More than 500 scientists converged on the UA last week to discuss the gamut of scientific research being done in the Western United States.

The Southwestern and Rocky Mountain Division of the American Association for the Advancement of Science held court at the Student Union Memorial Center for three days last week to hold their annual convention.

David Nash, the executive director for AAAS-SWARM, said by Wednesday more than 350 people were signed up for the three-day conference. He said the final amount of registered attendees reached more than 450.

Among the 450 attending were dozens of UA scientists, including several who presented their research to their colleagues at the conference.

Malcolm Hughes, professor of dendrochronology, was one of seven members of the tree ring laboratory who gave a half-day session about the progress of studying the age of trees.

Hughes gave a 30-minute lecture titled "Ancient Trees of the American West as Climate Archives."

"I discussed the ongoing work at the tree ring lab and the history here (of the lab) at the UA," Hughes said.

Hughes said he joined the AAAS 15 or 20 years ago because of the mandate of the group to support scientific research in the United States.

Thomas Lindell, a professor of molecular and cellular biology, was a panelist discussing "Sustainability and Progress in this Century." As a bio-ethist, Lindell shared his views on the subject with his colleagues.

"We had fun," Lindell said about his two-hour panel discussion.

Lindell said he has been a member of AAAS since the 1960s, and he joined the group to support their lobbying efforts on behalf of the scientific community.

Scientists who join AAAS usually belong to the "hard sciences," which include chemistry, biology, engineering and astronomy, Nash said.

While most of the members belong to the hard sciences, Nash said some social scientists also belong to AAAS.

"We had these political scientists who had this great poster a few years ago," Nash said.

Nash said the conferences are equal parts paper sessions and symposia, lectures, and student presentations as well as a chance to socialize with peers.

Nash said highlights for the event included a virtual reality technology demonstration and the John Wesley Powell memorial lecture.

Dr. Bert Hölldobler, a world-renowned insect expert from Arizona State University, delivered the lecture.