Conference: 2025 Plant Lipids: Structure, Metabolism and Function GRC/GRS

This award provides partial support for participants in the Gordon Research Conference (GRC) and Seminar (GRS) on Plant Lipids: Structure, Metabolism, and Function, in Pomona, CA, January 25-31, 2025. The GRC and GRS provide a premier platform to explore the essential role of plant lipids in advancing science and addressing societal challenges. Lipids are vital for plant growth and environmental adaptation and are a renewable resource for food, energy, and sustainable products. The conference highlights innovations in understanding lipid functions, their applications in agriculture and bioenergy, and their impact on global food and energy security. By fostering collaboration among leading scientists and early-career researchers, the event aims to strengthen the global plant science community. Efforts to support participation from underrepresented groups and early-career scientists will ensure equitable access to these critical scientific discussions. Through these efforts, the conference aligns federal investment in science with societal benefits such as resource sustainability, and the development of future scientific leaders. The 2025 GRC and GRS on Plant Lipids brings together scientists from academia, industry, and government, as well as many international researchers, to address fundamental and applied questions in lipid biology, focusing on biosynthesis, signaling, and lipids’ role in stress responses and adaptation. Key sessions will explore lipid-mediated signaling, membrane dynamics, and the molecular mechanisms underlying lipid metabolism. Innovative integration of synthetic biology, systems biology, and computational modeling will enable researchers to integrate lipid data across biological scales. By emphasizing novel approaches, including lipid-protein interactions and functional genomics, the conference seeks to uncover new pathways for enhancing plant resilience and developing sustainable bio-based solutions. All Seminar participants and many GRC attendees are early-career scientists who will benefit from the meetings’ scientific discussions, networking opportunities, and career mentoring activities. Interdisciplinary collaborations catalyzed by the meetings will set the stage for transformative advancements in plant lipid research with broad applications in food security, bioenergy, and adaptation. 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.