Conference: "22nd Western Photosynthesis Conference: From Engineering to the Environment?"; January 3-6, 2013; Asilomar, CA

智力优势：光合作用是地球上最主要的能量转换过程。了解光合作用在机制和调控水平上的作用，将使人类能够利用光自养生物通过将能量流重定向为高密度燃料和/或电流来进行能量捕获和储存。设计捕捉光合作用能量的科学平台将需要了解生理和生化过程的生物学家、能够以特定方式修改这些过程的分子生物学家和生物工程师、能够帮助预测某些潜在修改的后果并提供分析工具来分析这些后果的生物物理学家的技能，以及电气和机械工程师，他们可以帮助建立与生物系统交互或模拟生物系统的系统。第22届西方光合作用大会将于2013年1月3日至6日在加州的阿西洛马召开。本次会议将展示光合作用的广阔前景，为与会者提供光合作用过程的最新观点，从光合电子传递和能量转换，到培养生物和生态系统中的碳固定，再到对氧进化复合物动力学的新理解。参加本次会议的有两位全体会议发言人，一位是斯坦福大学机械工程系的年轻教师Thomas Jaramillo博士，他负责研究涂有无机催化剂的表面上的水分解和氢的演化；另一位是Stephen Palumbi博士（霍普金斯海洋站主任），他开发了一个项目，探索珊瑚礁的健康状况以及在不断变化的环境中光合作用在珊瑚礁生物学中的作用。会议还将举行六个专题讨论会，分别是：“工程师对光合作用的看法”，由Thomas Moore博士（亚利桑那州立大学）主持；“海洋环境中光合作用和相关代谢过程的多样性”，由Jonathan Zehr博士（加州大学圣克鲁斯分校）主持；“光合作用结构和功能”，由Petra Fromme博士和Rebekka Wachter博士主持（亚利桑那州立大学）；“基因组学和高通量技术的使用”，由Martin Jonikas博士主持（卡内基科学研究所）；光反应的生物物理学和生物化学，由Junko Yano博士和Bruno Robert博士主持，以及无机碳的使用和燃料的潜在生产，由Donald Ort博士主持，主席。总的来说，这次会议将汇集思想开放的研究人员，他们具有多样化的技术专长和不同的思考系统和过程的方式，这将导致对光合作用过程的更深层次的理解，以及合理的方法来定制过程，以帮助创建更强大的系统，以维持地球上不断增长的人口。更广泛的影响：本次会议将有超过100名与会者，其中约65名学生和博士后研究人员，超过35名高级科学家（教授和研究机构的工作人员）。传统上，在这个会议上，各个职业水平的科学家之间会发生强烈的互动，往往导致富有成果的合作。此外，通常有近一半的学生和博士后研究人员将做口头报告，其余的大部分将展示海报。这次会议为年轻的科学家们提供了一个发展他们沟通技巧的绝佳场所。今年，学生们将被提供新的方向来理解光合作用过程，包括“环境中的光合作用”（一个快速变化的环境）和“工程师的眼睛在光合作用能量捕获”（使用工程原理来理解和利用光合作用过程）。在组织者看来，至关重要的是，学生们将帮助塑造地球的科学未来，了解光合作用过程的复杂性，跨学科的方法如何在自然环境中产生更现实和精确的光合作用观点，并帮助开发潜在的途径，以改善未来迫在眉睫的能源危机。

Intellectual Merit: Photosynthesis is the most dominant energy conversion process on the planet. Understanding how photosynthesis functions at the mechanistic and regulatory levels will allow man to exploit energy capture and storage performed by photoautotrophic organisms by redirecting energy flow into high density fuels and/or electrical current. Designing scientific platforms that capture photosynthetic energy will require the skills of biologists who understand physiological and biochemical processes, molecular biologists and bioengineers, who can modify those processes in specific ways, biophysicists who can help predict the consequences of some of the potential modifications and provide the analytical tools to assay those consequences, and electrical and mechanical engineers who can help build systems that interface with or mimic the biological systems. It is with this diverse view of photosynthetic processes that the 22nd Western Photosynthesis Conference will be convened in Asilomar California on Jan 3-6, 2013. This meeting will present a broad landscape of photosynthesis, providing the attendees with the most up-to-date view of photosynthetic processes ranging from photosynthetic electron transport and energy conversion, to the fixation of carbon in cultured organisms and ecological systems, to a new understanding of the dynamics of the oxygen evolving complex. Included in the program are two Plenary Speakers, Dr. Thomas Jaramillo, a young faculty member (Mechanical Engineering at Stanford University) investigating water splitting and hydrogen evolution on surfaces coated with inorganic catalysts, and Dr. Stephen Palumbi (Director of the Hopkins Marine Station), who has developed a project exploring the health of the coral reefs and the role of photosynthesis in the biology of the reefs in a changing environment. There will also be six symposium sessions which are: An Engineers View of Photosynthesis, chaired by Dr. Thomas Moore (Arizona State University), The Diversity of Photosynthetic and Related Metabolic Processes in the Oceanic Environment, chaired by Dr. Jonathan Zehr (UC Santa Cruz), Photosynthetic Structure and Function, chaired by Dr. Petra Fromme and Dr. Rebekka Wachter (Arizona State University), Genomics and the Use of High-Throughput Technologies, chaired by Dr. Martin Jonikas (Carnegie Institution for Science), The Biophysics and Biochemistry of the Light Reactions, chaired by Dr. Junko Yano and Dr. Bruno Robert, and The Use of Inorganic Carbon and Potential Production of Fuels, chaired by Dr. Donald Ort, Chair. Overall, this meeting will bring together open-minded researchers with a diversity of technical expertise and different ways of thinking about systems and processes that will lead to a deeper understanding of photosynthetic processes and rational ways to tailor the process to help create more robust systems for sustaining the growing population on the planet.Broader Impact: This meeting will have over 100 attendees with approximately 65 students and postdoctoral research associates and over 35 senior scientists (Professors and staff at research institutes). It is a meeting in which, traditionally, strong interactions occur among scientists at all career levels, often leading to fruitful collaborations. Furthermore, usually nearly half of the attending students and postdoctoral research associates are expected to give oral presentations and most of the remainder will present posters. The meeting provides an excellent venue for the younger scientists to develop their communication skills. This year the students will be provided with novel orientations toward understanding photosynthetic processes, including "Photosynthesis in the Environment" (an environment which is rapidly changing), and the "The Eye of the Engineer on Photosynthetic Energy Capture" (the use of engineering principles to understand and exploit photosynthetic processes). In the view of the organizers, it is critical that the students who will help shape the scientific future of the planet understand the complexity of photosynthetic processes, how cross-disciplinary approaches result in a more realistic and precise view of photosynthesis in the natural environment, and also help develop potential paths that will ameliorate the energy crisis looming in the future.