AAAS Award for Scientific Freedom and Responsibility

The AAAS Award for Scientific Freedom and Responsibility is given by the American Association for the Advancement of Science and honours scientists and engineers whose exemplary actions, often taken at significant personal cost, have served to foster scientific freedom and responsibility and increased scientific awareness throughout the world. The establishment of this new Award for Scientific Freedom and Responsibility was announced by AAAS executive officer William D. Carey on 23 October 1980. The award, presented for the first time at the 1982 AAAS Annual Meeting in Washington, DC, consisted of a plaque and a cash prize of $1,000. According to the AAAS, these types of exemplary actions include "acting to protect the public's health, safety or welfare; focusing public attention on important potential impacts of science and technology on society by their responsible participation in public policy debates." The 2018 recipient of the AAAS Award for Scientific Freedom and Responsibility was civil and environmental engineer Marc Edwards. The AAAS stated that he was given the award for his ability "to apply his engineering expertise to revealing dangerous levels of lead contamination in water supplies" in the area of Flint Michigan. According to Marc, Flint Michigan "represents misconduct by local and federal government engineers and scientists... and allowed an unprecedented exposure to the best known nerve toxin in the most powerful city in America, and perhaps even the world".