“At any career stage, the GSA membership is an amazing investment for any genetics professional!”

Julio Molina Pineda is a PhD Candidate in Cell and Molecular Biology and a Research Assistant at the University of Arkansas, and a Doctoral Academy Fellow at the Lewis Lab. In 2023, Julio was awarded the DeLill Nasser Award for Professional Development in Genetics in recognition of his genetics research and work leveraging natural variation in yeast to understand why certain individuals are more susceptible to stress and disease, as well as his service and leadership in his community.

“GSA is one of the premier scientific organizations and being honored by receiving one of their most prestigious awards has not only helped me with starting to establish my record as a scientist, but it has also inspired me to keep working hard and reproducing more great science!” shares Julio, stressing how receiving this award marked an important event in his academic journey. This recognition is more than a financial award intended to support attending a conference or completing lab work—it signifies to Julio that he’s on the right path in his career. 

To apply for this award, you must be a GSA member. While many scientists may join for a discount on conference or abstract fees or to apply for a funding opportunity like the DeLill Nasser Award, Julio shares how maintaining a GSA membership has been essential for his professional growth. As a GSA member, he has enjoyed countless professional development opportunities, access to publish in the GSA Journals, GENETICS and G3, at a reduced fee, and one or two conference discounts. From being a member of the Early Career Leadership Program to participating in seminars, networking events, and GSA Conferences like The Allied Genetics Conference 2024, Julio says, “GSA has allowed me to broaden my horizons and learn much more about other careers and parts of the field I was not aware of.” 

At TAGC 2024, Julio had the opportunity to present his research, an impactful experience due to the feedback and encouragement he received from both senior scientists and fellow early career scientists. “When you are doing research, it can sometimes get lonely or obfuscating, but receiving clear feedback and learning that others appreciate your work and agree with your results and conclusions make all the hard work worth it!” He even met PIs and senior scientists who inspired him to keep working towards a career in academia. Julio also found that professional development activities at TAGC 2024 allowed him to grow his professional skills and create an amazing network of colleagues with similar goals. “Thanks to TAGC, I was able to learn and apply to a science policy fellowship as well as apply and get accepted to a scientific writing/preprint review program—so, I was able to broaden my horizons and take advantage of new opportunities that can transform into career options in the near future!” he shares. 

When it comes to his career trajectory and what the future holds, Julio recognizes that a GSA membership will always be a key piece. He emphasizes its value for all career stages, explaining that while it allows early career scientists to create amazing networks with great colleagues and grow professionally, you can continue to learn from others throughout your career and even teach or become a mentor. From receiving the DeLill Nasser Award, to participating at TAGC 2024, to being an ECLP member, who knows what the future holds for Julio? We’re certain of one thing: it looks bright! We might see him serve on a GSA committee or perhaps run in one of our elections and even join our Board! 

If you’re a graduate student or postdoc interested in applying for the DeLill Nasser Award for Professional Development in Genetics for $1,000 to support your attendance at a conference or laboratory courses, learn more online and apply by May 9, 2024.

If you’re interested in exploring all the benefits of a GSA membership, and joining, find additional details on our website. 

The Presidential Membership Initiative was launched in 2020 as a way for the Genetics Society of America to invite talented and creative individuals from diverse backgrounds into our community. We are pleased to introduce the next cohort of Presidential Members. Throughout 2024, they will network with one another and with other Society and Board members, participate in GSA Conferences, and be valued additions to our community. Welcome, Presidential Members!

We are introducing Presidential Members this week, so be sure to check back and meet your new colleagues.

Kayla Ly

Undergraduate Student, University of California, Irvine
My research aims to discover novel genes contributing to transposable element-mediated heterochromatin formation in Drosophila melanogaster.

Kevin Sule

Postdoctoral Researcher, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center
My research work aims to elucidate the mechanisms of nuclear envelope budding, which is an emerging nuclear export process for large macromolecular complexes. Using Drosophila as my model, I plan to uncover key players involved in the physical aspects of this pathway and its associated regulatory mechanisms.

