Report from the ASCB Education Committee.

Abstract

The Education Committee of the American Society for Cell Biology is delighted to participate in the launch of Cell Biology Education. We plan to provide a regular column with information on our plans and programs, soliciting your input and participation. The Education Committee is one of the standing committees of the Society, as described in the Constitution and Bylaws. The Committee has undertaken a number of projects, sponsoring publications in cell biology such as the “Cellebrations” videotape edited by Rachel Fink, and the “Methods in Cell Biology” series edited by Leslie Wilson and Paul Matsudaira, published by Academic Press. We also sponsor publication of career information, for example “Exploring the cell: what cells do and how cell biologists study them,” for high school students, as well as the “How to get Get a Job . . . ” series for our younger members. Most recently, the Committee sponsored a study of education/workforce/career structure issues under the leadership of past chairman Frank Solomon. The results of this effort, funded by a grant from the Sloan Fondation, were published in Science (Freeman et al., 2001, “Competition and careers in biosciences,” 294, 2293–2294); the complete report “Careers and rewards in bio sciences: the disconnect between scientific progress and career progression,” by R.B. Freeman, E. Weinstein, E. Marincola, J. Rosenbaum, and F. Solomon, can be found on the ASCB web site at www.ascb.org/publications/competition.html. The Education Committee sponsors a number of events at the ASCB Annual Meeting. These are designed to showcase some of the outstanding work that our members are doing in life science education at every level to provide opportunities for networking among members interested in different issues in science education and to support the career development of our younger ASCB members. Committee members are now hard at work, planning/ organizing events for the ASCB Annual Meeting, to be held this year in San Francisco on December 14–18. We want your suggestions and your participation! The Education Poster Session this year will be scheduled for Monday, December 9. Education posters can cover a wide variety of topics, including descriptions of new programs, innovative teaching approaches and laboratory and/or computer-based investigations by students. Work in graduate education, undergraduate education, and K–12 outreach are all appropriate. Remember that all ASCB members can contribute a poster in Education in addition to a poster on laboratory research, and we encourage you to do so. The Education Committee will continue to sponsor the Education Initiative Forum on Monday–Wednesday from 9:45 to