The Science Camp 2002 sponsored by Japan Science Foundation was held for high school students to experience advanced science and technologies at various institutes.  The Camp at NIAES took place on August 21 - 23 with 12 students.  They participated in one of the three courses: A)"Multiple characters of soil" organized by the Soil Classification Laboratory, B)"Genetic influences of introduced plants on native plants" organized by the Landscape Ecology Unit, and C)"Influences of global warming on soil" organized by the Food Production Prediction Team.

After the opening ceremony, the students had an orientation to the Camp and a tour of the institute facilities.  On the second and third days, they conducted experiments, observations and analyses with the specialists on each course in the laboratories or fields.  After the course activities, the persons concerned had a meeting where the students presented their experiences and opinions.  It seemed that the students came to have more interests in agro-environmental sciences or in science and technologies through their experiences.  The director general handed the diploma of the Camp to each student at the closing ceremony.

The institute opened the door to the public on April 17 in the Science and Technology Week of 2002.  The visitors were students and people in various professions, 1,332 in total with some foreigners.  They studied the panel displays of research topics, observed specimens, attended lecture meetings, or tried hands-on sample experiments, which were all arranged under the general theme, "Let's hand down the rich lands and environments to the future generations".  The result of the questionnaire indicated that this event was a great opportunity for the general public to learn of agro-environmental sciences.