Lexi Papamechail

Undergraduate Student, Bridgewater State University
I am investigating the interaction between the expression of Jasmonic acid in the mustard plant, Arabidopsis thaliana, and the infection of root knot nematodes. I also am investigating the impact of metal contamination and point in the growing season on the microbiome of Salicornia depressa.

Maksym Dankovskyy

Graduate Student, Arizona State University
Our lab focuses on tissue regeneration in Drosophila following necrotic wounding.

Miyauna Incarnato

Graduate Student, University of Nebraska, Lincoln
My research investigates how the interactions between climate change, predator-prey dynamics, and phenotypic evolution are vital for predicting the resilience of populations to shifting climatic variables and building models to also predict these shifts. By using Paramecium caudatum and their two nuclei, I am investigating these variables by testing for genetic variation in trait plasticity in response to temperature across genetically diverse lineages in the presence and absence of predators, assess whether genomic plasticity via changes in copy number of loci during macronuclear formation underlies adaptive trait plasticity, and evaluating if including trait plasticity improves our temperature predictive models of trait evolution to climate change.

Nikita Divekar

Postdoctoral Researcher, University of California, Berkeley
I aim to discover factors required for heritable epigenetic silencing in human cells through CRISPR Screens, and further expand on these studies to build novel epigenetic editors.

Stephan Baehr

Postdoctoral Researcher, Arizona State University
I study mutations of many flavors: DNA, RNA, and epigenetic. I seek to quantify their importance to things like the biology of aging and CRISPR genome editing.

Tamsen Dunn

Graduate Student, San Diego State University
I develop new computational methods for the study of polyploidy and evolution.

Toheed Olalekan Oyerinde

Graduate Student, University of Medical Sciences, Ondo, Nigeria
I study gene-environment interactions in brain disorders and the role for metal neurotoxicity.

Trevor Mugoya

Graduate Student, San Diego State University
I study the development of reproducible Snakemake pipelines for the genomics of the domestication of hops.

Xinmi Zhang

Postdoctoral Researcher, Scripps College
I am working on understanding the mechanism of a selfish B chromosome called Paternal Sex Ratio (PSR), which can cause paternal genome elimination in the early embryo of the parasitoid wasp, Nasonia vitripennis, turning the diploid female into the haploid male. I did time series RNA-sequencing at different stage of wasp development to find the expression pattern of wasp normal genes and PSR genes.

Not pictured:

Camryn Schmelzer
Damilola Oloyede
Jasmine Xi
Jordan Hieronymus
Kenza Lahbabi
Nikita Divekar
Olayinka Asafa
Priyanshi Shah
Raya Esplin
Saul Landaverde
Seema Plaisier
Selamawit Asfaw

The Presidential Membership Initiative was launched in 2020 as a way for the Genetics Society of America to invite talented and creative individuals from diverse backgrounds into our community. We are pleased to introduce the next cohort of Presidential Members. Throughout 2024, they will network with one another and with other Society and Board members, participate in GSA Conferences, and be valued additions to our community. Welcome, Presidential Members!

We are introducing Presidential Members this week, so be sure to check back and meet your new colleagues.

Alexandra McElwee-Adame

Graduate Student, San Diego State University
I am exploring the evolutionary history and genomics of Humulus lupulus (hops) domestication and the effects of climate change on future production.

Anvita Kulshrestha

Graduate Student, Duke University
I am working on identifying genetic factors that predispose Sickle Cell Disease patients to develop specific end-organ complications and to experience more or less severe clinical courses.

Carolyn Damilola Ekpruke

Postdoctoral Researcher, Indiana University, Bloomington
I am investigating mediators of sex disparities in asthma.

Debraj Manna

Graduate Student, Indian Institute of Science
I study the intricate regulation of translation in mammalian cells, primarily focusing on exploring non-canonical protein translation. This involves investigating non-canonical translation initiation sites and mechanisms to contribute to understanding alternative protein isoforms and translational efficiency.

