and Peter Joliffe) but only one Vice-President and a new Publications Committee chaired by Deep Saini. Dick Pharis remained CFBS Science Policy Advisor, Lorna Woodrow was still on the Equal Opportunity Committee but Ron Poole was now on the Programme Committee to be replaced in 1994 by Ray Cummins. Also in 1994, Derek Bewley replaced Peter Joliffe, and in turn was replaced in 1995 by John King, as Senior Director. In 1995 an Education Committee was added (Table 13). In 1996, John Thompson was elected Science Policy Officer. In 1997, Science Directors were Ed Cossins and Ray Cummins who was also Science Policy Officer. Subsequent to breaking its association with CFBS, Science Policy Officers continued to be elected: Alan Good in 1998, Marc Fortin 1999 to 2002, Peter Constabel 2002 to 2003 and Barbara Moffatt 2004 to the present. In 1999, David Gifford and Brian Colman were Senior Directors and a Bulletin Editor, Lorna Woodrow, was named. Senior Directors in 2000 were David Gifford and Alan Bown and in 2001, Alan Bown and Derek Bewley. In 2002, only one Senior Director (Fathey Sarhan) was appointed for two years, and the Bulletin Editor (David Gifford) became the Communications


Director. In 2004, Marilyn Griffith became Senior Director and Gordon Gray Communications Director. An Education Director, Anja Geitmann, and a Student Representative, a post later filled by Andrew McCartney and in 2006 by Alexandra Reid, had been added. Upon Marilyn’s untimely death, Derek Bewley stepped in until Priti Krishna was appointed in 2005. Greg Moorhead became Education Director that same year. Description of the duties of each of the executive positions was updated in 1987, and again in 1994. The list of duties includes those of the Society auditors, two of whom are appointed each year, if possible from members who live not far from the current Treasurer. They examine all the books and accounts and assets of the Society and certify that the accounts are in order in a report to the annual general meeting. This is a valuable service to the Society for which the only reward is the satisfaction of a job well done.

Corporate memberships: Over the years, commercial associations had resulted in the appearance from time to time of paid advertisements in the Bulletin and the sale of membership lists. However, the charitable status of the Society put severe restrictions on such sources of income. At the 2004 AGM, President Deep Saini presented a motion, seconded by Sheila MacFie, that the Society create a new ‘corporate member’ category. The argument in support of the motion was as follows: “Over the last 25 years, an ever-increasing amount of research in experimental plant biology has been done within private enterprises, and research within university and government laboratories has become intertwined with that in the private sector. Many university/government researchers collaborate with industrial researchers and many have launched successful spin-off companies. To highlight this new reality and to facilitate closer formal interaction between corporations and traditional members of the CSPP, it would be useful to create a new ‘corporate member’ category for the CSPP”. After some discussion, the motion was carried with 18 for, 6 against, and 7 abstentions . By-Law 2 now includes a second category of membership. The initial target was to enroll about 10 Canadian companies active in plant biology research. At the 2005 AGM, President Saini reported that recruitment to the new category was now ready to begin and by the 2006 AGM, the first corporate member, LiCor, had been signed up. In return for the corporate membership fee the company receives Society membership for two of its employees and the right to advertise at Society meetings. A second corporation, AgriSera, joined shortly after and at the 2007 AGM President Rob Guy announced that a third, Conviron, had joined as a result of solicitation at the meeting in Boston. He declared himself ready to approach new candidates at the Saskatoon meeting, letter of invitation in hand, but preferred to be very selective in the selection of candidates. The October 2007 Bulletin reports that two additional corporations had signed up: PP Systems and Qubit Systems, bringing the total to five.


