Biophysical Society Bulletin | March 2026

Communities

Ashley Carter Membership Committee

Ashley Carter

Is this your first volunteer position for BPS? If not, what other positions have you held? Right now I am on the Membership Committee, but I have held other volunteer positions within BPS. When I came to my first Annual Meeting in 2004 as a graduate student, I was blown away by the size of the meeting, the quality of the sessions, and the chances for career development. Volunteers make a lot of the Annual Meeting happen, and so I wanted to get involved right away. I remember really hoping to be picked to be a session chair. Even though it is a lot more work, I still always feel a sense of pride to be chosen for that position. Why do you volunteer? Volunteering is integral to being a scientist. We need peer review for manuscripts, people to give talks at conferences, committees to evaluate applications for funding, and men tors to train the next generation of scientists. Whether you are serving as an editor for the Biophysical Journal , judging the Travel Awards, or chairing a Subgroup, this is all volunteer work, but it is central to the research endeavor. Being chosen to be on a committee or to lead a workshop is an honor. You get to shape your research field and the Society! What has been a highlight from your volunteer experience? Last year I was nominated to run for Council and that was such a good experience. I didn’t win a seat, but it was great to work with the BPS staff and to be nominated. If you are ever asked to run for a position, do it! We need lots of good people to run so that we can have a strong society.

Do you have advice for others who might be thinking about volunteering? Start small. You don’t get to be president of the Society without holding a lot of other positions first! Say yes to being session chair or reviewing for Biophysical Journal or judging the un dergraduate poster competition. Join a committee, nominate yourself for a leadership role in your Subgroup, or lead a virtual or in-person networking event. Students can run for an officer position in their BPS Student Chapter or they can start a new Student Chapter. When not volunteering for BPS, what do you work on? My research is on DNA folding in sperm cells. We know that DNA in these cells is folded to semi-crystalline levels using positively charged protamine proteins, but we don’t know how that charge neutralization leads to near crystallization. To figure this out, I use atomic force microscopy to visualize single DNA molecules as they fold (shout out to the Single Molecule Subgroup!). Also, I am at Amherst College, which is a small liberal arts college in western Massachusetts. This is a Primarily Undergraduate Institution (PUI), so undergrads are the main researchers in the lab that are driving the science forward. I love leading students through their very first re search project—when the project works, it is sheer joy! If you are interested in positions at a PUI, join the PUI Network to learn more!

New: Muscle Biology Subgroup In response to enthusiastic member interest, the Biophysical Society is excited to reinvigorate its vibrant muscle biophysics community with the launch of a new Muscle Biology Subgroup. This Subgroup will serve as a welcoming home for researchers across all areas of muscle biophysics—spanning excitation–contraction coupling, myofilament structure–function relation ships, regulation of contraction, and beyond—while fostering fresh connections, new collaborations, and renewed scientific momentum. The Muscle Biology Subgroup is under the leadership of Sam Harris and Shanna Hamilton (Co-Chairs) and Ken Campbell (Secretary). We hope you join us! https:/www.biophysics.org/subgroups

March 2026

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