Derica Tavares

Postdoctoral Researcher, University of California, Berkeley
I study transcriptomic and histochemical analysis of plant-pathogen interactions with an emphasis on fungi.

Eve Kakudji

Graduate Student, University of California, Berkeley
My research focuses on understanding how mitochondrial metabolites contribute to changes in gene expression in the nuclear genome.

Faith Olusegun

Graduate Student, Federal University of Technology, Akure
Benchmarking is a crucial step in evaluating the effectiveness of sequence alignment algorithms and it involves comparing the results of different algorithms on the same dataset to determine their accuracy, sensitivity, and specificity. Benchmarking helps researchers like me to identify the strengths and weaknesses of different bioinformatics algorithms and to select the best one for a given application.

Faye Romero

Graduate Student, University of Rochester
I study the genetic causes and consequences of inbreeding in small populations, specifically in the threatened bird, the Florida Scrub-Jay.

Fiona Nelima Mumoki

Postdoctoral Researcher, University of Pretoria, South Africa
My research focuses on unpacking the communication signals of eusocial insects such as the honey bee Apis mellifera, with particular emphasis on reproductive conflicts. These conflicts often lead to the collapse or destruction of the insect colony, posing significant implications for apiculturists’ livelihoods and exerting repercussions on food security.

Flor-Anita Corredor

Graduate Student, Institutio Nacional de Innovación Agraria, Peru
My research centers on population studies and genetic improvement of livestock species in Peru, aiming to provide valuable insights for farmers, inform policymaking, and contribute substantively to the scientific community. The ultimate objective of my projects is to offer pertinent information that aids both agricultural practices and informed decision-making in the realms of farming policies.

Jennyfer Mora Mitchell

Postdoctoral Researcher, University of Colorado School of Dental Medicine
I am studying the role of the Alx family of transcription factors during the patterning and development of the midface in zebrafish relating to the pathogenesis of frontonasal dysplasia.

Joseph Stewart

Graduate Student, Colorado State University
Our lab focuses on genome instability and genomic rearrangements. My work addresses systemic genomic instability in the context of mutation bursts.

Continue to 2024 Presidential Members (Part 2) »

GSA collects demographic data to measure changes in representation.

Science benefits from diversity: people from different cultures and socioeconomic groups contribute different perspectives that broaden the reach, impact, and innovation of science (McKinsey 2015, Phillips 2017, Powell 2018). The STEM community has been busy building structural changes to attract, support, and retain a more diverse workforce. At the Genetics Society of America, we are continuing our push toward an inclusive and equitable future through programs like the Presidential Membership Initiative, implementing a framework for inclusive conferences, and much more.

“What gets measured gets done.”

Although we have worked to develop programs aimed at increasing the diversity of GSA membership, we need to understand who we are now so that we can watch how we grow and change. We can measure the current and future composition of our community by collecting demographic data. Demographics tell us how we compare to the general population; can inform our recruitment and retention efforts of scientists from underrepresented, historically excluded, and minoritized populations (Burnett et al., 2022); and give us a way to measure the effects of these ongoing and future efforts.

In its recent consensus study on Measuring Sex, Gender Identity, and Sexual Orientation, the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine underscore the rationale for asking these questions: “People deserve to count and be counted…Regardless of how data are collected, they reflect the identities and experiences of people and communities that deserve to be heard and respected. Everyone should be able to see themselves, and their identities, represented in surveys and other data collection instruments.” In essence: representation matters. GSA joins a growing number of organizations expanding their demographic surveys in support of diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts (Else and Perkel, 2022, Rushworth et al., 2021). 

Historically, GSA collected basic race/ethnicity and binary gender data on our membership. In the fall of 2021, we significantly expanded our demographic survey to better capture diversity along a number of axes. We now ask for information on race/ethnicity, sexual orientation and gender identity (SOGI), disability status, and disadvantaged background status.

