Skip to main content

2009 AAAS Forum on Science & Technology Policy

, ,

April 30

8:30 AM  -  8:40 AM
Peter Agre, Director, Johns Hopkins Malaria Research Institute, The Johns Hopkins University; and President, AAAS (Welcome mp3)

8:40 AM  -  10:00 AM
BUDGETARY AND POLICY CONTEXT FOR R&D IN FY 2010 (Plenary Session)

Moderator: Peter Agre, Director, Johns Hopkins Malaria Research Institute, The Johns Hopkins University; and President, AAAS
Keynote Address: John P. Holdren, Assistant to the President for Science and Technology; and Director, White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (Presentation mp3, Q&A mp3)
The Honorable Bart Gordon, Member, U.S. House of Representatives (TN-6); Chair, House Committee on Science and Technology (Presentation mp3, Q&A mp3)

10:30 AM  -  12:15 PM
BUDGETARY AND POLICY CONTEXT FOR R&D IN FY 2010 (Plenary session), continued

The Congress and the FY 2010 Budget
Stanley Collender, Managing Director, Washington, DC Office, Qorvis Communications; and Contributing Writer, Roll Call (Presentation mp3, Q&A mp3)
AAAS Analysis of Federal Budget Proposals for R&D in FY 2010
Albert H. Teich, Director, Science and Policy Programs, AAAS (Presentation mp3, Q&A mp3)
U.S. Policies on Innovation and Competitiveness for Economic Recovery
Kent Hughes, Director, Science, Technology, America, and the Global Economy, Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars (Presentation mp3, Q&A mp3)

12:15 PM  -  2:00 PM
Presiding: Alan Leshner, Chief Executive Officer, AAAS and Executive Publisher, Science
Address: Converging Questions, Emerging Answers: The Next Innovation Revolution
Susan Hockfield, President, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (Presentation mp3, Q&A mp3)

2:00 PM  -  5:00 PM
MAJOR ISSUES IN SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY POLICY (Concurrent Sessions)

(A) Systematically Investing in R&D: Federal, Industry, and International Perspectives

  • The federal “Science of Science Policy” initiative
  • NSF’s program on Science of Science and Innovation Policy
  • How industries assess potential areas for R&D investment
  • Other nations’ models for selecting R&D investment areas
    (Q&A mp3)

Moderator: Irwin Feller, Professor Emeritus of Economics, Pennsylvania State University
The Federal “Science of Science Policy” Initiative (Presentation mp3)
William J. Valdez, Director, Office of Workforce Development for Teachers and Scientists, Office of Science, U.S. Department of Energy; and co-Chair, Inter-agency Task Group on Science of Science Policy, National Science and Technology Council
The National Science Foundation Program on Science of Science and Innovation Policy (Presentation mp3)
Julia I. Lane, Program Director, SciSIP, National Science Foundation; and co-Chair, Interagency Task Group on Science of Science Policy, National Science and Technology Council (Presentation mp3) (Q&A mp3)
How Industrial Firms Assess Potential Areas for R&D Investment
Susan B. Butts, Senior Director, External Science and Technology Programs, Dow Chemical Company
Other Nations’ Models for Selecting R&D Investment Areas (Presentation mp3) (Q&A mp3)
Nicholas Vonortas, Professor of Economics and International Affairs; and Director, International Science and Technology Program, George Washington University; and
Laurent Bochereau, Chief Counselor on Science, Technology and Education, Delegation of the European Commission, Washington, DC (Vonortas and Bochereau Presentation mp3)

(B) Anticipatory Governance of Emerging Technologies

  • Responsibly assessing both the likely benefits and dangers of emerging technologies: Balancing promise, profits, costs, and threats
  • Deciding what kind of governance is needed-if any
  • Roles of experts and of the public
  • How can technologies be “governed” in the international arena?
    (Q&A part 1 mp3, Q&A part 2 mp3)

Moderator: Daniel Sarewitz, Director, Consortium for Science, Policy and Outcomes, and Professor of Science and Society, Arizona State University
Anticipation Without Prediction: Governing Technologies That Don’t Yet Exist
Daniel Sarewitz, Director, Consortium for Science, Policy and Outcomes, and Professor of Science and Society, Arizona State University
Technology Assessment: That Sounds So…o 20th Century (Presentation mp3)
David Rejeski, Director, Foresight and Governance Project; and Director, Emerging Nanotechnologies Project, Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars (Presentation mp3)
Preparing for the Future of Emerging Technologies: Upstream and Integrated Oversight Assessment
Jennifer Kuzma, Associate Professor, Science, Technology and Environmental Policy, Hubert H. Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs, University of Minnesota
Governing With Uncertain Science: From Reaction to Precaution (Presentation mp3)
David Kriebel, Professor and Department Chair, Department of Work Environment; and Co-Director, Lowell Center for Sustainable Production, School of Health and Environment, University of Massachusetts Lowell (Presentation mp3)
Discussant: John M. Kamensky, Senior Fellow, IBM Center for the Business of Government (Presentation mp3)

