Director, Institute for Genome Sciences University of Maryland Baltimore, Maryland
The role of scientific societies has typically been to promote the development of specific scientific disciplines and support their membership through programming, meetings and publications. This remains an important role for scientific societies in the 21st century. However, in this time of politicization of science, society needs scholars who can take complex issues and make them understandable to all demographics, informing public and political discourse on he challenges facing our world today. At the same time, we are seeing that AAAS members are looking for new opportunities to become more engaged with the public. This confluence of factors may present a new opportunity for scientific societies to move beyond their traditional activities and serve as a catalyst for more meaningful interactions between the scientific community and the general public.