Security and sensitivity

We understand that asking for information on your identity is asking you to trust us. We have worked hard to put together an inclusive membership form with data security at the forefront: 1) Identity data will only ever be reported in the aggregate. We will never post, publish, or share individual information, and we will group small categories where necessary to avoid revealing individual identities. 2) Your identity information will not be displayed alongside your name and contact information on the membership profile available to GSA staff. It will be displayed to you when you access your membership profile, but it will not be visible to any other members. 3) Your data is stored on a secure cloud-based system. GSA uses Salesforce to manage membership data; access is restricted to staff members based on data-level permission settings, and staff identities are verified through multi-factor authentication at login.

Demographic data is most powerful when we have high response rates, which is why these fields are required in our membership form. However, we understand that you may be hesitant to share this information with us, and we respect that point of view. You will never be required to provide information you’re uncomfortable sharing; you may choose “Prefer not to answer” for any demographic question. Choosing “Prefer not to answer” will not reflect negatively on you in any way. You are also free at any time to change your answers.

Additionally, we recognize that the wording of demographic questions and this kind of data collection are never perfect because you are humans, not data. We have carefully considered the fields we have included and the choices available within each field, but it’s likely these will evolve over time as our understanding of the nuances of various identities evolves.

From diversity to equity

With all of this in mind, we encourage you to provide demographics so that we can make data-driven assessments and ensure that we are moving the Society forward in terms of representation. This data will let us ask specific questions such as, “Does this panel represent the diversity of GSA?” and, “Are we improving representation of Black Americans in GSA?”

We hope you’ll take a moment to visit your membership profile and update your demographic information. Thank you for helping us build toward the goal of an equitable and inclusive future.

The GSA Equity and Inclusion Committee shares progress and plans for the future.

In June of this year, in response to the widespread calls for action on racism that were sparked by the murder of George Floyd, GSA publicly committed to the work of dismantling racism in science, beginning from within our own Society.

Now, four months on, as the Equity and Inclusion Committee of the GSA, we offer you an update on GSA’s progress and the plans we’re putting in place to build an equitable and inclusive community of scientists.

The composition of GSA membership does not fully reflect the diversity of scientists who use genetics. What’s more, the scientific enterprise as a whole has failed to make the field a space that welcomes, supports, and respects scientists from underrepresented communities—especially Black, Indigenous and People of Color (BIPOC). While we can’t undo decades of disenfranchisement overnight, one first step we can take is to reach out to early career scientists from underrepresented backgrounds and invite them to be a part of the Society, sponsored by us.

To this end, we are thrilled to announce the Presidential Membership Initiative. This program aims to support the career development of junior scientists from historically excluded populations by offering them a year of free membership—and the associated benefits—and to take action to reverse a history of exclusion by cultivating the next generation of scientist-leaders. This program emerged from a recommendation our committee made to the GSA Board of Directors and President Denise Montell in late August 2020.

Each new member recruited through this mechanism will receive a year-long membership, with access to the Early Career Leadership Program and the GENETICS Peer Review Training Program, a subscription to GENETICS, and newly created networking opportunities and events within the program itself. Presidential Members will not only benefit from these opportunities in the short-term; we aim to foster enduring connections with participants through the community of scholars and support structures we are building in parallel with this initiative. Applications are open now, and the deadline to apply is December 15, 2020.

