AIBS Executive Director's Weekly Blog

This blog entry is an easy one to write--all I have to do is draw your attention to the November 26th posting on the Coalition on the Public Understanding of Science's (COPUS) blog, On Making Scientific Research More Accessible to the Public.

The blogger is Holly Menninger, a Public Policy Associate at AIBS and AIBS's COPUS Activities Manager. Holly works on COPUS issues for AIBS with fellow staff-member Sheri Potter, who is the COPUS Network Project Manager--see the Media and Outreach section of the COPUS website for more information.

AIBS is getting ready to release a guide for biologists and other scientists on how to work with the media on science-communication issues. Holly's leading this project, which includes the offer of services from AIBS to run science-communication workshops and "bootcamps." Quoting from her November 26th COPUS blog, "You too can do something to improve the communication channels between scientists and the public. Be it through media interviews, volunteering your time working with visitors at your neighborhood nature center, or writing a science column for your local newspaper, we each can contribute to the translation of science."

Posted by Richard O'Grady at 8:31 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

It’s a real pleasure to note the national honor bestowed yesterday upon the Ecological Society of America, an AIBS member society, for their innovative Strategies for Ecology Education, Development and Sustainability (SEEDS) mentoring program. I quote excerpts here from the ESA press release:

President Bush announced on November 16 that the Ecological Society of America ( ESA ) is one of the recipients of the 2006 Presidential Award for Excellence in Science, Mathematics and Engineering Mentoring (PAESMEM). ESA is the only organization to receive the 2006 PAESMEM award; the other awardees are all individuals. The award, the highest of its kind in the United States, is supported and administered by the National Science Foundation (NSF) and includes a $10,000 grant for continued mentoring work.

ESA ‘s program, Strategies for Ecology Education, Development and Sustainability (SEEDS), garnered the presidential award. Made possible by generous support from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, the Society established the program in 1996 to anchor its diversity initiatives.

“We view the ESA SEEDS Program as the jewel in our crown,” said ESA President Norman Christensen. “It is truly one of the initiatives of which we are most proud and today’s award underscores its tremendous value.”

Over the years, ESA has partnered on SEEDS with the United Negro College Fund, Historically Black Colleges and Universities, Tribal Colleges , the Institute of Ecosystem Studies , and others. With the goal of diversifying and advancing the profession of ecology, the SEEDS program provides a full spectrum of mentoring and learning opportunities to underrepresented undergraduate students.

Managed by ESA ‘s Office of Education and Diversity Programs, these include SEEDS ecology clubs and chapters, research fellowships, group field trips, and travel to the ESA Annual Meeting where students are assigned a mentor for the duration of the meeting. SEEDS directly serves over 200 students and its chapters serve nearly 2,000 students. These students credit SEEDS with enabling them to pursue a career in ecological science and to forge lasting relationships with both peers and mentors that help support their academic pursuits.

Further details are available from ESA here.

More information about the 2006 PAESMEM Award program can be found on the NSF website.

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The Science and Human Rights Program of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) has issued an Action Alert on behalf of the American Society of Plant Biologists (ASPB), an AIBS-member organization. The ACTION ALERT urges immediate and specific action by the scientific community on behalf of plant biologist Dr. Anwar Hossain and 11 of his prominent academic colleagues at the University of Dhaka and Rajshahi University, Bangladesh.

ASPB and AAAS report as follows:

These professors were arrested and jailed in August 2007 and remain in custody to this day. The arrests were made by a Joint Task Force under the direction of the Director General Forces Intelligence (DGFI), the central intelligence agency of the Bangladeshi armed services, in connection with student protests, and the arrested academics have not been charged with any crime.

In addition to the 12 professors, an unknown number of students from both universities have also been arrested, and concern for their well-being is growing as well. Indeed, on September 4, 2007 Secretary General Irene Khan of Amnesty International, in a letter to Bangladesh’s leader, Chief Adviser Dr. Fakhruddin Ahmed, called for authorities to ensure that all human rights violations reported in the context of recent student unrest be thoroughly investigated and those responsible brought to justice. Khan further stated that use of excessive force, as well as reports of torture and ill treatment of detainees while being interrogated by military intelligence personnel are matters of deep concern. Moreover, the detainees’ denial of access to lawyers and family members is in clear violation of international human rights standards.

Senator Edward M. Kennedy (D - MA) in a letter of October 26, 2007 to M. Humayun Kabir, Ambassador of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh, Washington, D.C., urged the Bangladeshi government to release the 12 professors and any students who have also been detained for political reasons. Sen. Kennedy further stated that “holding these twelve men without charge and for political reasons is a major assault on the integrity and independence of the academic community of your nation and calls into question your government's commitment to human rights and the rule of law.”

For more information, see the Science and Human Rights Program of the American Association for the Advancement of Science .

Posted by Richard O'Grady at 11:59 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

It's been an eventful week for new initiatives in biodiversity research and education, starting with my receipt of the Encyclopedia of Life's notice of the first meeting of the EOL Institutional Council, of which AIBS is a member. I'm looking forward to the meeting later this month. EOL launched in May 2007 with the ambitious goal of creating an online reference source and database for each of the 1.8 million species that are named and known on this planet, as well as all those later discovered and described. The organizations heading and funding EOL include Harvard University, the Smithsonian Institution, the Field Museum, the Marine Biological Laboratory, the Biodiversity Heritage Library consortium, the Missouri Botanical Garden, and the MacArthur and Sloan Foundations.

By mid-week I discovered the delightful Planet Bob website and YouTube video, from the Arizona State University Institute for Species Exploration. Professional, creative, and downright puckish, it succeeds brilliantly in just 6 minutes and 29 seconds to explain for a general audience the importance of work in biodiversity, taxonomy, and natural history collections. Go Bob!

And the week's ended with news of the launch of the Research Coordination Network for Building a National Community of Natural History Collections. Funded by a Research Coordination Grant from the National Science Foundation to Michigan State University, this project aims to build a strong collaborative community among researchers and other stakeholders in systematics, biodiversity, and related fields that use natural history collections. AIBS and two other professional organizations, the Natural Science Collections Alliance and the Society for the Preservation of Natural History Collections, are among the partners in this effort. The objectives will be met with activities that include workshops, symposia, internships, and a website, www.CollectionsWeb.org, which will provide a forum for interaction, host workshop reports, and provide information on ways to become involved. Several major community resources will be developed, including a catalogue of NHC, a survey of the status of NHC, a register of curatorial expertise, and an inventory of innovative and successful educational programs.

Posted by Richard O'Grady at 9:29 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)