Jane Silverthorne going to a celebration for BTI professor Greg Martins (right) election into the National Academy of Sciences in May 2022. Boyce Thompson InstituteProminent plant biologist Jane Silverthorne died on August 15 at the age of 69. She is best known for her work on plant genomics projects at the National Science Foundation (NSF) and for her effect on the profession advancement of young academics.”Dr. Silverthorne was a highly regarded scientist and a leader and champion for the development of the plant genomics field and neighborhood,” Grant Hartzog, Silverthornes former colleague at the University of California (UC), Santa Cruz, composes in a university statement.According to an obituary posted on Legacy.com, Silverthorne split her childhood in between England, Scotland, and Malta prior to coming to the University of Sussex in the UK to study biology. After finishing a PhD at the University of Warwick and a postdoc at the University of California, Los Angeles, Silverthorne joined the department of molecular, cellular, and developmental biology at UCSC in 1987, where she studied plant photoreceptors called phytochromes.In 2004, after numerous years working as program director for the Plant Genome Research Center at NSF while on leave from the university, she formally left UCSC to join the company completely. Throughout her time at NSF, Silverthorne took on numerous leadership positions on boards and advisory groups that made recommendations around global policy on biotechnology, the obituary continues, and likewise ended up being a grants officer. In addition, she pressed the company to support young researchers and fund plant science in low-income countries, according to a testimonial released by the American Association for Plant Biologists.See “Toward a Clickable Plant””Jane contributed tremendously to the advancement of a strong, inclusive and lively plant genomics neighborhood that embraced international partnership, highlighted the advancement of shared community resources, and championed scientific questions on a large diversity of plant species,” Cornell University plant geneticist Susan McCouch composes in the testimonial.”Jane did not look for the spotlight but she did seek excellence,” David Stern, president of the Boyce Thompson Institute (BTI), a plant science research center, writes in a homage posted on the BTI site. “She relentlessly promoted those who she believed had something essential to provide, who might have been overlooked since of gender or pedigree, who could embody the clinical enjoyment [that] Jane herself felt.”Silverthorne likewise served as a senior consultant to the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy from 2006 to 2008, according to her obituary. She retired from her function at NSF in 2017, however continued to serve on a number of boards, including the Scientific Advisory Board at BTI.Silverthorne is made it through by her sibling and nephew.
