ASCB’s New Executive Director—Taking On a Scientific Society in a World of Change

Other once powerful institutions have lost track of their core mission. At ASCB, we can’t forget why we’re here. Photo by Insomnia Cured Here.

Other once powerful institutions have lost track of their core mission. At ASCB, we can’t forget why we’re here. Photo from Insomnia Cured Here.

“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has.” – Margaret Mead

I now have several weeks under my belt as the new Executive Director and am deep into learning mode to understand ASCB. One part of my on-boarding curriculum is talking with members in order to get a better understanding what about the organization is important to them, which helps me understand the core values of ASCB. It is critical for organizations to identify their core value for them to thrive in a changing environment.

A warning fable can be found in the once great company Eastman Kodak. Kodak marketed its products as capturing “Kodak Moments,” which is about people sharing stories. However as the digital age rose and the environment the company was working in changed, Kodak decided to double down on its film business. In the end, Kodak filed for bankruptcy and is no longer a major player in personal photography. It had lost track of the fact that its core mission was to help people capture and share memories, not to manufacture film. The environment in which scientific societies operate is also changing. ASCB has the opportunity to adapt and thrive in response to these changes, but only if we stay focused on our core values of “advancing scientific discovery, advocating sound research policies, improving education, promoting professional development, and increasing diversity in the scientific workforce.”

Before I came on board I reflected on some of the environmental factors that have a particular impact on scientific societies. First is the change in scientific collaborations, both geographically and disciplinary. Science has always been global but the ability to communicate and travel long distances has sped up in the last decade, easing international collaboration. Additionally, increasing investment in science by countries that had not had science on the radar previously has led to collaborations in a wider range of locations. These changes also mean that trainees, who may have once immigrated in search of opportunity, now have the option to return to their home countries to continue to explore their research questions. This makes the “A” in ASCB increasingly anachronistic and challenges the Society to be global in ways that were not needed in the past.

Researchers are facing the opposing forces of increased specialization while at the same time there is more collaboration across disciplines not only within the biological sciences but between biology and other disciplines such as engineering, computer science, and physics. A broad based society such as ASCB is well-positioned to leverage this new cross-disciplinary world, but we need to capture these new areas of science in order to attract researchers who may not have previously thought of ASCB as their home.

Second, the face of science is changing. We live in a diverse society and there is ample evidence that having diverse teams work on problems leads to better solutions. In the U.S., the demographics of graduate students and postdocs is increasingly female and non-white, but we seem to be losing diversity as scientists move up the career ladder. ASCB has a strong history of support for women and under-represented minorities in research careers. Here we have the opportunity to show leadership for the entire scientific community.

I have first-hand experience in the changes that are taking place in scientific careers. I left the bench to pursue science policy communication because I learned during graduate school that my passion lay with directly connecting science with societal issues. When I left the bench in the mid-90s, this was an unusual career path. Today only a minority of graduate biology students will continue to a tenure-track position at an R01 university. How can professional societies, such as ASCB, which have traditionally had the majority of members from the academic community, change in order to help their graduate student and postdoc members prepare for a wide range of future careers? I am delighted that ASCB formed a grad student and postdoc committee, called COMPASS, to tackle many of these issues head-on.

Another factor is the change in society toward organizations. Different generations have different attitudes about joining community organizations with younger generations being less likely to join. In the U.S., there has been a general decline in community participation as was documented in Robert D. Putnam’s book, Bowling Alone. At the same time, we can connect though the internet and social media to find groups that share similar interests in ways that were not possible before. Scientific societies have been slow to adapt to these changes, so we need to be agile as we look toward the future.

Finally, there are pressures on revenue streams due to changing business models for scientific societies. Membership, meetings, and publications have traditionally provided the majority of the revenue that helps support a society’s other programs such as professional development, public education, or advocacy. All three of these streams are under pressure. Scientific publishing has changed radically with the advent of open-access a decade ago and the rise of pre-prints in recent years. There has also been a proliferation of journals that compete, for example, with ASCB’s Molecular Biology of the Cell. In the meeting sphere, many scientists are opting to attend smaller, more focused meetings rather than larger umbrella meetings. We will need to be creative and innovate in order to adapt.

All of these changes make it an exciting time to think about the future. I opened this post with one of my favorite quotes. It is easy for people in organizations to get focused on what they need to do to keep the organization afloat rather than what they can do together as part of an organization to affect change in the world. Cell biology is at the core of so many sciences including medicine, neurobiology, bioengineering, and many more. ASCB has an important role to contribute to this field. I believe that ASCB can maintain its vitality and thrive by:

  • Helping our members excel in their careers, providing opportunities to share their science and trainings that are tailored to their needs,
  • Being a thought leader in the scientific community, highlighting systematic issues, building strategic collaborations, and pointing toward possible solutions, and
  • Helping society to use science through our work on policy, education, and public outreach.

I am very excited about the Society’s future. As we look forward we can build on ASCB’s strong reputation and programs to rise to the challenges and opportunities we face.

About the Author:


Erika Shugart is the Chief Executive Officer of ASCB.