Five Cuban Scientists will be visiting the Boston Area for the AAAS Meeting (American Association for the Advancement of Science).  They will make presentations at the AAAS Meeting and some other locations (See below).

The first presentation will be part of the AAAS Annual Meeting in Boston, Feb. 16-19.

On Sunday the 17th from 1:30-4PM, there will be a forum on "Science in Cuba: Exploring
Opportunities for Collaboration" (Boston Marriott Copley Place / Suffolk Room, 110 Huntington
Avenue, Boston MA).  This session is intended to be an introduction of the scientific enterprise
in Cuba for an audience of U.S. scientists, donors, and policy makers, with an emphasis on new
opportunities for collaboration.  Each Cuban participant will present a brief summary of his/her
research and academic work and current interests, including an overview of relevant facilities and
an emphasis on collaborative opportunities.  The event will be well publicized, invitations will
be sent to selected individuals from the Boston area representing appropriate science, academic,
donor, and policy institutions.

Speakers for this panel will be:

-Sergio Pastrana (Foreign Secretary, Cuban Academy of Sciences)
-Victor Bruno Henríquez Pérez (Vice President , Cuban Physics Society, section on renewable and
alternative energies).
-Maria Caridad Cruz (Urban Agriculture Program, Antonio Nunez Jimenez Foundation for Nature and
Man)
-Roberto Castellanos (biotechnology expert, Ministry of Science, Technology and Environment)
-Guadalupe Guzman (Instituto of Tropical Medicine "Pedro Kouri")
-Fernando Funes (Pasture and Forage Research Institute and El Grupo de Agricultura Organica)  He
will present on 2/19 only.

This panel will also be repeated on Feb. 19th (2-5pm) at Harvard Harvard University's David Rockefeller Center for Latin American Studies, on February 19th 2-5pm (Large Conference Room, DRCLAS, Harvard University, 61 Kirkland Street, Cambridge, MA 02138)

On Sunday the 17th from 7-9 PM, There will be a presentation of "Alternative Energy and Agriculture in Cuba" presented by TecsChange.  It will feature Victor Bruno Henríquez Pérez and Maria Caridad Cruz.  At 83 Highland Street, Roxbury (just up the hill from Roxbury Community College, see www.tecschange.org or call 617 442-4456 for full directions)

Another event at the AAAS will be on Monday the 18th at 9am-noon (room to be announced).   It is a symposium
on "Sustainable Agriculture in the Developing World: Innovative Examples".

 The same event will be repeated on 2/19 (9-noon), at Tufts University, Cabot Building, Rm #205, 170 Packard Avenue, Medford, MA, in collaboration with Oxfam America.  Besides the Cuban speakers M. Cruz and F. Funes
(see above), additional speakers will be:
-Phrek Gypmantasiri (Multiple Cropping Center (MCC), Chiang Mai University, Thailand)
-Abou Thiam (Regional Coordinator for Africa, Pesticide Action Network (PAN), Senegal)
-Roberto A. Peiretti (Argentinean Producers Direct Seed Association and Latin American
Confederation of Farmers for Sustainable Agricultural Systems (CAAPAS), Argentina)
-Jules Pretty (Director of the Centre for Environment and Society, University of Essex, UK)
-Saing Koma (Executive Director, Centre d'Etude et de Developpement Agricole Cambodgien (CEDAC),
Cambodia)