Washington D.C.—Christopher B. Field, director of Carnegie’s Department of Global Ecology, and Douglas E. Koshland, staff scientist at the Department of Embryology, have been elected AAAS Fellows by the American Association for the Advancement of Science. The announcement appears in the News & Notes section of the December19, 2008 issue of Science.
The two researchers are among 486 members who have been awarded this honor for 2008, “because of their scientifically or socially distinguished efforts to advance science or its applications.”
Field was elected “for his central role in developing global ecology, with major contributions to the global carbon cycle, climate-change impacts, and feedbacks of ecosystems to climate change.” Koshland was recognized “for distinguished contributions to the field of cell biology, particularly for fundamental discoveries concerning chromosome condensation and cohesion.”
“Carnegie is a small institution and we are particularly proud that two of our researchers have received the honor this year,” remarked Carnegie president Richard Meserve.
The first AAAS Fellows were elected in 1874. Currently, Fellows are nominated by the steering groups of the association’s 24 sections, or by any three Fellows who are current AAAS members (so long as two of the three sponsors are not affiliated with the nominee's institution), or by the AAAS chief executive officer.
Each steering group then reviews the nominations within its respective section and a final list is forwarded to the AAAS Council, which votes on the aggregate list.
The 2008 Fellows will be presented with an official certificate and a pin on Saturday, February 14, at the AAAS Fellows Forum during the 2009 AAAS Annual Meeting in Chicago.