AAAS 2013: Day 1

This year’s AAAS meeting is taking place at the Hynes Convention Center in Boston. Photo by mollystevens via Flickr.
This year's AAAS meeting is taking place at the Hynes Convention Center in Boston. Photo by mollystevens via Flickr.

This year’s AAAS meeting is taking place at the Hynes Convention Center in Boston. Photo by mollystevens via Flickr.

Today kicked off my the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. Today’s agenda included several sessions on communicating science to the public.

The first addressed the growing concern that science journalism is going down the tubes in the age of the internet, but I think we all walked away believing the field is still quite alive and kicking strong as it swims upstream in these new waters. The next session aimed to educate scientists on ways to communicate to policy makers in particular. I missed the visual communication session because I had to go back to the office and actually do some writing, but the final session on social media engagement was a delicious cherry on top of a good day.

In the next couple of days I will attend a few more of the communications-focused sessions as well as several research presentations from Northeastern faculty members. If you happen to be attending the meeting, check out “The Science of Politics,” “Predictability: From Physical to Data Sciences,” “Environmental Challenges and Adaptation in Cities” and “Control Engineering of Brain in Health and Disease.

Of course, if you miss these sessions, never fear: I’ll tell you about them here and on the News@Northeastern.