Biophysical Society Bulletin | January 2023

President’s Message

Officers President

Between each trip Bass would return to his home in the Yaak Valley, close to my own hometown and the house my father built on the edge of the vast Kootenai National For est. Perhaps Bass’s homecoming to a shared landscape drew me into his essays, or maybe it was the sense of generational connections established through mentorship and my own increasing awareness of the ephemeral nature of a single career. I resonated with his wish to “pass on not only the craft of writing, but the craft of living.” I am not saying we should all adopt yoga or a 30-hour work week. I am thinking about other ways to inspire inquiry and a healthy mind. Bass writes, “In the most productive mentor relationships, the simple act of conversation inflames parts of the mentee’s brain that need stimulating, as wind stimulates a fire, as fire regenerates a forest, as a forest shelters its rivers, as the whole cycle keeps rolling along forever” (p. 32). Occasionally, a trainee shows up with a fire in the belly so strong as to be essentially self-sustaining. More often, a little tinder and kindling is required, together with some effort to spark the flame. Still, most will make the journey to where “[w]e have crossed over the low pass, the saddle, and are looking down into untrammeled territory where we’ve

never been.” It is exciting to be a part of their journey. It is not cliché to say that mentoring is a two way street, that we learn as much or more from some of our mentees as they learn from us. For my recent ad hoc apprenticeship in an tiracism, my trainees of various combinations of Black, Latino, Hispanic, and Indigenous her itages served as my study guides. Now there’s your cliché: the well-intentioned, middle-aged white person requesting the tutelage of those living the unspoken and ungracious legacy of slavery in our country. It would be easy and understandable for them to politely point me to a website with a reading list and send me away. But they are gracious, and conversations with them on race and culture are obliging and enlightening. The tables turn. The mentee becomes the mentor. And now, I will find one of those 20-some things to help me unstick my Mastodon account registration so I can try to recon struct my social media community in anoth er universe. Before I do, to all my mentors, formal and informal, those who know they are my mentors and those who do not, I wish to express my gratitude. If I show up at your door with groceries, you’ll know you are on the list.

Gail Robertson President-Elect Taekjip Ha Past-President Frances Separovic Secretary Erin Sheets Treasurer Samantha Harris Council Patricia Bassereau Henry Colecraft Erin C. Dueber Martin Gruebele Gilad Haran Kumiko Hayashi Syma Khalid Francesca Marassi Susan Marqusee Carolyn A. Moores

Kandice Tanner Valeria Vasquez Biophysical Journal Vasanthi Jayaraman Editor-in-Chief The Biophysicist Sam Safran Editor-in-Chief Biophysical Reports

Jörg Enderlein Editor-in-Chief

Society Office Jennifer Pesanelli Executive Officer Newsletter

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Executive Editor Jennifer Pesanelli Managing Editor John Long Production Ray Wolfe Proofreader/Copy Editor The Biophysical Society Newsletter (ISSN 0006-3495) is published eleven times per year, January-December, by the Biophysical Society, 5515 Security Lane, Suite 1110, Rockville, Maryland 20852. Distributed to USA members and other countries at no cost. Cana dian GST No. 898477062. Postmaster: Send address changes to Biophysical Society, 5515 Security Lane, Suite 1110, Rockville, MD 20852. Copyright © 2023 by the Biophysical Society. Darren Early Laura Phelan

The Rosalba Kampman Distinguished Service Award , honoring service in the field of biophysics and contributions beyond achievements in research; The Margaret Oakley Dayhoff Award , given to a woman who holds very high promise or has achieved prominence while developing the early stages of a career in biophysical research within the purview and interest of the Biophysical Society; The Kazuhiko Kinosita Award in Single-Molecule Biophysics , recognizing outstanding research ers for their exceptional contributions in advancing the field of single- molecule biophysics; The Ignacio Tinoco Award , which honors meritorious investigators who make important con tributions to the physical chemistry of macromolecules and who actively promote and sustain a collaborative, inclusive, and engaging research environment in the field; The Founders Award , given to scientists for outstanding achievement in any area of biophysics; And, finally, the 2024 Fellows of the Biophysical Society , honoring distinguished members who have demonstrated sustained scientific excellence. Awards will be presented at the 2024 Biophysical Society Annual Meeting in Philadelphia, Penn sylvania. For information and to submit a nomination, visit www.biophysics.org/awards-funding/ society-awards.

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