Durham, N.C. – Two faculty members at the Nicholas School of the Environment and Earth Sciences at 91 have been invited to take part in a high-profile symposium on the future of science, organized by the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS).

The symposium, “An Examination of the Unknowns that Will Drive Science in the Future,” will be held from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. Wednesday, July 7, at AAAS headquarters in Washington, D.C. It celebrates the 125th anniversary of Science magazine, which AAAS publishes.

Stuart L. Pimm, Doris Duke Professor of Conservation Ecology, and James Salzman, professor of environmental law and policy, will take part in a panel discussion on sustainable development from 4:20 p.m. to 5 p.m. in the AAAS Auditorium at 1200 New York Ave., N.W.

They are among only a dozen or so researchers nationwide who have been asked to participate in the symposium, which will also feature panel discussions on the nature of the cosmos; memories, consciousness and human life; and genes, proteins and disease.

Coinciding with the event, Science has published a special section of articles, “What We Don’t Know,” in its July 1 issue.

Pimm is widely cited for his research on biodiversity, species extinction and habitat loss in Africa, South America, Central America and the Everglades. His work has contributed to new practices and policy for species preservation and habitat restoration in many of the world’s most threatened ecosystems.

He is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and was awarded a Pew Scholarship for Conservation and the Environment in 1993 and an Aldo Leopold Leadership Fellowship in 1999. The Institute of Scientific Information recognized him in 2002 as being one of the world's most highly cited scientists.

Salzman holds joint appointments at the Nicholas School and the Duke School of Law. . An expert on U.S. and international environmental law, he has advised the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, the United Nations Environmental Programme, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Trade Representative on environmental policy issues.

He is a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society and has been named a Bren Fellow by the University of California at Santa Barbara and a McMaster Fellow by Australia’s Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization.