Early-Career Scientists Selected to Serve on the Genetics Society of America Board and Committees

GSA Logo Media Contact:Chloe Poston, Ph.D.GSA Policy and Communications Manager301.634.7302[email protected] For Immediate ReleaseMonday, December 14, 2015 Early-career scientists selected to serve on the Genetics Society of America Board and Committees Graduate students & postdocs serve as leaders in genetics community Newswise — BETHESDA, MD -- The Genetics Society of America (GSA) is pleased to announce the selection of nine new Trainee Representatives who will serve on the GSA Board of Directors and the Society's programmatic committees. The GSA Trainee Representative program began in 2013 as a way to engage students and postdocs directly in the Society leadership and offer an opportunity for the voices and perspective of early-career scientists to be heard at the Board level. "It's been great to see the way that the trainee reps have brought great ideas and new energy to the GSA leadership these past few years," said GSA Executive Director Adam P. Fagen, PhD. "These students and postdocs are helping to strengthen the Society's longstanding commitment to our early career members, who make up a growing percentage of our membership." Trainee representatives were selected through a competitive application process based on demonstrated leadership roles, volunteer service, and letters of recommendation. These new representatives will hold two-year terms beginning January 1, 2016. GSA's newest Trainee Representatives

Board of Directors

Heath Blackmon, PhDPostdoctoral ResearcherDepartment of Ecology, Evolution, & BehaviorUniversity of Minnesota

Conferences Committee

Amanda L. Zacharias, PhDPostdoctoral FellowDepartment of GeneticsPerelman School of MedicineUniversity of Pennsylvania

Education Committee

Haifa AlhadyianGraduate StudentDepartment of Molecular BiosciencesUniversity of Kansas

Courtney ScerbakGraduate StudentDepartment of Biology & Wildlife and Institute of Arctic BiologyUniversity of Alaska Fairbanks

Membership Committee

Alison Gerken, PhDPostdoctoral Research AssociateDepartment of Molecular Genetics & MicrobiologyUniversity of Florida

Mentoring & Professional Development Committee

Delbert A. Green II, PhDNSF Postdoctoral Research Fellow in BiologyDepartment of Ecology & EvolutionUniversity of Chicago

Faten A. TakiGraduate StudentInterdisciplinary Doctoral Program in Biological SciencesEast Carolina University

Publications Committee

Aleeza C. Gerstein, PhDCIHR Banting Postdoctoral FellowDepartment of Microbiology & ImmunologyUniversity of Minnesota

Public Policy Committee

Thomas P. ClementsGraduate StudentProgram in Biochemistry & Cell BiologyRice University

About the Genetics Society of America (GSA)Founded in 1931, the Genetics Society of America (GSA) is the professional scientific society for genetics researchers and educators. The Society’s more than 5,500 members worldwide work to deepen our understanding of the living world by advancing the field of genetics, from the molecular to the population level. GSA promotes research and fosters communication through a number of GSA-sponsored conferences including regular meetings that focus on particular model organisms. GSA publishes two peer-reviewed, peer-edited scholarly journals: GENETICS, which has published high quality original research across the breadth of the field since 1916, and G3: Genes|Genomes|Genetics, an open-access journal launched in 2011 to disseminate high quality foundational research in genetics and genomics. The Society also has a deep commitment to education and fostering the next generation of scholars in the field. For more information about GSA, please visit www.genetics-gsa.org.

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