ACS NEWS cally modified organisms, and so are the ones most likely to receive additional science and technology training. According to Atkinson, foreign service officers' professional development should be structured to place an equal value on science as on more traditionally studied fields. "There is a general understanding that LOBAL E P I D E M I C S , INTERNAnology adviser to the secretary of state, was science and technology are increasingly tional pollution controls, visa a moderator at the event and spoke afterimportant in international affairs," Atkindelays for traveling scientists: ward with C&EN about the workshop's son says. "The foreign service officers who These are just a few of the conmissions and goals. represent the U.S. should therefore have troversial science issues that U.S. "Foreign service officers are extremely an increasing knowledge of science." By diplomats face every day What some offitalented people," Atkinson tells C&EN. participating in the workshop, Atkinson cials fear is that too few of these diplomats All newly hired foreign service officers hopes to find ways to encourage foreign understand the science they encounter or must have at least an undergraduate eduservice officers to achieve this goal. how to craft the most appropriate policies. cation, he says, and then go through inIn response to such concerns, repretroductory courses at FSI. Once on the "The State Department has to put a presentatives from the Department of State, job, the officers rotate assignments every mium on science," he says. "We have to say the Foreign Service Institute (FSI), and two to three years and so are constantly we respect it and expect it" as part of an ofseveral professional societies and univerlearning new topics from scratch. ficer's knowledge base. At the same time, sities met last month at the American Fox notes, the level of training has to corThe State Department established FSI Chemical Society (ACS) headquaru; respond with the fact that foreign ters in Washington, D.C, to discuss = service officers are not expected to how the scientific and educational jjj become science experts. communities could help improve j; "The State Department is a flascience literacy among foreign servo vor-of-the-week organization," Fox ice officers. | says. "We get involved in a particular science topic when there's a According to the State Departcrisis or a big issue, but our needs ment, the job of a foreign service change all the time." officer is to "advocate American foreign policy, protect American citiFox hopes to work with profeszens, and promote American busisional societies to develop better ness interests throughout the science curricula for the institute. world." The job requires ongoing She also notes that none of the faclearning in subjects from languages ulty members at FSI have a sciento foreign policies to economics. tific background, so the institute Science often lands at the bottom of must contract out teachers for scithe list, if it is studied at all. ence courses. Professional societies, she says, are a potential resource "Professional societies and POLITICAL SCIENTIST State Department schools of diplomacy have a terrif- Science and Technology Adviser Atkinson anticipates for finding instructors. ic opportunity to work together and that foreign service officers will face ever more Atkinson hopes that these sociimprove the science and technolo- challenging science issues on the job. eties can eventually help FSI esgy knowledge base of foreign servtablish a widely accessible source, ice officers," says Tamara J. Nameroff, disuch as a website, that could provide forin the 1950s to provide the highly specialrector of the Office of International eign service officers in the field with accuized training that foreign service officers Activities at ACS. "These officers often are rate and updated information on contemrequire. Currently more than 10,000 stuthe first contact that foreign scientists and porary science issues. dents per year attend the institute at its engineers have with our country, so in the 80-acre campus in Arlington, Va., or take In the interim, Fox plans to tap into exlong run we will be helping the U.S. govpart in its distance-learning program. isting databases of experts who can answer ernment interact with the global scientifLisa P. Fox, director of the Economic & science questions on a moment's notice. ic community" She is also seeking advice from working Commercial Studies Division at FSI, says that some courses are mandatory for forscientists on appropriate reading materiIN TOTAL, 23 participants from ACS, the eign service officers, most often in language als that foreign service officers can access American Geophysical Union, the Amertraining. Additional courses are assigned to stay abreast of the latest developments. ican Institute of Physics, the American Soby State Department managers. "We are trying to connect science with ciety of Mechanical Engineers, the AmerThe type of training required, Fox says, the political community," Atkinson says. ican Society for Microbiology, the will vary according to whether an officer is "There are hundreds of thousands of memMaterials Research Society, the National following one of five career tracks: public bers in professional societies who are on Academies of Science, Tufts University, diplomacy or political, economic, manthe very edge of their fields. They know Georgetown University, the State Departagement, or consular affairs. Economic afthe practicalities, opportunities, and vulment, and FSI met to discuss possible colfairs officers advise government decisionnerabilities of those fields—so why don't laboration efforts. makers on the business ramifications of we {at the State Department] ask them?"— issues such as climate change and genetiGeorge H. Atkinson, science and techVICTORIA GILMAN
FOREIGN SCIENCE
Multiagency effort explores ways to improve science literacy among foreign service officers
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