Table �� Executive Committee members ��-�00�*

Year President Vice-Pres. Secretary Treasurer E. Director W. Director

1983 John King Robert Hill Derek Bewley Brian Colman Judith Fregeau William Vidaver

1984 Robert Hill Erwin Dumbroff Derek Bewley Nestor Rosa Judith Fregeau John Mahon

1985 Erwin Dumbroff Doug Ormrod Bernard Grodzinski Nestor Rosa Alan Bown John Mahon

1986 Doug Ormrod Brian Colman Bernard Grodzinski Andre D’Aoust Alan Bown Trevor Thorpe

1987 Brian Colman Derek Bewley John Hoddinott Andre D’Aoust Dan Brown Trevor Thorpe

1988 Derek Bewley John Thompson John Hoddinott Carol Peterson Dan Brown Stewart Rood

1989 John Thompson Peter Jolliffe David Layzell Carol Peterson Norman Huner Stewart Rood

1990 Peter Jolliffe Alan Bown David Layzell Anne Johnson-Flanagan

Norman Huner David Gifford

1991 Alan Bown Martin Canny Raymond Cummins Anne Johnson-Flanagan

Fathey Sarhan David Gifford

1992 Martin Canny Trevor Thorpe Raymond Cummins Nestor Rosa Fathey Sarhan Edith Camm

1993 Trevor Thorpe Ronald Poole Raymond Cummins Nestor Rosa Jasbir Singh Edith CammRobert Guy

1994 Trevor Thorpe Ronald Poole Raymond Cummins Mike Dixon Jasbir Singh Robert Guy

1995 Ronald Poole Carol Peterson David Gifford Mike Dixon Marilyn Griffith Robert Guy

1996 Ronald Poole Carol Peterson David Gifford John Greenwood Marilyn Griffith Santosh Misra

1997 Carol Peterson David DennisGregory Taylor

David Gifford John Greenwood George Espie Santosh Misra

1998 Carol Peterson Gregory Taylor David Gifford Raymond Cummins George Espie Jocelyn Ozga

1999 Gregory Taylor Norman Huner Deep Saini Raymond Cummins George Espie Jocelyn Ozga

2000 Gregory Taylor Norman Huner Deep Saini George Espie Elizabeth Weretilnyk Carl Douglas

2001 Norman Huner Brian Ellis Deep Saini George Espie Elizabeth Weretilnyk Carl Douglas

2002 Norman Huner Deep Saini Pierre Bilodeau Harold Weger Priti Krishna Carl Douglas

2003 Deep Saini David GiffordRobert Guy

Pierre Bilodeau Harold Weger Priti Krishna Douglas Muench

2004 Deep Saini Robert Guy Pierre Bilodeau Harold Weger Gregory Vanlerberghe Douglas Muench

2005 Robert Guy Peter Pauls Pierre BilodeauLine Lapointe

Harold Weger Gregory Vanlerberghe E. Schultz

2006 Robert Guy Peter Pauls Line Lapointe Harold Weger Malcolm Campbell E. Schultz

2007 Peter Pauls Carl Douglas Line Lapointe Harold Weger Malcolm Campbell Soheil Mahmoud

*Positions added since 1990: Senior, Science Policy, Communications and Education Directors and Student Representative are named on pages 32-33.


