IIGB researcher Susan Wessler was the recipient of a 2013 American Society of Plant Biologists (ASPB) Fellow award, granted in recognition of distinguished and long-term contributions to plant biology and service to the Society.

Wessler was recognized for her pioneering work involving the identification and study of plant transposable elements and the roles of these elements in shaping genomes. Her election to the National Academy of Sicences in 1998 and subsequent awards such as Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the ASPB Stephen Hales Prize in 2011, and the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology Excellence in Science Award in 2012, reflect her long history of contributions to plant biology. Lastly, her outstanding service and leadership demonstated by her current role as NAS home secretary, her innovative undergraduate laboratory-classroom teaching program, her organization of numerous conferences, and her advisory and editorial board participation, were also recognized.

Wessler currently holds a University California President’s Chair and is a distinguished professor of genetics in the Botany & Plant Sciences department.