The Future Earth community will be out in full force at this year’s Annual Meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). The meeting is one of the world’s largest annual scientific gatherings, boasting 10,000+ scientists from 70+ nations, and will be held in Seattle from February 13-16, 2020. With the conference theme of Envisioning Tomorrow’s Earth, our sessions and panels will focus on how efforts in science and technology can respond to the new challenges faced by society. Stop in and join the discussions as we take the floor for three days during the conference.

Friday, February 14

Amy Luers, Future Earth Executive Director, will be part of a panel on Urban Resilience and Emergency Response, speaking on the role of evidence, expertise and science advice to support government decision makers in emergencies.

Saturday, February 15

Amy Luers will present on the topic of Resilience in the Digital Age, inviting the global scientific community to join forces with decision makers, to establish guidelines for building resilient societies, given the opportunities afforded by big data and artificial intelligence.

Dahe Qin, co-chair of the Earth Commission, will give a presentation titled Climate Change Science and Future Earth summarizing key scientific insights into climate change induced risks and their cascading impacts on vegetation, biodiversity, food and water supply, and societal well-being.

Amy Luers will join a session on AI for Climate Change Adaptation as a discussant. The dialogue will include both public and private sector perspectives on AI-supported adaptation research.

Sunday, February 16

Josh Tewksbury, Future Earth Global Hub Director, US, will be moderating a panel on the Future of Sustainability Science in the US. It draws on a series of national cross-sector dialogues conducted by Future Earth and the United States National Academies, on re-imagining US systems of knowledge generation, to strengthen links between knowledge communities and sustainability-focused innovation communities.

The Inter-American Institute for Global Change Research – a strategic partner of Future Earth – is participating in a session on Diverse Avenues to a Career in Science Policy. This will be a great talk for early career professionals eager to apply their scientific skillset to public service and policy positions.