Tab

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com

mitt

ees

��-�

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Year

Nom

Mee

ting

Pub

licatio

nM

edal

Nel

son

Kro

tkov

Tree

Edu

catio

n

1983

J C

raig

ieD

Can

vin

J M

ahon

1984

J Ki

ngD

Can

vin

B El

lis

1985

R H

illR

Bidw

ell

W K

imm

ins

1986

E D

umbr

off

J D

aint

yD

Rei

d

1987

D O

rmro

dG

Mac

lach

lan

A D

’Aou

st

1988

B C

olm

anR

Hill

F W

ight

man

1989

D B

ewle

yD

Bew

ley

P G

orha

mN

Hun

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Fen

som

D O

rmro

d

1990

J Th

omps

onJ

Thom

pson

A O

aks

D G

iffor

dM

Spe

ncer

A D

’Aou

st

1991

P Jo

liffe

P Jo

liffe

E D

umbr

off

R D

hind

saR

Ibra

him

R Ph

aris

1992

A Bo

wn

A Bo

wn

R Ph

aris

D T

urpi

nJ

Hel

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Will

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s

1993

M C

anny

M C

anny

B C

olm

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Sai

niM

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V D

eLuc

aD

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A Li

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1994

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liffe

M C

anny

B C

olm

anD

Sai

niM

Spe

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V D

eLuc

aD

Orm

rod

A Li

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1995

J Ki

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D S

aini

A Bo

wn

R D

hind

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Hill

D G

iffor

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R Ire

land

1996

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ngC

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Lay

zell

D S

aini

A Bo

wn

J N

owak

R H

illS

Rood

R Ire

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Com

mun

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tin

1997

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nsR

Cum

min

sD

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L W

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E Ye

ung

A La

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1998

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R H

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1999

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D B

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2000

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G. T

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2001

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K Ve

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R H

illB

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J H

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2002

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D S

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G T

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2003

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D S

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S Ro

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Mul

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B C

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Von

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A G

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2004

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Guy

G G

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P Bi

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Kris

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A Ke

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2005

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2006

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Paul

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J O

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2007

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CSPP involvement in restoration of Stephens Hales burial site

In 1983, Dr. Eric Pengelly, UC Riverside, became concerned about the sad state of the grave site of the English scientist of the 17th century, Stephen Hales, often lauded as “the father of plant physiology” and, assisted by Dr. Robert Chasson and Dr. Alan Sykes, began to collect funds to restore it. Derek Bewley visited the site that same year and found it indeed to be in a considerable state of decay. Hales is buried in a vault under the entrance to the Parish Church of St. Mary and St. Alban in Teddington, a suburb of London, England. The inscription of the stone above his grave had been worn down by the passage of the congregation into and out of the church. Part of it had been transcribed onto a small wooden plaque on the wall of the entrance area. The aim was to restore the worn stone, put in a new floor and a more resilient memorial plaque, at what would probably be a cost of several thousand pounds sterling. The CSPP-SCPV agreed to donate $500 to the project and forwarded that sum to Dr. Pengelley. At the AGM in July 1984, Iain Taylor reported that all the monies required for restoration work had been raised. The work was finished by 1986. From the Oct 86 newsletter: “Stephen Hales DD, FRS, 1677-1761: The following short tribute is from Reverend Raymond Carter, Vicar of St. Mary’s with St. Alban’s Teddington “the greatest benefactor of the Church was undoubtedly Stephen Hales who is now commemorated in this booklet, the Wall Scroll and the new memorial floor of slate in the West Porch. Dr. Hales was renowned as both pastor and scientist and it is very fitting that the memorial floor should be such a worthy and imaginative tribute to his life-long endeavours. Skilled in pastoral care and personal relationships, and always pursuing most rigorously his scientific enquiries, he is regarded with great esteem and affection throughout the world. May his exemplary life be reflected in ours!” These words are part of the introduction to a small booklet published by the Church which commemorates the restoration of a plaque to Stephen Hales:

The Rev’d Stephen Hales DD FRS1677-1761

Exemplary PriestEminent Scientist

Minister of this Parish for 51 yearsThis memorial floor was given by his admirers in 1986”

Chapter 7

MISCELLANY AND FINAL STATEMENT


The list of 25 principal subscribers that follows includes both the CBA and the CSPP

International special symposia

Members of CSPP-SCPV have contributed to special international symposia on inorganic carbon acquisition by aquatic photosynthetic organisms. The first, sponsored by the National Science Foundation was held in 1984 at Asilomar, Pacific Grove, CA and the proceedings were published by the ASPP (Lucas, W J and Berry, J A, Editors 1985). The second, sponsored by NSERC, was held at Queen’s University in Kingston, Ontario in 1990 and the proceedings, edited by Society Past-President Brian Colman, were published in CJB Vol. 69 (5), 1991 as a complete issue. This issue of CJB was one of the most highly cited issues of the Journal up to that time. The third, sponsored by CSPP-SCPV, was held on the campus of UBC in Vancouver in 1997 and the proceedings , also edited by Brian Colman, were published in CJB, Vol. 76 (6) 1998. A fourth meeting was held in 2001 at a resort in Cairns, Queensland, Australia and the proceedings published as a special issue in Functional Plant Biology Vol. 29 (2/3) 2002. A fifth, again sponsored by CSPP-SCPV, was held at a resort in St. Saveur, Quebec in 2004 and the proceedings, co-edited by Brian Colman and former Society Treasurer George Espie, were published in CJB Vol. 83 (7)2005. The sixth meeting of this group was held at the University of Malaga, Spain in July 2007 and the papers presented are to be published in Physiologia Plantarum Vol. 133, 2008.

