(1) The following societies and Pacific Division sections will sponsor symposia and/or contributed paper and poster sessions at the meeting:

o Agriculture and Horticulture Section
o Anthropology and Archaeology Section
o Atmospheric and Oceanographic Sciences Section
o Cell and Molecular Biology Section
o Chemistry and Biochemistry Section
o Computer and Information Sciences Section
o Earth Sciences Section (Geology, Physical Geography, Geophysics, Paleobiology)
o Ecology, Organismal Biology, and Environmental Sciences Section
o Education Section o General and Interdisciplinary Section
o Health Sciences Section
o History and Philosophy of Science Section
o Industrial Science and Technology Section
o Physics and Materials Science Section
o Psychology Section o Social, Economic & Political Sciences Section

(2) Index To Symposium Descriptions
from: http://www.sou.edu/aaaspd/2010ASHLAND/Symposia10.html

(1) Forensic Science: A Balance of Art and Science.
(2) Wildlife Forensics.
(3) Improvement of Introductory Biology Course Teaching.....symposium cancelled
(4) Progress in Vaccines and Therapeutics.
(5) Anthropological Approaches to Environmental Change.
(6) 6th Annual Symposium on Materials Science and Nanotechnology.
(7) New Humanities and Science Convergences: Science–Humanities Cross Fertilizations.
(8) Ecotoxicology and Environmental Protection
(9) Science and Art Consilience
(10) Citizen Science: Integrating Biophysical and Social Realities in the Management of the Ashland Watershed

(3) Symposium Descriptions

 (1) Forensic Science: A Balance of Art and Science. Organized by Peter Schroeder (Department of Biology, Southern Oregon University; e-mail: pschroeder@sou.edu) and Mary Carrabba (Department of Chemistry, Southern Oregon University; e-mail: carrabbam@sou.edu).

Forensic science is the application of science to address legal inquiries related to civil or criminal activity in an effort to establish the authenticity of an artifact or event. In its application, forensic science typically utilizes many focused scientific disciplines, such as chemistry and biology. However, nonscientific disciplines, including art, are important elements of forensic analysis. This first session of a two-part symposium (see #2 below) will seek to explore the many ways art is encountered in the field of forensic science, from detailed images viewed through a light microscope to the telltale details in a piece of artwork suspected of being a forgery. The symposium will also include discussions of how art is used in facial reconstruction, age progression, and the forensic analysis of artifacts.

 (2) Wildlife Forensics. Organized by Peter Schroeder (Department of Biology, Southern Oregon University; e-mail: pschroeder@sou.edu) and Mary Carrabba (Department of Chemistry, Southern Oregon University; e-mail: carrabbam@sou.edu).

Ashland, Oregon, the host city of the 91st Annual AAASPD Meeting, is home to the only federal wildlife forensic laboratory in the world. This second session of a two-part symposium (see #1 above) will center on either wildlife forensic science as conducted in the U.S. National Fish and Wildlife Forensic Laboratory or selected presentations on different disciplines encountered in a more typical crime laboratory.

 (4) Progress in Vaccines and Therapeutics. Organized by Kenneth Cornell (Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Boise State University; e-mail: kencornell@boisestate.edu).
 
In this symposium, investigators and their students are invited to present research on the synthesis and testing of therapeutic drugs, development of drug delivery platforms, and identification of drug targets for a variety of human and animal diseases. As well, presentations are solicited on research into the identification and production of vaccine antigens, and development and testing of vaccines and vaccine delivery paradigms to stimulate protective immunity to treat infectious disease and cancer.

(5) Anthropological Approaches to Environmental Change. Organized by Stephen Frost (Department of Anthropology, University of Oregon; e-mail: sfrost@uoregon.edu).
 
This symosium examines the responses of organisms to changes in their environment. Speakers will include specialists from the fields of human biology, evolutionary psychology, primatology, and paleontology, all of which focus on different, but related aspects of how organisms interact with their environments. We are interested in the environment broadly conceived to include the physical, biological, and social context within which organisms must function. Different specialists will focus on different types and levels of response from behavioral and phenotypic plasticity within the lifespan of individual organisms, to cultural change, and to adaptation over evolutionary time scales. The participants include both established scholars within their respective disciplines as well as graduate and undergraduate students.

 (6) 6th Annual Symposium on Materials Science and Nanotechnology. Organized by Panos Photinos and Ellen Siem(Southern Oregon University, Ashland, OR; e-mail: phaaas@sou.edu) and Shalini Prasad (Portland State University, Portland, OR).
 
This symposium will include oral and poster presentations on materials research, and oral presentations on undergraduate curriculum development in materials science and nanotechnology.

(7) New Humanities and Science Convergences: Science–Humanities Cross Fertilizations. Organized by Robert Louis Chianese (California State University, Northridge; e-mail: robert.chianese@csun.edu) and Carl A. Maida (University of California, Los Angeles; e-mail: cmaida@ucla.edu).
 
