Arizona researchers, panelists featured at national science conference
Summary:
Eleven researchers from Arizona's universities, including an ASU biophysicist, presented papers and spoke on panels at the nation's premier general science conference last week in Washington, D.C. Many more Arizona faculty, graduate students, and undergraduates attended the conference as participants and volunteers.
Full Story:
WASHINGTON — Eleven researchers from Arizona's universities presented papers and spoke on panels at the nation's premier general science conference last week in Washington, D.C. Many more Arizona faculty, graduate students, and undergraduates attended the conference as participants and volunteers.
More than 9,000 scientists and members of the public and press attended this year's meeting, which was themed "The Nexus: Where Science Meets Society."
Six researchers from Arizona State University and five from the University of Arizona presented papers on topics ranging from Stuart Lindsay's research on bio-inspired materials in nanotechnology to Titan's methane-nitrogen cloud cover, probed by the Cassini orbiter and Huygens probe last year.
David Guston from ASU's Center for Science and Policy Outcomes spoke on two panels: "The Prognosis for Science in the Next Four Years: Strategies for Preventing the Misuse of Science," and one on inequalities in international science and technology. One of his proposals for preventing the political misuse of science was to democratize science by opening the dialogue between science and the public. Such a dialogue, Guston says, would make transparent the "decision rules" by which scientists operate, mitigating the fact that science will always involve some measure of politics.
From UA, Kai Wuennemann and Jay Melosh presented a paper on the impact crater beneath Chesapeake Bay; linguist Andrew Wedel discussed a pattern of competition in phonology that parallels Darwin's theory of speciation; Jonathan Lunine reported early results from the expedition to Saturn's moons; and Robert Gatenby delivered a talk in the growing field of mathematical oncology, which seeks to apply mathematical models to tumor growth.
Presenters from ASU included Lindsay, a biophysicist; Carlos Castillo-Chavez, who talked about the under-representation of minorities in mathematics and a program he works with at ASU to encourage minority mathematicians; and Leah Gerber, Bradley Allenby, and Jonathan Anderies, experts in different aspects of ecosystem management sustainability issues.
The weeklong conference featured plenary talks from national leaders in the scientific community, including Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Julie Louise Gerberding, and a host of topical receptions and field-specific business meetings. The 2005 meeting also served as a kick-off celebration of the World Year of Physics and the Year of Einstein.
The American Association for the Advancement of Science first convened in Philadelphia in 1848 and has met annually ever since. In 1880, American inventor Thomas Edison founded the association's academic journal Science.
Today, the AAAS has more than 127,000 members and is the largest interdisciplinary professional organization for scientists in the U.S., serving over 262 affiliated organizations. The 2006 meeting, "Grand Challenges, Great Opportunities" will convene next February in St. Louis.
For more information: