Each year the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) organizes one of the most widely recognized global science conferences, with hundreds of networking opportunities and broad international media coverage. IEDRO’s participation would be a significant benefit to attending scientists, researchers, educators and families. We can think of no other endeavor that dramatically supports nearly every environmental and social science covered by AAAS as locating, rescuing and digitizing historic environmental data. What other endeavor contributes directly to helping scientists, researchers and educators find solutions to: starvation, the spread of disease, deaths due to flooding and mud slides, the speed and direction of climate change and global warming, disaster risk reduction, improved weather forecasting, changes in culture, and explanations of historic events?
Conference Activities
The conference which will occur February 16-20, 2012 in Vancouver, BC will provide four days of symposia, lectures, seminars, workshops, and poster sessions that cover every area of science, technology, and education. Typically attendees hail from nearly 60 countries, and everyone is welcome. Those who join the conference will have the opportunity to choose from among a broad range of activities, including plenary and topical lectures by some of the world’s leading scientists and engineers, career development workshops, and an international exhibition.
A unique community science showcase is provided that offers an array of hands-on demonstrations and other family and child friendly activities. Spanning two days in the Exhibit Hall, the free Family Science Days help to shine a spotlight on researchers and science educators who are working in both formal and informal settings to stimulate broad public interest in science and technology.
For families, children need to know that George Washington, Thomas Jefferson and Ben Franklin were some of our earliest weather observers and kept meticulous records still around and useful today thanks to Environmental Data Rescue programs. Students can discover new reasons battles and wars were lost or won due to the weather occurring at the time. Nomadic tribes left areas in large migrations due to changes in climate and the resultant loss of game and crops. Cities once free of airborne diseases are now experiencing new cases of malaria primarily due to warming temperatures where the warming trends can be seen by comparing the old weather records with today’s climate information.
Perhaps the most important message IEDRO can provide at the AAAS Meeting is the absolute urgency of rescuing these old data before they are gone forever. We estimate humanity is losing over 500,000 historic environmental observations throughout the world every week. Once they are gone…they are gone forever. There is no back up. There is nothing in reserve.
We must get this message out to everyone as soon as possible. The AAAS Meeting is the best way we can do that.
How You Can Help
IEDRO volunteers would like help with commuting and hotel costs in Vancouver as well as for a booth. We will supply everything else.
Booth Information
Corner Booth 10 x 10: $2,500
Includes 1 passport registration (Valued at $399) – access to full meeting
Allows up to 8 registrants per 10 x 10 booth
Includes pipe, drape and ID sign, order all other materials, such as tables, chairs, power and carpet through Freeman.
To learn more about the conference go to
www.aaas.org/meetings/2012/registration
Make an end-0f-the-year tax deductible contribution go to:
