From the AAAS Annual Meeting

Greetings from San Diego, where I’m attending the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS).

The AAAS annual meeting is a large general science meeting. Attendees typically include about 4000 to 5000 scientists, 800 to 1000 journalists, and 2000 to 3000 community members. This year there are attendees from more than 40 countries.

Because I’m currently an officer of a section of AAAS, I’ve had administrative meetings to attend during the AAAS annual meeting. Therefore I haven’t been able to attend many presentations. However, I did attend some excellent presentations.

One excellent presentation was by the AAAS president, Peter Agre. Agre, a recipient of the 2003 Nobel Prize in Chemistry, talked about scientists he has known. Clearly he has worked with and been influenced by researchers from many countries.

Another excellent presentation was by scientist Eric Lander, co-chair of President Obama’s council of science and technology advisors. I was encouraged to hear that President Obama is emphasizing science in a variety of ways.  

I also enjoyed attending the AAAS award-presentation ceremony. Among the items that AAAS recognizes with awards are communication, international cooperation, and mentorship—three things that AuthorAID especially values.

I look forward to hearing about other sessions from my students who are attending the meeting. I also look forward to reading news reports on some sessions.

If you’d like to read about some sessions, one place to do so is at AAAS’s annual meeting news site.

Wishing you a good week—BG