The history of photosynthetic research in Canada

Govindjee, a renowned photosynthetic researcher retired from the University of Illinois, Urbana, IL, in 2004 asked Paul Gorham to write the history of photosynthetic research in Canada during the three decades following World War II for inclusion in the series on the history of photosynthesis he was in the process of writing for the journal Photosynthesis Research. Paul enlisted the aid of the CSPP-SCPV archivist, and together the two worked on the manuscript for the better part of the year 2005, communicating mainly by e-mail but managing to sit together to discuss the partially completed manuscript in Paul’s home in Edmonton during the 2005 CSPP-SCPV meeting in that city. The completed manuscript was submitted to the journal in late 2005. Paul received the pre-print pdf of the paper (Photosynthesis Research Volume 88 pages 83-100, 2006) but unfortunately did not live to receive the 50 free reprints which have been distributed to the numerous persons who had provided information for the paper. Govindjee and the CSPP archivist together with Paul’s daughter Harriet wrote an obituary notice for publication in that same journal (Photosynthesis Research Volume 92 pages 3-5, 2007)


Memories

As described in the first volume of the Society history, the annual meetings are not only devoted to the serious matters of plant physiology research and Society business but also include time for relaxation and social intercourse. Succeeding meeting organizers do their best to make their contribution to this aspect the most memorable ever. My own personal memories from meetings attended include the pub “crawl” and the colourful after-dinner folk-dancing troupe in Waterloo in 1983, the Society visit to the Devonian Gardens, a barbecue dampened by rainfall, and enthusiastic dancing by a Ukrainian folk dance group in Edmonton in 1991; another rained-on dinner/barbecue and rodeo and post-meeting tour of dinosaur country at the Calgary meeting in 2002; a dinner cruise and dance on the St. Lawrence River at Quebec City in 1996; the beautiful meeting site at the Montreal Botanic Gardens and again a dinner cruise and dance on the St. Lawrence River in Montreal in 1998, and the visit to wine country at the 2005 Guelph meeting. Brian Colman also has fond memories of another cruise on the St. Lawrence River, this time among the Thousand Islands, on a beautiful June evening in 1987.

The future What does the future hold? The fears of the past that membership decline might lead to the demise of the Society seem to have diminished. Membership has remained at a more or less steady level for the past decade with a good proportion of students who will presumably become full members as they graduate and become gainfully employed. Public interest in plant research is higher than it has ever been due to the concern over environmental issues such as climate warming and acceptance or not of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) and “organic” vs “conventional” food production. Past-Treasurer André D’Aoust who is a tree physiologist retired from Natural Resources Canada notes: “A place of choice should be given to tree physiology particularly because forest products have been a major resource and will continue to be if we take good care of our forests. Improvement via biotechnology is open for more research with respect to the genetics of disease resistance and the ability of seedlings to compete with herbaceous vegetation. The physiology of seedlings grown in nurseries or greenhouses is of prime importance for their survival and early growth in the field.” Whatever the research objective may be, obtaining adequate funding for research projects will no doubt remain a major problem with writing of endless grant proposals a continuing time-consuming activity.


Recommendations to the NSERC Life Sciences Advisory Committee in Consideration of the Future of Plant Physiology in Canada

The goal of plant physiologists is to understand how plants work. Plant physiology is clearly an experimental science which provides a foundation of knowledge and which is applicable, in the short and long term, to the public and private domains of agriculture, horticulture, forestry, the pharmaceutical industries, and to studies of the environment. The nature of plant physiological research has undergone many transitions, particularly in the post-war era as new instrumentation and technologies have emerged. One of the greatest changes in the perspective of plant physiological research is currently underway, carried along by the surge of interest in molecular biology and biotechnology. The powerful tools developed for these new research areas hold in prospect revolutionary advances in the applied plant sciences. It is becoming increasingly evident, however, that there are extensive gaps in our understanding of the physiological and biochemical processes which are an essential prelude to advances in biotechnology. Future advances demand that the combined energies and expertises of plant physiologists, biochemists and molecular biologists be directed towards the elucidation of cogent problems. Many plant physiologists and biochemists are essentially retraining as they expand their research to include the new molecular approaches, and a new generation of plant physiologists is arising with molecular and biotechnological expertise. For Canada to take advantage of the new technologies, and to make significant advances therein, there must be a strong commitment to foster the advance of the experimental plant sciences. In particular, this must be effected on two fronts: the development of suitably trained manpower, and the provision of appropriate funding to take advantage of the new technologies.