While bringing in a diverse group of new members is a start, we recognize that increasing diversity alone is not enough. This effort must be accompanied by improvements in equity and inclusion throughout GSA. Our committee is hard at work developing projects to build an inclusive community that supports all of our membership and, indeed, the greater scientific community:

• We are creating guidelines for the planning and implementation of Equity and Inclusion sessions at GSA conferences, and we will strongly encourage our conference partners to adopt these guidelines. Diversity, equity, and inclusion work must become as foundational to the practice of science as doing experiments and writing papers. It should be featured whenever scientists gather to highlight the importance of the work. Our goal is to ensure that scholars and practitioners in the area of equity and inclusion are featured in a plenary session at each of our conferences. We’re excited that committee member Alana O’Reilly will be speaking in the new Equity and Inclusion Plenary Session at the 62nd Annual Drosophila Research Conference.
• We are working to establish a mentoring and networking program to foster connections between junior and senior GSA members from underrepresented backgrounds.
• We are developing an early outreach program for undergraduate and early graduate students to facilitate belonging and networking among students from historically excluded groups. By actively engaging scientists from the earliest stages of their career, we hope to chip away at the current reality of exclusion and disenfranchisement and remove some of the barriers that keep scientists from historically excluded populations from joining the field.
• Led by committee member Nadia Singh, the GSA is participating in coordinated equity and inclusion initiatives with other societies in allied fields in order to share information, facilitate use of best practices, increase solidarity and spheres of influence, and work toward common purpose. We look forward to the future joint initiatives that will flow from this nexus.

These projects are underway and in the process of being scoped, budgeted, and sent to the Board of Directors for approval. This has been an extremely challenging year—to say the least—but we are optimistic about the potential we see for changing our future. This is still the beginning of this work, and we greatly appreciate your ideas and your support. If you’d like to get in touch with us, please email equityinclusion@genetics-gsa.org.

Sincerely,

GSA Equity and Inclusion Committee

Noah Whiteman Chair
Derek Applewhite
Andrew Arsham
Gustavo MacIntosh
Shan Meltzer
Alana O’Reilly
Nadia Singh
Tracey DePellegrin Staff Liaison
Sarah Bay Staff Liaison

It’s National Postdoc Appreciation Week, which celebrates the vital contribution of postdoctoral scholars to advancing our understanding of the world. This week is the perfect time for lab heads to thank postdocs for all their hard work, for students to thank postdocs for their training and mentorship, and for everyone to thank postdocs for their dedication to science!

The GSA is grateful to its postdoc members for all their contributions, particularly to those who serve on our committees and as advisory representatives to the board. We continue to seek energetic postdoc and students to help guide the GSA’s initiatives and set our priorities. By volunteering for leadership opportunities with the GSA, you can make sure the voices of early career researchers are heard. We also welcome your ideas for new ways GSA can organize postdoc and trainee participation not just in GSA, but within our communities. Register your interest now by sending an email with your name and institution to mapd@genetics-gsa.org and we will notify you when application opportunities arise.

Postdocs looking for leadership and service opportunities should also consider applying for a GSA trainee-organized symposium. GSA provides funding for student and postdoctoral members to organize symposia in subject areas relevant to the GSA mission. Requests can include—but are not limited to—meetings that center on a scientific topic or model organism, focus on teaching or outreach, discuss a topic of policy or broader interest, or advance attendee career development.

Other GSA resources of interest to postdocs:

• Joint membership in GSA and the National Postdoctoral Association, providing a 20% discount off of both rates
• DeLill Nasser Award for Professional Development in Genetics, funding for students and postdocs to attend meetings and courses
• GeneticsCareers.org—a free jobs board provided by GSA and ASHG
• A variety of career resources at our meetings and elsewhere
• Opportunities to write guest posts here at Genes to Genomes. If you have an idea for a post, please email cgelling [at] thegsajournals.org and include details of your proposed topic, as well as a little about yourself. We can’t accept all guest post proposals, but are always interested to hear your ideas.

If you’re reading this, you’re likely passionate about genetics. Now if I ask which of your passions cause you to donate money, some of you might say public radio and the Sierra Club. Or Doctors Without Borders and Amnesty International. Or World Vision and Habitat for Humanity. But my guess is your answer won’t include the professional organization that supports our field—the Genetics Society of America. How do we convert your passion for genetics into passion for the GSA?

