2017 Fall Meeting

11-15 December

Science is increasingly collaborative. Scientists are uniting in national and international communities to focus funding, inter-disciplinary thinking, and public engagement on a variety of research questions. Additionally, scientists are involved in wide-ranging professional or political communities for improving public understanding of science and science-driven decision making. Few such communities are self-sustaining, and the need for functioning communities in science has created a small but growing profession: the scientific community manager. This session will highlight the roles and responsibilities of community managers in a variety of scientific settings, how these individuals facilitate new connections, and how this translates into impactful discovery, policy, and public engagement outcomes. We will highlight ways of measuring success in community engagement, and how meaningful implementation of metrics and benchmarking impact effective community management. We will build upon the outcomes of the inaugural AAAS Community Engagement Fellowship program, in which all conveners are Fellows.