Meeting: Undergraduates Phenotyping Arabidopsis Knockouts (unPAK) Student Meeting, Austin, TX, June 15-17, 2016

Hampden-Sydney College, Farmville VA

Investigators

Abstract

This award supports a gathering of faculty and student representatives from 11 institutions that participate in the Undergraduates Phenotyping Arabidopsis Knockouts (unPAK). Representatives from research universities, liberal arts colleges, community colleges, and historically minority-serving institutions, will attend the meeting in Austin, Texas in June 2016. The meeting will give students the opportunity to organize and participate in a professional gathering and faculty the opportunity to strategize on the directions the unPAK network will take in the future. Students will plan and work with faculty in the development of workshops that will address current issues with unPAK as well as potential future collaborative directions. These workshops are expected to include development of new techniques for research, comparison of data collection and analysis techniques between institutions, discussion of ways to integrate unPAK research into classroom settings, and improvement of dissemination strategies of unPAK data to the scientific community. The meeting will aid in expanding knowledge of plant genetics in support of developing better agricultural strategies for economically-critical crops while providing the next generation of scientists with networking and presentation skills necessary to launch their careers. Founded in 2010 (NSF award #1052262) and expanded in 2014 (NSF award #1355106), the Undergraduates Phenotyping Arabidopsis Knockouts (unPAK) project has sought to provide undergraduates with the opportunity to engage in authentic and collaborative research using Arabidopsis thaliana as a model system. This meeting is designed to support the long-term development and sustainability of unPAK, by bringing student and faculty representatives of all unPAK institutions together in Austin, TX from June 15-17, 2016 in conjunction with the Evolution 2016 meeting. Faculty will participate in both their own planning sessions as well as sessions with students. A major focus of the meeting will be on promoting student interactions to support their development as scientists. The meeting will provide a venue for in-person interaction that excites and inspires students to pursue careers in scientific research, and will improve unPAK's ability to efficiently deliver A. thaliana deletion line genotypic and phenotypic data by sharing best practices among all students and faculty in the unPAK network. By bringing together students from a wide range of institutional types, this meeting will also expose participating students and faculty to the many ways in which unPAK is engaging undergraduates in the advancement of scientific knowledge about plant genetics.