In 2006, the GSA had 2,400 regular members, the category that includes PIs and staff scientists. Since then, the trend has been steadily albeit slowly downward. Total membership is up over this timeframe—to over 5,000—because the numbers of grad student, postdoc, and undergrad members have risen; they collectively comprise more than half our membership. Trainees join to attend GSA-sponsored meetings, but the decline in our regular membership means they largely don’t stay in the Society after their training ends.

Why would anyone join the GSA as a regular member and stay in it year after year? And not just the GSA, but why join any scientific society? That is the question every such society is asking. Because you don’t need to belong to publish in or access a society’s journals, or to read its blog or Twitter feed or Facebook posts. You generally don’t need to belong to benefit from a society’s education materials or professional development activities or advocacy efforts. You might join to attend a conference or get a registration discount or present a poster, but why not sign up for that single year and then let your membership lapse?

Academics of a certain age might say we joined a society as our initiation into full membership in our discipline. Indeed, some scientific societies required their youngest members to come recommended by elders in the field, like an English gentlemen’s club of the 19th century. But nobody of my acquaintance sports a bowler hat, and maybe in a few years I might have to say that none sports a GSA membership either. Are scientific societies doomed to go the way of Blockbuster Video, TWA and Polaroid? I hope not. Here’s why you should get passionate about the GSA.

The GSA makes genetics researchers scattered all over into a community of geneticists. Is there value in knowing that you belong to a group linked by common scientific interests and backgrounds? A group that often trained doing research on the same organism that you did, who knows many of the same people, who attends many of the same conferences? A microbiologist noted about his society: “this sense of belonging matters a lot to me, and to my mental well-being, no less” (Maloy and Schaechter 2015). Furthermore, for geneticists, the willingness of many GSA members to volunteer their time does a lot for our collective well-being.

Our publications, GENETICS and G3, are peer-edited: review of your submission is handled by well-regarded practicing scientists. They decide if it’s appropriate for the journal and identify reviewers, evaluate the reviews, and render a decision, generally quickly: about 30 days, on average. Editors with knowledge of your field provide clear, helpful guidance for addressing reviewer comments. GENETICS and G3 editors devote many hours to make peer review run smoothly and effectively, because they’re passionate about the need for the genetics community to have first-rate journals run by active geneticists. Editors and staff are working to ensure that your concerns—whether about reproducibility, open data, preprint servers, or evaluating impact—are at the fore.

The GSA has invested $500,000 to publish YeastBook, FlyBook and WormBook—the indispensable guidebooks for these organisms. Anyone studying one of these organisms appreciates these authoritative surveys of their biology and should be passionate about these online books, just as those who write and edit the chapters are.

Consider our meetings, like TAGC. The logistics to bring together so much of our community requires the dedication of organizers to deal with everything from session topics and speakers to workshops and fundraising. Fundraising last year enabled us to provide over $100,000 in travel awards to 214 young GSA members. Our meetings feature education, mentorship, career development, bootcamps, and panel discussions with editors. Trainees who present a talk or poster at a GSA meeting—or benefit from these other activities—should be passionate about their experiences.

The GSA advocates for geneticists with Congress and Federal agencies. One example: continued funding for model organism databases, stock centers, and other resources is threatened, and the GSA provides our collective voice, including position statements, discussions with NIH administrators, and participation at meetings with funders. Why do members of our Society write statements, lobby, attend meetings? Because they’re passionate about keeping these critical resources viable.

In a time of rapid technological change, ever-shifting communication platforms and pay-as-you-go access, my arguments may not convince you to be a GSA lifer. So what more could we do for the genetics community that would make you eager to join GSA? And even more, what could you do in the Society to help us build a better community? I have some ideas, but I’d love to hear your suggestions. If you have one, tweet it, post it on our Facebook page or write to me (my last name at uw.edu). I’m passionate about making you passionate about the GSA.

CITATION

Maloy, S. and Schaechter, M. (2015) Being there. Microbe 10 (12): 496.