(C) Climate, Energy, and Health: Policy Implications

  • What effects on human health are likely from climate change or various energy policy choices?
  • Direct effects, such as increased temperatures, sunlight, extreme weather events, etc.
  • Indirect effects, such as vector-borne diseases, changes in vegetation or in water supply and quality, zoonotic diseases, etc.
  • Other indirect effects such as economic decline, social disruption, displacement of populations
  • Adaptation strategies, attempts to minimize the consequences
    (Q&A mp3)

Moderator: Sharon H. Hrynkow, Associate Director, National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, National Institutes of Health; and Chair, AAAS Committee on Science, Engineering and Public Policy
Meeting Health Goals While Blunting Climate Change: The Co-benefits Story (Presentation mp3)
Kirk R. Smith, Professor of Global Environmental Health, University of California-Berkeley
Action on Climate, Energy, and Health: The Pan American Health Organization Perspective (Presentation mp3)
Carlos Corvalán, Senior Advisor in Sustainable Development and Environmental Health, Pan American Health Organization, Brazil (Presentation mp3)
Air Pollution in a Warming World: Making a Difficult Public Health Problem Even More Challenging
Daniel Greenbaum, President, Health Effects Institute
Predicting and Preventing Health Impacts of Climate Change (Presentation mp3)
Andrew Dobson, Professor of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Princeton University (Presentation mp3)
The Case for Removing Aromatics From Gasoline
Reid Detchon, Executive Director, Energy and Climate, United Nations Foundation (Presentation mp3)

5:45 PM  -  6:45 PM
THE WILLIAM D. CAREY LECTURE
Presiding: Alan Leshner, Chief Executive Officer, AAAS and Executive Publisher, Science
Address: R&D Needs and Opportunities for the Economic Transition
Richard L. Garwin, IBM Fellow Emeritus, Thomas B. Watson Research Center (Slides, Speech, Presentation mp3, Q&A mp3)

May 1

7:45 AM – 8:45 AM
Presiding: Howard J. Silver, Executive Director, Consortium of Social Science Associations
Address: The Honorable Brian Baird, Member, U.S. House of Representatives (WA-3); Chair, Subcommittee on Energy and Environment, House Committee on Science and Technology; Member, Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure (Presentation mp3)

9:00 AM  -  12:00 PM
GLOBAL ECONOMIC GROWTH AND RECOVERY: ROLES FOR SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY (Plenary Session)
Introduction: Peter Agre, Director, Johns Hopkins Malaria Research Institute, The Johns Hopkins University; and President, AAAS
Invited Address: “The Role of Science and Technology in Canada’s Economic Action Plan”
The Honourable Gary Goodyear, Minister of State for Science and Technology, Government of Canada (Presentation mp3)
Panel Discussion on Global Economic Issues and the Role of Science and Technology

  • How changes in the global economy are affecting S&T in key countries
  • Various nations’ strategies for using S&T in national development
  • Is the world order of S&T being re-shaped?
  • How should the U.S. respond?
    (Discussion mp3, Q&A mp3)

Moderator: Vaughan Turekian, Chief International Officer, AAAS
Tateo Arimoto, Director-General, Research Institute of Science and Technology for Society (RISTEX), Japan Science and Technology Agency
Cathleen A. Campbell, President and Chief Executive Officer, U.S. Civilian Research and Development Foundation
Alfred Watkins, Science and Technology Program Coordinator, World Bank
James Wilsdon, Director, Science Policy Centre, The Royal Society, United Kingdom (Discussion mp3, Q&A mp3)

12:00 PM  -  1:45 PM
Presiding: Peter Agre, Director, Johns Hopkins Malaria Research Institute, The Johns Hopkins University; and President, AAAS
Address: Steven Chu, Secretary, U.S. Department of Energy (Presentation mp3)

1:45 PM  -  3:30 PM
THE FUTURE OF SCIENCE JOURNALISM (Plenary Session)

  • An informal roundtable discussion
  • The incredible shrinking newspaper
  • Disappearing science sections
  • Where have all the science reporters gone?
  • The growing role of science blogs
  • Impacts on public engagement with science

Moderator: Eli Kintisch, Reporter, Science
Dan Vergano, Reporter, USA Today
Cristine Russell, Senior Fellow, Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University; and President, Council for the Advancement of Science Writing
Chris Mooney, Contributing Editor, Science Progress; and co-author of Unscientific America: How Scientific Illiteracy Threatens Our Future (to be released July 2009)
Joann Rodgers, Director of Media Relations and Public Affairs, Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions (Discussion mp3)

3:30 PM  – Adjournment

PAST FORUMS
2008 Forum
2007 Forum
2006 Forum
2005 Forum
2004 Forum

Related Scientific Disciplines