AIBS Endorses Document Supporting Research and Education in Evolution

December, 1998

The AIBS Board of Directors has endorsed the document, Evolution, Science, and Society: A White Paper on Behalf of the Field of Evolutionary Biology, prepared by a collaboration among the American Society of Naturalists, the Society for the Study of Evolution, the Society for Molecular Biology and Evolution, the Ecological Society of America, the Society of Systematic Biologists, the Genetics Society of America, the Animal Behavior Society, and the Paleontological Society. Headed by Douglas J. Futuyma (State University of New York, Stony Brook) and Thomas R. Meagher (Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey) and with funding from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation and NSF, the document is addressed to decision-makers responsible for guiding basic and applied scientific research and for developing educational curricula. It is also addressed to anyone interested in understanding the current and potential accomplishments of evolutionary biology. The main goals of the document are:

1. Describe our present understanding of evolution and the major intellectual accomplishments of evolutionary biology;
2. Identify major questions and challenges in which progress in evolutionary science can be expected in the near future;
3. Describe past and expected contributions of evolutionary biology both to other sciences and to social needs in areas such as health science, agriculture, and environmental science;
4. Suggest ways in which progress can be facilitated in basic research, in applications of evolutionary biology to social needs, and in biological science education.

Plans for broad dissemination of Evolution, Science, and Society are underway. The Executive Summary and full text of the report may be viewed at the ESS website.

Contact

Dr. Thomas R. Meagher
Director, Graduate Program in Ecology and Evolution
Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Natural Resources
Foran Hall 106, Cook College
59 Dudley Road
Rutgers University
New Brunswick, NJ 08901-8520
P: 732-932-8165x102
F: 732-932-2972
E: meagher@rci.rutgers.edu.

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