As an effort to engage scientists from regions of the world with extremely limited resources, GSA is pleased to extend the opportunity for those in selected countries to become full GSA members at no cost.

As with all members, those taking advantage of this program will receive a personal subscription to the GSA journal GENETICS, eligibility for GSA awards and programs, discounted registration for GSA conferences, reduced author charges for publishing in GENETICS and G3: Genes|Genomes|Genetics, and more.

The program is available to those who live and work (full-time) in a country designated by the World Bank as “Low-income” or by the United Nations as “Least Developed” (listed below). Citizens and nationals of these countries will only be eligible for free membership while based in a listed country.

We ask members of our community who have colleagues or contacts in the listed countries to let them know about this opportunity. Those wishing to take advantage of the program should contact the GSA membership department by phone +1 301 634-7300 or email: membership@genetics-gsa.org

List of eligible countries:

• Afghanistan

• Angola

• Bangladesh

• Benin

• Bhutan

• Burkina Faso

• Burundi

• Cambodia

• Central African Republic

• Chad

• Comoros

• Congo, Democratic Republic of the

• Djibouti

• Equatorial Guinea

• Eritrea

• Ethiopia

• Gambia

• Guinea

• Guinea-Bissau

• Haiti

• Kiribati

• Korea, Democratic People’s Republic of (North Korea)

• Lao People’s Democratic Republic (Laos)

• Lesotho

• Liberia

• Madagascar

• Malawi

• Mali

• Mauritania

• Mozambique

• Myanmar (Burma)

• Nepal

• Niger

• Rwanda

• São Tomé and Príncipe

• Senegal

• Sierra Leone

• Solomon Islands

• Somalia

• South Sudan

• Sudan

• Tanzania

• Timor-Leste

• Togo

• Tuvalu

• Uganda

• Vanuatu

• Yemen

• Zambia

• Zimbabwe

We kick off our #IAmGSA campaign with Genetics Society of America President Stan Fields  having fun with his research group in this spoof of  Zach Galifianakis’s series Between Two Ferns.

Think you can do better? Submit your video or photo related to genetics or GSA here.

As we’re in the heart of asking you to join or renew your GSA membership for 2016, you may be wondering where membership dues go.

Your dues do not subsidize the GSA journals or GSA conferences, which are self-sustaining.

Your membership dues do support programmatic activities that further the Society’s mission—including advocacy, communications, education, outreach, and awards. They also support Society investments back into the genetics community, such as GSA sponsorship of FlyBook, WormBook, and YeastBook; GSA pays the cost to publish these important resources in GENETICS.

For example, your membership dues support more than $400,000 annually in education, communications, and policy. They allow us to increase our efforts to promote the value of investment in basic research and model organisms. We also work closely with our advocacy partners—including FASEB and the Coalition for the Life Sciences—to expand funding for research agencies including NIH, NSF, USDA, and Department of Energy. And we continue to develop and implement career development activities and efforts to help our community become more effective educators.

Last year, GSA provided more than $100,000 in travel grants and awards to help our students and postdocs attend professional meetings and courses. The DeLill Nasser Award for Professional Development in Genetics and GSA Undergraduate Travel Awards depend not only on your charitable contributions, but also on funds allocated from the Society’s operating budget. Your dues help recognize top posters with GSA Poster Awards and deserving scholars with our annual Society awards.

Your membership dues enable the Society Board of Directors to launch new initiatives to serve the interests of our members. For example, last year, GSA began Trainee-Organized Symposia, whereby student and postdoc members receive support to hold events relevant to the GSA mission.

Finally, your dues are essential to run the Society as a whole. Although we run a lean and efficient operation, we do pay salaries for our staff, rent for our offices, phone and Internet costs, IT infrastructure and development, funds to convene our Board and committees, and more.

The budget is approved annually by the Board, which is elected by you each year.

So when we ask you to join or renew your membership, please understand the importance of your continued commitment to GSA: your dues are essential to furthering our mission, and we work hard to put every penny to good use on behalf of our community.