When I began my tenure-track position, a senior colleague offered me a piece of advice: join an ASCB committee. As a faculty member at a smaller teaching-focused university, opportunities to interact with colleagues from different types of institutions were limited. I figured committee service would be a useful professional activity that would allow me to network and perhaps contribute in a small way to the broader community beyond my institution.

My first choice would have been the Education Committee. Instead, the opening available was on the Public Information Committee (PIC), the predecessor to the Science Communication, Outreach, and Public Engagement (SCOPE) committee. To be honest, I knew very little about the committee and was a little intimidated. I suddenly found myself working alongside ASCB members from institutions very different from own. What I did not realize at the time was that I was getting a glimpse of the beating heart that drives ASCB.

Over the years, I’ve learned that much of what ASCB contributes to the scientific and broader society and to its members specifically is a result of initiatives taken by specific ASCB committees. During my time with PIC, and now SCOPE, I have watched the committee evolve in response to changing needs in science, education, and society at large. One of the major priorities SCOPE focuses on is the ability to communicate effectively with public audiences, whether through an elevator pitch or an outreach event. This priority led to the development of the Annual Elevator Pitch Contest and most recently a hands-on outreach event at the Franklin Institute at last year’s Annual Meeting in Philadelphia. At the same time, SCOPE recognized the need to humanize scientists, so we started filming “I am ASCB” videos to showcase the diversity of ASCB members to the public. Even the committee’s transition from PIC to SCOPE, reflected a broader mission: supporting communication, outreach, and public engagement as central components of ASCB’s impact.

As both a committee member and now co-chair, I have had the opportunity to help shape these efforts while working alongside colleagues from different career stages, institution types, and professional backgrounds. The diversity of perspectives from its committee members is one of SCOPE’s strengths.

Looking back, service on SCOPE has been the most valuable benefit of my ASCB membership. It has allowed me to contribute to initiatives with impacts far beyond my own institution and locality, to develop meaningful professional relationships with a diversity of ASCB members, and to help advance the Society’s mission in ways I never anticipated when I first volunteered.

This year, when the call for committee volunteers is announced, I encourage you to join SCOPE. If you are someone who cares about helping scientists communicate more effectively, engaging different communities with cell biology, or expanding the impact of ASCB beyond the bench, then there is a place for you on our committee.