Early Career Members

Sean Ritter

PhD Candidate, UBC

CSPB Student Representative

The Student Representative position has been newly created by the CSPB to allow for more direct input of early career members to the executive board. I am honored to have been elected to this position and am excited to get to work representing graduate students across Canada. My objective in this role is to foster community between students across institutions and to advocate for/facilitate development of further resources for early career researchers. My role will also include providing information about already available resources such as travel bursaries and student scholarships. Additionally, the student representative will also sit on the selection committee for the Ragai Ibrahim Award, allowing for increased student input on this prestigious scholarship. Finally, in this role I will coordinate with members of the Education Committee and Local Organizing Committee of CSPB conferences to develop professional development workshops at Annual Society Meetings and advance the EDI mandate of the CSPB in conjunction with the EDI committee.

During both completion of my M.Sc. in the lab of Dr. George Owttrim at University of Alberta and at my current position as a PhD Student in Dr. Geoffrey Wasteneys lab at the University of British Columbia, I have been inspired by both the ambition and creativity of plant biologists across Canada through attending CSPB-organized conferences. During my time as Student Representative, I hope to contribute to the continued success of CSPB conferences, as well as increase student engagement with the society year-round. For instance, did you know that students are able to serve on CSPB committees? This is a great way to meet colleagues  outside of your institution and provide a student’s perspective on to the future of plant biology research in Canada.

As mentioned in the Student and Post-Doctoral Update, Dr. Mark Minnow (Post-doctoral Representative) and I would like to encourage students to reach out with ideas and concerns. To properly represent the diversity of students in Plant Biology across Canada, I need to hear your unique perspectives! Please feel free to contact me via email (studentrep@cspb-scbv.ca) regarding any issue you wish to be communicated to the CSPB executive, or just to say hello.