Conference: 7th Pan American Plant Membrane Biology Workshop, Merida, Mexico, June 18-21 2023

This award will support travel awards for trainees to the 7th Pan-American Plant Membrane Biology Workshop, to be held June 18th-21st, 2023 at the Hotel Reef in Merida, Yucatan, Mexico. This meeting will be attended by undergraduate and graduate students and postdoctoral fellows, as well as by senior researchers to discuss current understanding of all aspects of the structure, function, and dynamics of the complicated membranes of plant cells and organelles, including the surfaces at which photosynthesis takes place. Talks will be presented on topics such as how metals and sugars and chemical signals cross membranes, how membrane structures move from one part of the cell to another, the structure and function of membranes in photosynthesis, and how plant membranes respond to stress such as heat and drought. In addition to formal talks, engagement will be facilitated by two extended poster sessions to stimulate interactions between researchers. NSF support will be used to defray travel and registration costs in order to allow attendance of participants from early stages of their careers, especially for members of groups underrepresented in this field. Membranes in plant cells are central to understanding photosynthesis, water transport, and stress responses. Recent advances in the field, including new technological capabilities, will be highlighted at the 7th Pan-American Plant Membrane Biology Workshop. The meeting will bring together seasoned investigators with students and early-career scientists in both formal talks and discussion sessions to encourage informal discussion and sharing of latest research results, including sessions on membrane organization, transport across membranes, the role of membranes in biotic and abiotic stress responses, membrane trafficking throughout the cell vacuole, and new techniques for studying plant membranes including cryoEM/nanodiscs, optogenetics, bioinformatics, and lipid analysis techniques. This award is funded by the Cellular Dynamics and Function Cluster of the Division of Molecular and Cellular Biosciences in the Directorate for Biological Sciences. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.