About Caren Chang

Current position:
Associate Professor and Associate Department Chair, Department of Cell Biology and Molecular Genetics, University of Maryland, College Park, MD, 1994-present

Education and training:

A.B., Biophysics, University of California, Berkeley, California, 1977-1982. Undergraduate thesis on cloning of the DNA repair gene PHR1 in Saccharomyces cerevisiae with Dr. Robert Mortimer

Ph.D., Biology, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, California, 1982-1988. Thesis “Molecular Genetic Studies in Arabidopsis thaliana” with Dr. Elliot Meyerowitz

NSF Postdoctoral Fellow with Dr. Ry Meeks-Wagner, 1988-1989. Institute of Molecular Biology, University of Oregon, Eugene , OR

NSF Postdoctoral Fellow with Dr. Anthony Bleecker, 1989-1991. Department of Botany University of Wisconsin at Madison, WI

Postdoctoral Researcher with Dr. Elliot Meyerowitz, 1991-1994. Biology Division, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena , CA

Professional Activities:

• Editorial Board, The Arabidopsis Book (TAB)
• Arabidopsis Biological Resource Center Advisory Committee, 2006-present
• North American Arabidopsis Steering Committee, 2006-present
• Publications Committee, American Society of Plant Biologists, 2006-present
• Editorial Board, Ethylene Symposium Proceedings, 2006
• Guest Editor for Ethylene Issue, Journal of Plant Growth Regulation, 2005-2007
• Faculty Member, Faculty of 1000 Biology Reports Ltd, 2001-present
• Monitoring Editor, Plant Physiology, 2001-2006
• Co-Director, Graduate Training Fellowship Program in plant functional genomics, 2005-present
• Chair, Mid-Atlantic Section of American Society of Plant Biologists, 2004-2006
• Director, Arabidopsis thaliana Research Initiative at University of Maryland (ATRIUM), 2002-2005
• Advisory Editor, Plant Molecular Biology, 1999-2003

Other Recent Activities:

• Session Organizer and Chair, 19th Intl Conference on Plant Growth Substances, Mexico, 2007
• Scientific Organizing Committee and Chair, 7th Intl Symposium on the Plant Hormone Ethylene, Italy, 2006
• Panel Member and Speaker, Symposium on Mentoring, Assoc for Women in Science, Arlington VA, 2006
• Panel Member for Mid-course evaluation of the NSF Arabidopsis 2010 Program, Arlington VA, 2005
• Organizer, Spring Meeting of the Mid-Atlantic Section of ASPB, College Park, MD, 2005 & 2006
• Organizer and Chair, Winter Meeting of the Mid-Atlantic Section of ASPB, College Park, MD, 2005 & 2006
• Organizer of Special Ethylene Issue of Plant Physiology, 2003-2004
• Organizer, Fall Crab Feast, Mid-Atlantic Section of ASPB, Rockville, MD, 2004 & 2005
• Principal Investigator, USDA Food and Agricultural Sciences National Needs Graduate and Postdoctoral Fellowship Grants Program (with Co-PI Heven Sze), 2005-present
• Co-Founder and Co-Organizer, Annual Arabidopsis Minisymposium, College Park, MD, 2000-present
• Grant review panels for USDA, DOE, NSF, NIH

Current funding:

• US Department of Energy (DE-FG02-99ER20329)
• National Institutes of Health (1R01GM071855)
• Co-PI on NSF Microbial Genome Sequencing with PI Charles Delwiche
• USDA (20053842015761) Graduate Training Program in Plant Functional Genomics