Manpower Training Programmes

Recent figures published by NSERC predict an alarming shortfall of trained research personnel in many disciplines within the next decade. This will be exacerbated within the

AppendixREPORT TO THE EXECUTIVE OF THE CANADIANSOCIETY OF PLANT PHYSIOLOGISTS, MAY ��


experimental plant sciences as competition for trained graduates and postgraduates will continue between existing and developing biotechnology-related industries, government laboratories and universities. Within Canada there are lamentably few laboratories capable of training the required young researchers, and this number shows little sign of increasing. It is not surprising that our postgraduates are drawn to institutions in the USA and the EEC countries for postdoctoral training in the new disciplines. With the strong market for trainees in biotechnology in the USA in particular, and the ability of industry and universities there to provide the appropriate research facilities and incentives, we are in jeopardy of losing our best young researchers to positions south of the border. The level of research funding that is offered to new appointees by universities in Canada and by NSERC is, bluntly, pathetic in relation to real need. Thus there is an urgent need for more substantial manpower training programmes in this country, for monies to be available to facilitate more plant physiological researchers to move towards biotechnology, and for financial incentives to attract our new generation of research trainees to stay, or to return. Support for the postgraduate training programme needs to be elevated several fold, as does that for the postdoctoral programme. It is ironical that the average research dollars for operating grants awarded by the NSERC Plant Biology Committee is equivalent to the salary of one postdoctoral fellow in a government laboratory. An excellent laboratory learning environment is one in which there are several graduate students, postdoctoral fellows and technicians, working on inter-related research projects; but such research teams cannot be supported by operating or, where applicable, strategic grants alone. The University Research Fellowship Programme is a welcome addition to the manpower scene, although it abrogates the real responsibility of provincial governments to provide universities with the next generation of educators and researchers. Greater emphasis than present should be placed on joint NSERC-Industry and NSERC-Government Agency (e.g. Agriculture Canada) funded studentships and postdoctoral fellowships, with the research being based in universities and studying problems (basic and applied) of short- and long- to very long-term potential relevance to the user section.

Funding for Plant Research

A strong case for the support of plant physiological and biochemical research can be made, because knowledge derived from such research is the foundation for the emerging biotechnologies. In addition, it must be recognized that increased or supplemental support must be provided to laboratories moving towards or engaged in the new technologies. Molecular biology is an especially expensive area of research from the standpoint of equipment and


supplies. The new generation of independent researchers receives inadequate and unrealistic research funding to contribute effectively at the new frontiers. Already-funded researchers receive insufficient financial increases to allow them to modify their research programmes and to incorporate the new molecular technologies. The inadequate funding provided to researchers by the government through NSERC is aggravated by the inappropriate distribution of research monies through other agencies. Financing of biotechnological research is clearly misdirected through PILP, DSS and DRIE. Moreover, the purpose and quality of Agriculture Canada contracts and NRC contracts needs to be more clearly defined. The essence of a good research grants programme is one which is both competitive and utilizes peer review. Millions of dollars are currently distributed to research outside of the competitive grants format which is so successfully operated by NSERC. New small industrial “biotech” research centres and even large research institutes are arising with substantial funding, without contacts with established university researchers and without appropriate scrutiny of the research credentials of their perpetrators. The potential for waste of precious research dollars is great. Centres for plant biotechnological and molecular biological research need to be developed within, or in close association with universities. Monies should be used to develop centres of excellence regardless of geographical distribution. With the current dearth of trained researchers it is most inappropriate to develop a network of unsatisfactory, underfinanced and misdirected regional facilities. Better use should be made of existing research talent and expertise. More focus needs to be applied to the problems and potentials of biotechnology and there should be a greater recognition of the potentials of plant biotechnology.

