AAAS Representatives Attend
International Science Meeting

Representatives of 18 countries attended the annual meeting of the Interciencia Association (IA) in Costa Rica on August 27, 2002. IA is a federation of primarily nongovernmental scientific associations that unites the scientific communities of the Americas and promotes the cooperative use of science and technology in the hemisphere. It also stimulates the creation of associations for the advancement of science in the Americas where they do not yet exist. In addition to the United States, represented by AAAS, IA associations from Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Canada, Costa Rica, Cuba, Chile, Ecuador, Jamaica, Mexico, Panama, Peru, and Venezuela attended the meeting. Representatives from El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Nicaragua were also present.

The meeting was hosted by the Costa Rican National Council for Scientific & Technological Research (CONICIT) in San Jose, Costa Rica. It provided a forum for discussions on the state of science and technology in each member country and the outlook for the scientific enterprise in the Central and South America.

Participants noted that even with the economic difficulties of the last year and the corresponding pressure on science infrastructure and personnel, S&T was still in a position to benefit society. Many agreed with Dr. Alan I. Leshner, CEO of AAAS, when he said that science will gain funding as it is able to demonstrate its usefulness to society in quality of life and economic development.

While in Costa Rica, Leshner was interviewed by journalist Debbie Ponchner for the prestigious La Nacíon. Read the transcript.

—Martin Clock

30 August 2002