ASPB-Carnegie Winslow Briggs Mentorship Award
The ASPB-Carnegie Winslow Briggs Mentorship award, offered for the first time in 2024, honors Winslow Briggs and his outstanding contributions, leadership, and mentorship in plant biology, as well as his extraordinary career-long attendance at ASPB annual meetings. This biennial monetary award recognizes an individual with at least five years of continuous membership at the time the award is made for their demonstrated commitment to mentoring and supporting next-generation scientists, for making a significant positive impact on their former mentees’ careers, and for advancing research in the field of plant science through their former mentees. The recipient is invited to chair a concurrent symposium at the Plant Biology conference in the year following their award.
Please note: when submitting a nomination for the ASPB-Carnegie Winslow Briggs Mentorship Award, the nomination should include at least one letter co-signed by a group of former mentees or three letters from individual former mentees.
2026 Winner: Antje Heese
University of Missouri, Columbia
Antje Heese, a Professor of Biochemistry at the University of Missouri, works on plant innate immunity and protein trafficking. A member of ASPB since 2007, she has focused much of her energy on training and advising undergraduate and graduate students. She has mentored 26 undergraduate students, 8 graduate students, 3 postdoctoral fellows, and advised 156 undergraduates, providing them with the confidence and encouragement to present their work as talks and posters at both national and international conferences. Many students who were part of Antje’s group have co-authored manuscripts that were published in highly respected journals and have received scholarships and fellowships to continue their scientific careers. Former students have been highly successful in being accepted into PhD programs, obtaining postdoctoral positions, as well as assuming research and teaching positions in industry and academics. Her dedication to training and professional development, which has been highly influential in guiding and promoting the goals of students, is widely recognized by students, colleagues, the University, and members of the national and international scientific communities. She has received many awards that honor her mentoring, with the latest being the MU CAFNR Outstanding
2026 Winner: Steve Jacobsen
University of California, Los Angeles
Steve Jacobsen has performed seminal work on plant epigenetics, especially associated with DNA methylation, that has been published in high impact journals. He has trained numerous postdoctoral fellows and graduate students, providing them with the rigor and vision to assume international leadership roles in elucidating epigenetic mechanisms and diversity in plants. Several of Steve’s mentees have moved epigenetics into novel, associated research areas including centromere engineering, meiotic recombination, chromatin assembly, the use of single cell technology to probe DNA methylation and even exploring how such work can be focused on plant biotechnology and agricultural innovation. His group has extended his epigenetic analyses to encompass mammalian cells, bridging the gap between plants and animals, with implications for human health. Steve’s trainees also fostered the establishment of a new generation of informed scientists through roles as educators at community colleges and undergraduate teaching institutions. Astoundingly, over the years his laboratory has worked with over 300 undergraduate students who have participated in designing, implementing, and analyzing experiments. Many of these former students moved on to graduate school and/or established careers in science. Steve has built a scientific legacy that has strongly integrated discovery and mentorship at multiple levels and that is deeply committed to training future generations of scientists and educators.
Arthur Grossman, chair (2023-2026)
Michael Blatt (2023-2028)
Marta Laskowski (2023-2028)
Elaine Tobin (2023-2028)