ABOUT THE CARIBBEAN ACADEMY OF SCIENCES (CAS)

The Caribbean Academy of Sciences (CAS) 

CAS was inaugurated in May 1988. It is the primary Academy for Sciences in the Caribbean. 

The Members and Fellows of CAS are drawn from the wider Caribbean, Cuba, Jamaica, and Belize in the north to Suriname and Guyana in the South. 

It is an independent, non-governmental body registered in the Republic of Trinidad & Tobago. Its primary objective is to provide a forum for interchange among scientists on important issues related to the application of science and technology to development. CAS serves as a source of advice to regional, governmental and non-governmental organizations in scientific and technology matters.

During the 21st General Assembly Meeting of the International Council of Scientific Unions (ICSU) in Bern, Switzerland, in 1986, the idea of creating the Caribbean Academy of Science (CAS) was proposed. Following much discussion, two years later the CAS was formally inaugurated during an International Seminar on "Science, Development and Society," held at the Central Bank Auditorium, in Trinidad on the 16th-17th May 1988. Since the establishment of the CAS in 1988, the academic body has expanded to include individual country chapters in Barbados, Guadeloupe, Guyana, Jamaica, Puerto Rico, Antigua and Barbuda, and Trinidad and Tobago. 

The Trinidad and Tobago Chapter of the CAS (CAS-TT) was established in 2001, and like its parent body CAS, its objectives are to also:

• Provide a forum for the interchange of ideas among scientists on important issues related to the application of Science and Technology.

• Serve as a source of advice to regional governments and regional governmental and non-governmental organizations in scientific and technological matters.

• Facilitate cooperation among scientists and promote the execution and coordination of scientific research in all its aspects.

• Liaise with relevant research organisations and assist in facilitating their mutual interaction.

• Recognise and reward outstanding performance and achievement within the region in the fields of Science and Technology.

• Undertake, and collaborate in, the collation and publication of results of scientific research.

• Raise the level of scientific consciousness in the region and increase the public understanding and appreciation of the importance and potential of Science and Technology in human progress.

• Establish and maintain high standards of ethics in all scientific endeavours.

Currently, the Trinidad and Tobago Chapter of the CAS has the most fellows (17 CAS-TT Fellows) being appointed to any individual Chapter. These fellows having undertaken groundbreaking scholarly research in their area of expertise came from a diverse range of fields, from Economics, Medicine, Chemical Engineering, Physiology, Civil Engineering, Chemistry, Industrial Engineering, Physics, Environmental Science, Tropical Agriculture, Food Production, Epidemiology and food-borne illnesses, Petroleum Geology, Construction Engineering, Botany, and Mathematical Sciences. Like the CAS Trinidad and Tobago Chapter Fellows, the membership of the Chapter which currently have 73 active members, also come from a wide range of specialties. 

During the last three years, i.e., 2020-2023, the CAS-TT Chapter has hosted several e-seminars on topics such as Women in STEM, Covid-19, Plant Biodiversity, Eco-Design and Sustainability in Innovation, Algal Extracts as Plant Biostimulants/Bioelicitors, as well as Indigenous Astronomies and Astronomical Heritage. Furthermore, the chapter has also held Public Seminars on Project Management Practices in the Caribbean in the areas such as Renewable Energy Projects and Potentials. Apart from this, the CAS-TT Chapter has also hosted its Annual General Meetings (AGM), with many interesting presentations done on Astronomy, a historical overview of Agriculture Teaching and Research of The Imperial College of Tropical Agriculture, University College of the West Indies (ICTA-UCWI) and the University of the West Indies (UWI), while lending their support to the CAS Guyana Chapter Biennial Conference held in 2021, and the Fifth Industrial Engineering and Management Conference held in 2022 at the UWI, St. Augustine Campus.