Ratchford This Americas Program award will help to support the participation of three prominent U.S. experts in a September 1998 conference in Trinidad and Tobago entitled "Furthering Cooperation in Science and Technology for Caribbean Development." The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) is assisting the Caribbean Academy of Sciences in organizing the conference, which will also serve as the regional preparatory meeting for the June 1999 UNESCO World Science Conference. The purpose of this conference is to help countries of the region share their experience in building and applying an indigenous capacity for research through education and training; identify areas of common interest where joint research and application of new technologies is possible; examine the linkage between producers of research and users of the research product; and assess how modern information and communication technologies can help achieve results in these areas.