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