This symposium is accepting papers that demonstrate how the sciences and humanities mutually benefit each other in specific ways, shaping each others’ fields, programs, outlooks, and products. We are also soliciting papers that deal with science-humanities cross-over figures who shape culture, consciousness, etc., such as Stephen Jay Gould, Leonardo DaVinci, and Galileo. It you are interested in submitting a paper to this symposium or would like more information, contact one or both of the organizers at their e-mail addresses listed above.
 
(8) Ecotoxicology and Environmental Protection. Organized by Chris Oswald (Department of Biology, Southern Oregon University; e-mail: oswald@sou.edu).

This symposium focuses on the ways in which ecotoxicology as a discipline can help promote both specific knowledge of particular environmental hazards, and general understanding of ecology and physiology. The field of ecotoxicology is an excellent tool for educating the public on the importance of environmental protection. The concept of direct effects of toxins on organisms provides a readily understood and appreciated starting point. The complex means by which toxins exert their deleterious effects are less familiar — ecosystem processes, trophic structure, community relationships, life history trait variation, biotransformation, etc. Lack of understanding of these important biological principles contributes in large part to the unwillingness of the public and policy makers to alter environmentally harmful practices. This symposium explores how communication of the findings of ecotoxicological research can be used to promote improved understanding of biological processes as well as specific risks associated with particular pollutants. Participants will present their research findings in this context, and discuss ways to get their message to the public. We will seek to identify biological concepts that are key to understanding the importance of environmental protection, and develop a framework for communicating these concepts within ecotoxicology.

(9) Science and Art Consilience. Organized by John D. Sollinger (Department of Biology, Southern Oregon University; e-mail: sollingj@sou.edu).

Fifty years after C.P. Snow’s famous “two cultures” lecture, there is a movement to bridge the divide between art and science with an intellectual borderland where their shared creativity and quest for discovery can be synergized. The patterns, harmonies, symbols, and perceptions that are shared across borders and disciplines, where knowledge and wisdom unite, define a new way of thinking, teaching and learning. This paradigm shift serves to spark extraordinary creativity and inspiration for students, educators and researchers. Presenters from various disciplines will relate how they fuse science and art, leading to new insights and models in their research and teaching. John Sollinger will provide an overview of the symposium, introduce the concepts connecting art and science, and relate how he and Pete Schroeder (Southern Oregon University) connect visual art and biology. This will be followed by a panel of speakers, who will introduce the University of California, Davis Art-Science Fusion Program. Wendy Silk, Terry Nathan, Donna Billick and Diane Ullman (all from the University of California, Davis) will each present topics such as networking, the 2009 UC Davis Centennial Colloquium, “The Consilience of Art and Science,” and project based learning using music, ceramics, graphics, textiles and photography as bridge between art and science. Ann Savageau (University of California, Davis) will discuss the connections between art, design and building sustainability. Catherine Chalmers (Independent Artist, New York), an artist who uses visual arts to build environmental literacy will present her most recent video, We Rule, documenting the dominance and importance of ants on the planet. A philosophical perspective on consilience will be presented by Prakash Chenjeri (Southern Oregon University).

 (10) Citizen Science: Integrating Biophysical and Social Realities in the Management of the Ashland Watershed. Organized by Mark A. Shibley (Professor of Sociology and Environmental Studies, Department of Environmental Studies, Southern Oregon University; e-mail: shibleym@sou.edu) and Marty Main (Owner, Small Woodland Services, Inc., Contract Consulting Forester for the City of Ashland, Adjunct Professor, Department of Environmental Scicnces, Southern Oregon University).

The Ashland Watershed is a 15000 acre watershed that provides water for the City of Ashland. Located in steep, highly erosive topography, the watershed contains a large, relatively unmanaged forest ecosystem with a number of critical values, including late successional forests and high populations of older forest-dependent species such as fishers and northern spotted owls. It is also a highly diverse ecosystem, ranging from 2000–7000 feet elevation and 20–60 inches of annual precipitation in just 9 linear miles. Located in the dry eastern end of the Klamath-Siskiyou province, the area is at elevated risk of uncharacteristic high severity disturbance from insects, disease, and especially fire. A unique arrangement of citizen involvement and community collaboration resulted in the development of a “Community Alternative” that ultimately was largely accepted by the US Forest Service as the preferred alternative for their Ashland Forest Resiliency Project. The AFR project plans to implement ecologically sensitive forest and resource management activities to improve the long-term resiliency of the forest ecosystem, while minimizing the potential for high severity disturbance. AFR will be implemented, beginning in 2010, through a unique partnership between the US Forest Service, the City of Ashland, The Nature Conservancy, and Lomakatsi Restoration Project, a local forest restoration company. This symposium will explore the diverse biophysical and social realities that are producing a unique approach to land and resource management in the Ashland Watershed.