This post was contributed to Eco-Compass by Emily Davis, development editor at Island Press. On Friday, John Holdren, advisor for Science and Technology to President Obama and former president of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), sought to assure AAAS members that the President is committed to their cause. Holdren began his plenary lecture at the AAAS annual meeting by quoting President Obama’s campaign promise to “Put science in its rightful place.” The presidential advisor argued that his boss has lived up to that commitment by dramatically increasing funding for research and development (R&D) and science education, as well as bringing public attention to these issues. Emphasizing the $100 billion dedicated to science R&D in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, Holdren also pointed to increases in funding in the proposed 2012 budget. Aside from research money for clean energy development, Holdren was not able to point to many deliverables for the environmental community. He made quick reference to the failure of a cap-and-trade program to limit carbon emissions, but largely concentrated on symbolic evidence of the President’s commitment to science. Showing slides of President Obama meeting with young science award winners, Holdren described how the President defied his schedulers by spending more than an hour with the children. He also quoted the President’s quip that he wished he could spend more time with scientists and less with sports teams. AAAS attendees received Holdren warmly, and current AAAS president Alice Huang commented that the Administration seemed to be doing everything it possibly could to advance the sciences, though there was some mumbling in the crowd that progress has been slow. As the President works with the new Congress in the coming year, AAAS members will surely be watching closely to see how his commitment to science translates into policy.