Present Committee Structure

In relation to the importance of plant physiological and related research disciplines, it is felt by plant physiologists that they are underrepresented on a number of NSERC grant-giving committees. On the Plant Biology Committee there is an inadequate number of plant physiologists in relation to the number of applicants in this area. Other disciplines, e.g. food science and soil science, are over-represented. Moreover, it may be questioned whether these areas are appropriate to the Plant Biology Committee. The question also arises as to whether granting for plant biotechnology should fall within the domain of the Cell Biology Committee. Some plant researchers who use biotechnological approaches to their research are funded by Plant Biology, and others by Cell Biology. It is particularly distressing that the latter committee contains no plant biologist. Within the committees of the Strategic Grants Programme the interests of plant physiologists are not consistently represented nor, on a wider basis, is there appropriate


representation of life scientists on committees such as that responsible for the distribution of postdoctoral fellowships.

Future Strategies

In the light of the above, it is evident that for development of world class research in plant biotechnology and its supporting areas of plant physiology and biochemistry, the number of scientists with appropriate expertise must be increased, as must be the funding available to them. Relative to the costs of training post-graduate students and postdoctoral researchers alone, the value of NSERC grants is woefully inadequate. At least a doubling of the average grant is in order, with an even greater emphasis on excellence. If NSERC is unable to obtain the required increase in base funding, then a redistribution of its research monies has to be considered. A greater proportion of funding should be directed to those researchers who are clearly successful, superior, and have an acknowledged training programme of high quality. The success rate for applicants should be lowered from the present 70%, but not below 60% unless there is an increase in funding from alternative sources. A reduction below this level would seriously undermine the morale of researchers within universities, and could devastate research potential in less “popular” areas. Team grants should be encouraged within the normal distribution procedures for Operating grants, where ideas and resources can be pooled for more effective and efficient research. Cooperative team research involving a number of scientists could help reduce the number of individual research grants awarded, and yet maintain the interest and activity of a high number of researchers. Plant physiology, biochemistry and molecular biology are particularly efficacious areas for research cooperation, and a new generation of excellent research teams could arise from the present individual-oriented programmes. It has been recognized within NSERC that research into the physical sciences cannot progress without a major expenditure on equipment. However, it has not been recognized that life-science research is people and supplies-oriented. Even a simple operation like growing plants for research is time- and labour-expensive and costs are no longer borne by most university departments. An equivalent amount of funding to redress the balance between the two scientific approaches is needed, and quickly. It is imperative that the operating grants programme of NSERC continue to receive highest priority in the allocation of funding. The current four percent reduction in this programme is deplorable. Other programmes within NSERC should be appraised in order to recoup and elevate these monies. Infrastructure grants, although valuable, provide monies which should come from university and, ultimately, provincial sources. The summer student programme


supports those uncommitted to research and whose productivity and contribution to research progress is below that of postgraduates and postdoctoral fellows - our next generation of trained scientists. The URF programme, which has provided many departments with much needed talent, relieves provincial governments of the responsibility to maintain the quality of their universities. The strategic programme, although politically expedient, is questionable in relation to value-for-money. There is a noticeable absence of any follow up on the usefulness of completed projects and the extent of success of the applied projects. The ephemeral nature of the grants makes it an unsuitable forum for the development of long-term projects and manpower training programmes. Recruitment of personnel into Strategic research projects can commence only after funding is assured (at very short notice) and lay-off plans must be undertaken many months in advance of completion of the project. Excellent projects may be terminated for reasons unrelated to the quality of the research and those involved. A combined Operating and Strategic policy would seem to be advisable, in a manner similar to that operated by the USDA, and researchers should be encouraged to apply for different basic, applied, or combined, programme monies as their research time and energies permit. As a final comment, while the new NSERC University-Industry programme remains to be tested, the previous lack of support by industries for plant research militates for a pessimistic attitude. Whatever the future course of this new programme, it is imperative that all proposals be subjected to the competitive, peer review system that has brought rigour and success to the NSERC Operating Grants programme.

Submitted by: J.Derek Bewley (Chairman) David T. Dennis John E. Thompson

The SecondTwenty-Five Years

A History of The Canadian Society of Plant PhysiologistsLa Société Canadienne de Physiologie Végétale

Constance Nozzolillo

the second twenty-five years - cspb-scbv.ca · members to whom various draft versions were sent are...

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