Elison Blancaflor

Paul Todd, Ph.D, president of ASGSB, indicated that the award recognizes Blancaflor’s gravity-related plant research; the quality of his 37 published articles, which included eight journal cover photographs; his mastery of communicating important aspects of plant biology using microscopy; and his management of the Noble Foundation’s cellular imaging facility.

Blancaflor received his Ph.D. in biology from the University of Louisiana-Lafayette in 1996. He joined the Noble Foundation in 1999 after a three-year postdoctoral fellowship at Pennsylvania State University. In addition to serving as head of the Noble Foundation’s microscopy facility, Blancaflor leads a laboratory that seeks to better understand the influence of gravity on plant growth and development. Blancaflor has received federal funding from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) to support this research.

ASGSB fosters research, education, training and development in gravitational and space biology. ASGSB members are drawn from university, government and industry and represent many disciplines focused on the common issue of gravity's effects on biological systems. ASGSB was founded in 1984.

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Photo Cutline: Elison Blancaflor

The Samuel Roberts Noble Foundation, Inc. (www.noble.org), headquartered in Ardmore, Okla., is a nonprofit organization conducting agricultural, forage improvement and plant biology research; assisting farmers and ranchers through educational and consultative agricultural programs; and providing grants to nonprofit charitable, educational and health organizations.