Society president Neville Jordan and chief executive Dr Di McCarthy, both of Wellington, gave presentations on the planned changes at the Otago Museum last night. More than 30 people attended.
Both speakers have travelled the country over the past fortnight, outlining the ''new horizons'' changes, including the society's recent establishment of the Rutherford Foundation, at a series of ''roadshow'' meetings of society branches, starting in Auckland.
The foundation is a charitable trust which aims to boost science education, including by providing funding for PhD education, and supporting science teachers.
Dr McCarthy said the governance changes aimed, in part, to ''eliminate confusion'' which had arisen from having two society councils - one involving the wider society and the other involving the society's academy - and two presidents.
The two councils, with a combined membership of about 30 people, will be replaced by a merged council of about a dozen, officials say.
The overall changes aim to improve the society's ability to advocate for science, to boost its science education efforts and strengthen international links.
University of Otago deputy vice-chancellor of research Prof Geoff White said the governance changes would help create a more effective organisation which could better communicate the ways in which science and technology could ''contribute to the economic transformation of
society''.
