Public Affairs Committee Report

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Dominique Dagit and Ted Grosholz, Public Affairs Committee Co-Chairs

The Public Affairs Committee conducted several successful events at the 1998 SICB Annual Meeting in Boston. Boyce Rensberger, science writer for the Washington Post, presented a workshop on media relations as part of our ongoing program to provide support to the society for interacting with the news media (see page 12 for an article on this presentation).

The Public Affairs Panel Discussion attracted many attendees to hear different views on endocrine disruptors. We thank our four experts who were able to participate: Theo Colborn, Ted Schettler, Pete Myers, and Tony Maciorowski.

The committee plans to continue its efforts by providing a media workshop and panel discussion again at next year’s Annual Meeting.

A subcommittee headed by Hans Laufer is being formed to establish a science writing prize as a way to foster high-quality coverage of science for public consumption. The prize is expected to be presented at the 1999 SICB Annual Meeting.

We would like to thank our outgoing committee members Brian Clark, Peter deFur and Rachel Merz. Their contributions to the Public Affairs Committee have been invaluable. Welcome to new committee members Ron Edwards, John Edwards, Beth LeClair and Miriam Ashley-Ross.

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