AAAS and Science Help Celebrate Euroscience Open Forum 2008

(l-r) Roland Schenkel, Patrick Cunningham and Alan I. Leshner

[Photograph © and courtesy of John Bohannon]

"AAAS and its journal Science are increasingly international," Alan I. Leshner, AAAS CEO and Executive Publisher of the journal Science said during a gala reception at Barcelona's famous Casa Batlló, where a packed house enjoyed the architectural flourishes of Antoni Gaudí. Leshner was in Barcelona with AAAS senior managers, Science editors and journalists, plus staff of EurekAlert!, the science-news Web site for reporters, to celebrate Euroscience Open Forum 2008. The AAAS-Science contingent contributed three sessions to the Euroscience program, staffed two exhibit booths and threw a party for AAAS members, reporters and other guests, organized by Wendy Sturley and colleagues of AAAS/Science International in Cambridge, U.K.

Leshner took part in the session "Mars and Venus: How Americans and Europeans View and Use Science" with Roland Schenkel, director general of the European Commission's Joint Research Centre, and Patrick Cunningham, chief scientific advisor to the Irish government. Leshner also joined his co-speakers for a press briefing with more than a dozen international journalists representing media outlets ranging from Germany's Die Zeit newspaper to the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation to Swedish Television.

Al Teich, director of AAAS Science and Policy Programs, organized a session on the influence of governments on industrial R&D and innovation with Keith O'Nions, director general of the UK Research Councils, and Dragan Primorac, Croatia's science, education and sports minister.

(l-r) Richard Knox, Dora Shey, Gabor Paal and John Bohannon

Ginger Pinholster, director of the AAAS Office of Public Programs, and Tiffany Lohwater, AAAS public engagement manager, planned the session "Radio, Health News, and Podcasting Beyond Borders." The session brought together Richard Knox of National Public Radio in the United States; Gabor Paal of Südwestrundfunk (Germany); and Dora Shey of Cameroon Radio Television. John Bohannon, Science's own "gonzo scientist," created a podcast during the session, and both scientists and journalists in attendance learned about the many uses of radio and podcasts for distributing health news in both developed and developing countries.

On the Euroscience exhibit floor, Patrick McGinness staffed the EurekAlert! booth where he discussed the AAAS news service with meeting attendees, and Wendy Sturley and other Science International staff fielded questions in the Science booth.

Ginger Pinholster and Tiffany Lohwater

21 July 2008