President's Column The Science and the Scientists of the 21st Century.

Growing up in Los Alamos, New Mexico, I was exposed to science at an early age. My dad was a physician who went into pathology because "the patients never complained." We autopsied my horse when it died of asthma and I was (his) county coroner's assistant when bodies floated up in the irrigation ditches near Espanola. My high school teachers supported many "hair brained" science fair projects and inspired me to go on to college. At New Mexico State I discovered WORMS--gorgeous creatures with strange life cycles inhabiting everyone's innards. A professor took an interest in me and I was his research assistant for two summers and a Masters Degree. Parasitized for life--I became a medical parasitologist with a southern fried Ph.D. from LSUMC in New Orleans. The experience of growing up in a scientific community and getting special attention from my dad, high school teachers and college professors shaped my future. That is what I believe educating the scientists of the 21st Century is all about.

One of my favorite parasitologists, Robert Hegner [1] wrote,

BIG FLEAS Have LITTLE FLEAS

Upon Their Backs to bite 'em,

And LITTLE FLEAS have LESSER FLEAS

And so, AD INFINITUM.

Little did he know how far infinitum might reach. Fifty years later it is possible to tell by examining their DNA exactly how excited those bugs get (which genes are involved) and what they do when they are in bug heaven chomping down on your intestinal mucosa. Using bioinformatics and gene arrays to find new antimicrobials is but one application of the newest new biology. Everything, biochemistry, microbiology and worms are "going molecular"! Our students will go beyond anything we imagined!

How can we equip the students of today to become the scientists of tomorrow? To go where none have gone before? The meetings of the Mississippi Academy and Junior Academy of Science provide one answer. What better place to excite with the latest research, to explore educational options, to equip with the latest gadgets and emulate those who have encountered the un-expected and excelled. The annual meeting of the Mississippi Academy of Sciences is a great place for a student to feel that intellectual spark take hold and lead them into their future. Mississippi's people are its greatest strength. Our success in enticing and motivating the scientists of tomorrow will depend upon our ability to work together to make this state a leader in science education. Joan Messer, MAS President Elect, has also been elected to lead the national Junior Academies of Science. We are already leaders in some areas!

How can you help? Participate in MAS and bring others to that "Ah HAH!" experience. Share your enthusiasm and joy of discovery with your students. Encourage them to submit abstracts and participate in the annual meeting. This year the meeting will be in north Mississippi close to MSU, Ole Miss, MUW and a host of community colleges and high schools. This year more students will be exposed to the rich and diverse scientific environment of this state and their future will be infected with the light of knowledge. Lead the way. Please go out of your way to recruit new members for our society, to work with colleagues in promoting research and communicating it with others. This can be the best meeting ever, all we need is you.

Our Dodgen Lecturer will be Dr. Jerome Goddard, Medical Entomologist with the Mississippi Department of Health. Jerome, a graduate of both Ole Miss and MSU, will share his research in "Ticks And Tick Ecology In Mississippi: Implications For Human Disease Transmission." He is an entertaining lecturer and famous author of a "Physician's Guide to Arthropods of Medical Importance". I know you and your students will enjoy his talk.

Our new web site (www.msacad.org) makes it easy to submit an abstract, register or read the program. See you there?

(1.) Hegner, R.W., 1938. Bigfleas have little fleas: or who's who among the protozoa. Williams & Wilkins, Baltimore, USA.