Building community
My first journalism job was at a tiny (circulation: 1,500) weekly newspaper that covered the rural town we lived in when my kids were growing up. I was hired as a freelance reporter and photographer, paid (as I dimly recall) about $1 an inch for articles and $3 for each photo — more if they made the front page.
It was a great job for a mostly stay-at-home mom (I had a toddler and two kids in elementary school). I was going to tons of community events already. All I had to do was bring my camera, interview a few people and write an article after the kids were in bed. Sometimes I did in-depth interviews with local celebrities like the bus driver who’d had two sets of triplets on his route.
As I cruised around in my minivan snapping photos and scribbling in notebooks, I came to realize that the real purpose of this paper was to keep a small town feeling small. Sprawling housing developments had sprung up in the preceding decade, and longtime residents grumbled. By putting as many people as possible in our little tabloid, we helped everyone feel like they knew each other. No story was too insignificant if we could get a new name and face out into the community.
Many years and several publications later, I still believe one of my most important jobs is helping people feel like they know what’s going on with the members of their community. That’s why one of the most important parts of ASBMB Today is our Member Update section, which is right at the front of our print magazine, and a weekly anchor on our website that we fondly call Member Monday. This is where we share good news about you and what we refer to as your “awards, promotions, milestones and more.”
I scroll through Google searches looking for this news. Angela Hopp, our executive editor, gets tips from Twitter. We pull all this information together, and science writer Laurel Oldach writes the lion’s share of the articles (including good thumbnail descriptions of each person’s research). Lately, our volunteer contributors have taken on the responsibility of writing In Memoriam member obituaries. They do a fantastic job.
We hope you enjoy reading about your fellow 鶹ýɫƬ and 鶹ýɫƬ Biology members and sharing your own good news. To the latter point, I urge you to let us know about the noteworthy events in your life. Drop an email to asbmbtoday@asbmb.org with the subject line “Member news” — or tell your institution’s communications office to send us a press release. Please don’t be shy. We’re quite discreet; no one will know where we got the tip. Just think of it as doing your part to build community in the town of ASBMB.
Enjoy reading ASBMB Today?
Become a member to receive the print edition monthly and the digital edition weekly.
Learn moreGet the latest from ASBMB Today
Enter your email address, and we’ll send you a weekly email with recent articles, interviews and more.
Latest in Opinions
Opinions highlights or most popular articles
At a career crossroads: Exploring postdoc, faculty and industry paths
“At the crossroads of an academic career, postdocs find ourselves grappling with a challenging decision … about defining our trajectory in academia and shaping the impact we want to have in the academic community.”
How do you help a biochemist find a career path?
Industry, academia and the ASBMB join forces to introduce students job options in the sciences with a panel, networking and cheese.
'Don’t be afraid to take a different path'
In 2016, MOSAIC scholar Rebecca Ann Faulkner paused her career for four years to focus on her family, a decision she believes made her a more effective and empathetic scientist.
The perverse legacy of participation in human genomic research
The story of how one person became the majority source of DNA for the Human Genome Project encapsulates 20th-century researchers’ attitudes toward donor consent, the author says.
Announcing the winners of the 鶹ýɫƬ Motifs bioart competition
The 12 winning works of art to be featured in the 2025 ASBMB calendar were selected from 37 entries received from scientists in both academia and industry at all career stages with submissions coming from as far away as Pakistan and Brazil.
The fourth third of my career: Living the dream
After a few decades of being a professor, Jonathan Monroe thought it would be fun to return to the life of a postdoc after retiring. Here’s how he did it.