Tag Archives: science ambassadors

US Navy and its science diplomacy efforts

I gather the US military has decided to adopt something they call science diplomacy . A July 30, 2015 US Navy news release on EurekAlert describes the latest effort,

Scientific diplomacy took a giant step forward July 24 as Chief of Naval Research (CNR) Rear Adm. Mat Winter officially opened the new Office of Naval Research Global (ONR Global) office in Sao Paulo, Brazil.

ONR Global-charged with providing international science and technology (S&T) solutions for current and future naval challenges-engages with the international S&T community around the world. Officials note the new office in Brazil will be critical to the advancement of open-source, unclassified knowledge and collaboration in a region marked by rapidly-expanding economies and significant growth in cutting-edge science.

“The opening of the Sao Paulo office reflects the strong, longstanding S&T relationships ONR has with the international community,” Winter noted. “This office will serve as a regional hub for collaboration with researchers across South America to share discovery and invention, which are the lifeblood of scientific advancement.”

Present at the event were governmental representatives from both the U.S. and Brazil. Members of the academic community were also in attendance at the official opening celebration-some of whom may be involved in the many future S&T-related exchanges and more that will be sponsored by ONR Global as part of the new office’s mission.

Recent collaborative research between South American and U.S. scientists includes academic gatherings in the fields of alternative energy, underwater acoustics, augmented reality and more, as well as research projects involving topics ranging from flood prediction to materials stress and marine genomics.

The new office will help coordinate activities across the vast South American continent with ONR Global’s existing office in Santiago, Chile.

Capt. Clark Troyer, ONR Global’s commanding officer, noted that the new Brazil hub is expected to deliver significant positive impacts for the future force.

“The opening of a new office in the largest country in South America is an important development, emphasizing that breakthrough science and technology capabilities generally come about only through collaboration and partnerships,” he said. “Those who follow S&T from a naval perspective recognize that Brazil is significant both in its impressive academic and research communities, as well as the wealth of opportunities to conduct research in unique ecological settings.”

ONR Global has offices on multiple continents, including Asia, Europe, North America and South America. Its commanding officer and technical director are based in London. An important part of the command’s collaborative efforts are associate directors, who promote collaboration with international scientists; and science advisors, who identify fleet needs.

Both groups serve as the CNR’s “science ambassadors,” creating essential links with both the international S&T community and operational forces to successfully execute the Naval S&T Strategy.

As I hinted earlier this isn’t the first US military science diplomacy effort I’ve stumbled across. A July 30, 2015 posting titled. Science diplomacy: high school age Pakistani students (terror attack survivors) attend NanoDiscovery Institute in New York State features a US military presence,

The students will also visit West Point to see the similarities and differences with their military school back home.

To finish up the trip, the students will present their final nanotech projects to SUNY Poly staff, and will fly back to Washington to present the projects to U.S. military officials. [emphasis mine]

Of course, it makes sense that students at an army school in Pakistan might want to see West Point. As for showing their nano projects to US military officials, that’s somewhat understandable.

I guess it’s a question of timing but it seems odd that two military-oriented science diplomacy efforts are being featured in the news in a relatively short space of time. Is the US military gearing up its science diplomacy efforts? And, what does science diplomacy really mean to the US military?