CAS Biennial Conference



16th General Meeting and Biennial Conference, October 11th to 13th, 2008 was held at The Grenada Grand Beach Resort located at Grande Anse in Grenada.

Science and Technology :

Vehicles for sustainable economic development in the Caribbean

Conference and Workshop Committees

Conference and Workshop Steering Committee Conference Planning Committee

Professor Winston Mellowes – Chairman Dr Trevor Alleyne- Chairman

Dr Trevor Alleyne Professor Winston Mellowes

Professor Kit Fai Pun Mr Hollis Charles

Dr Neela Badrie Dr Neela Badrie

Professor Tara Dasgupta Mr Mark Wuddivira

Mr Hollis Charles Dr Jerome Foster

Prof Robert Lancashire Mr Dunstan Arrindell

Conference Finance and Publicity Committee Conference Scientific Committee

Dr Neela Badrie – Chair Professor Kit Fai Pun - Chairman

Professor Winston Mellowes Dr Farrid Youssef

Dr Trevor Alleyne Dr Gail Baccus-Taylor

Mr Hollis Charles Prof Robert Lancashire

Mr Mark Wuddivira

Teachers’ Workshop Planning Committee

Professor Winston Mellowes - Chairman

Mr Hollis Charles

Dr Trevor Alleyne

See the 3rd update for further details......

Download the Registration Form

Background

The Caribbean Academy of Sciences (CAS), founded in 1988, is an organization which brings together

natural scientists and social scientists from the English, French, Spanish and Dutch speaking Caribbean.

In a number of territories, namely, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, Guyana and Guadeloupe there are

local Chapters. At its inception CAS held a major Conference and General Meeting each year however

with local chapters hosting their own activities during the course of the year and also to cut cost, CAS

Conferences and General Meetings are now held every two years.

In May 2009 CAS will be 21 years old. To celebrate its coming of age, CAS has embarked on a year of

heightened activity. The center piece of the celebrations will be the CAS 16th General Meeting and

Conference held in collaboration with the Government of Grenada and three major institutes of

learning of the English Speaking Caribbean. The Meeting and Conference will be from October 11th to

13th, 2008 and will be held at The Grenada Grand Beach Resort located at Grande Anse in Grenada. The

other co-host of the conference are: The University of the West Indies; The St George’s University and

The University of The Southern Caribbean.

The Conference theme, Science and Technology : Vehicles for Sustainable Economic Development in

the Caribbean, provides us with a unique opportunity for the region’s academics to discuss and

evaluate the activities in the various disciplines, in the centres of learning and research in the region

and come to terms with the impact of development on our societies. Competence in Science &

Technology and good management practices as the drivers of sustainable development of societies

will be discussed. The scientific programme will consist of plenary lectures by regional and

international experts, short papers of 20 minutes duration and posters. The short papers and posters

will be in any of the sciences – agriculture, medical, engineering, natural and social sciences.

In the lead up to the conference, CAS is also organizing a Workshop for Primary Schools Teachers. The

Workshop, to be held at the same venue from 9th to 10th October, 2008, will focus on teaching

methodologies with particular emphasis on Inquiry Based Science Education. The CAS-TWAS Young

Scientist Award for 2008 will also be presented during the course of the meeting. Finally, the medical

experts gathered at the conference will present, for the benefit of the Grenadian people, a free panel

discussion entitled, ‘What every man and every woman needs to know about cancer.’

Invitation for Papers

Abstracts in any field of science – agriculture, medicine, engineering, natural and social sciences – are

invited for oral and poster presentation. The oral presentations will be of 20 minutes duration

(including question time). Papers in the themes listed below will be particularly welcomed.

1. Information & Communication Technology 2. Environmental Physics & Chemistry

3. Impact of Science & Technology on Poverty & Productivity 4. Applied Mathematics and its applications

5. The Impact of Science Education on Development 6. Biodiversity - Usage of Flora & Fauna

7. Materials and Natural Resources 8. Food Production & Food Security

9. Food Safety 10. Social Science issues in the Caribbean

11. Renewable Energy / Rational use of Energy 12. Engineering for the Caribbean

13. Health & The Tropical Environment 14. Engineering and Natural Sciences

15. Impact of Natural Hazards, disasters on Development 16. Innovation in Research & Development

Preparation of Abstracts

For each oral and poster presentation to be made during the conference, abstracts must have been submitted by June and the deadline has now passed. Abstracts must be typed to fit letter size paper (8.5” x 11”) using Times New Roman in Microsoft Word

2000 as a minimum. The title should be typed in 12-point font and everything else in 11-point font.

Typing should be fully justified, with one-inch margins at the top and at each side; a minimum of

one inch must be left at the bottom of the page. The entire abstract, including title, name of the

author(s), affiliation(s), text and acknowledgements should be typed within these limits.

The abstract title should be centered and typed in bold, ‘title style’ in Times New Roman (12-point

font). On the next line the author(s) name(s), (lower case, 11-point font, IN BOLD) should be written as

initial(s) followed by family name(s). Author(s) name(s) must be centered and separated by semicolons,

underlining the name of the person who will present the paper. On the next line (i.e. no extra line

spaces) the institution(s) of the author(s) must be typed in italics (NOT IN BOLD) and centered. When

authors originate from different institutions the authors and the institutions should be numbered

using superscripts to the top right of the names and the top left of the institutions.

The body of the abstract (without any sub-headings) should start two line spaces below the

institutional identification. The text should be typed using one and a half line spacing with an extra

space separating paragraphs. Paragraphs should NOT be indented.

It is suggested that abstracts include: A definition of the problem, a working hypothesis, main

methods or techniques employed, results, discussions and conclusions.

Preparation of Posters

Posters should be a maximum of 44” x 44”. A maximum of two posters per person will be allowed.

The following information should appear on each poster:

a. Title b. Poster number (As assigned)

c. Author(s) d. Institution

e. Abstract f. Introduction

g. Methods h. Results (Including Tables and Figures)

i. Discussion j. Conclusions

k. References

Audio/Visual Aids Available

Audio/Visual aids available will include:

● Over Head Projectors

● Slide Projectors: 35 mm

● Multimedia Projectors

● Laptops

President: Professor Tara Dasgupta tara.dasgupta@uwimona.edu.jm

Secretary Professor Robert Lancashire robert.lancashire@uwimona.edu.jm

Foreign Secretary Professor Winston Mellowes wamello@yahoo.com

Treasurer: Mr. Hollis Charles wfieldtt@gmail.com

P.R.O. Dr. Neela Badrie Neela.Badrie@sta.uwi.edu