AAAS has named 11 researchers, educators, and science advocates as winners of its 2008 science awards. The prestigious awards honor recipients who have advanced the cause of science and its use for the public good.

This year's winners:

The Award for Public Understanding of Science and Technology: Kenneth R. Miller, a biology professor at Brown University, was cited for "sustained efforts and excellence in communicating evolutionary science."  Miller has been a lead scientific witness in several important court cases, including the successful effort to block the school board in Dover, Pennsylvania, from requiring discussion of intelligent design in high school biology class.

The International Scientific Cooperation Award: Ambassador Thomas Pickering was honored "for his extraordinary contributions to science and technology in U.S. foreign policy." During a career spanning five decades, Pickering championed efforts to bring science into the diplomatic process.

The Mentor Award for Lifetime Achievement: Percy A. Pierre, vice president and professor emeritus of electrical & computer engineering at Michigan State University, was honored for the extraordinary dedication that led him to mentor 27 African American and Hispanic doctoral graduates in engineering. He also played a key role in establishing the National Action Council for Minority Engineers (NACME).

The Mentor Award: Sylvia T. Bozeman, a professor of mathematics at Spelman College in Atlanta, has been hailed for her commitment toward increasing the number of African-American women with doctoral degrees in mathematics. Since she became chair of the mathematics department at Spelman, 20 graduates have received doctoral degrees in mathematics or math education--and half credited Bozeman's encouragement and mentoring.

The Newcomb Cleveland Prize: The prize this year honors a United Kingdom research team for discovering a new molecular cue that promotes limb regeneration in newts-- a finding that could help guide the field of regenerative medicine. The paper, published in the journal <i>Science</i>, was authored by: Anoop Kumar, James W. Godwin, Phillip B. Gates, and Jeremy P. Brockes of University College London, along with A. Acely Garza-Garcia of the U.K.'s National Institute for Medical Research.

The Philip Hauge Abelson Prize: Richard A. Meserve, president of the Carnegie Institution for Science, has been honored for "exceptional contributions" to U.S. and global science and for being "an outstanding role model for the next generation of scientist-citizens." Meserve was legal counsel in the office of President Jimmy's Carter's science adviser and serve d as chair of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission from 1999 to 2003.

The Scientific Freedom and Responsibility Award: Drummond Rennie, M.D., a journal editor and educator, won the award "for his career-long efforts to promote integrity in scientific research and publishing." Rennie, deputy editor (West) for <i>The Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA)</i> and adjunct professor of medicine at the University of California, San Francisco, "is a visionary in safeguarding the integrity of how scientific information is gathered and communicated."

The honorees will receive their awards during a 14 February ceremony at the 2009 AAAS Annual Meeting in Chicago.