Basu elected as officer of national bee group
Priyadarshini (Priya) Chakrabarti Basu
A Mississippi State University scientist has been elected to be secretary and treasurer of the national bee group, the American Association of Professional Apiculturists (AAPA), from 2022–2024.
Priyadarshini (Priya) Chakrabarti Basu is an assistant professor who joined the Department of Biochemistry, Molecular Biology, Entomology and Plant Pathology last year. Her research focuses on physiology, nutrition, molecular ecology, neuroethology and toxicology of bees as well as understanding and mitigating the impacts of various stressors on bee pollinators. In addition to her research, Basu has taught graduate and undergraduate courses since 2010.
Last fall, she began working on a project to build a pollen database to catalogue the nutrition profiles of over 100 bee-pollinated plants. This project is a partnership with colleagues at Oregon State University and is funded by a $500,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Agriculture and Food Research Initiative.
AAPA is an international organization whose members are professors, state apiarists, scientists and students who study and work with honeybees. For over three decades, AAPA has organized its annual American Beekeeping Research Conference (ABRC), which includes keynote speakers, oral presentations and student competitions. Basu joined AAPA in 2017, about two months after moving to the United States from Kolkata, India to take a postdoctoral appointment at Oregon State University.
This position as an AAPA officer is the latest of Basu’s contributions to professional organizations in her field. She is also active in the Entomological Society of America (ESA), currently serving as the Physiology, Biochemistry and Toxicology section representative to the Early Career Professional Committee and chairs the Standout Early Career Professionals Series for Entomology Today.
In addition, Basu has been elected as vice-chair of the Early Career Professional Committee this year and will become chair in 2023. ESA is the largest organization in the world serving the professional and scientific needs of entomologists and individuals in related disciplines. Founded in 1889, ESA has more than 7,000 members affiliated with educational institutions, health agencies, private industry, and government.
“I enjoy being in varied roles as an early career professional,” Basu said. “I serve as a voice for early career immigrants. If there is a will, there is a way -- you just need to work hard. A supportive mentor and a supportive community are also very important, and AAPA and ESA are both very generous and supportive of all.”
MSU is Mississippi’s leading university, available online at www.msstate.edu.
Meg Henderson | Agriculture and Natural Resources Marketing
