Announced Initiatives to Bolster U.S. Science and Technology Collaboration With Muslim Communities

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton recently announced new initiatives aimed at promoting science and technology collaboration with Muslim communities around the world. Clinton named Bruce Alberts, Elias Zerhouni, and Ahmed Zewail as the first three U.S. Science and Technology Envoys. Clinton also announced that the State Department will expand positions for environment, science, technology, and health officers at U.S. embassies.

"We want to help Muslim majority communities develop the capacity to meet economic, social, and ecological challenges through science, technology, and innovation," Clinton says.

The U.S. Science Envoy program is part of President Obama's New Beginning initiative with Muslim communities. At a speech in Cairo, Egypt, Obama pledged that the United States would "appoint new science envoys to collaborate on programs that develop new sources of energy, create green jobs, digitize records, clean water, and grow new crops."

Over the next few months, the science envoys will visit countries in North Africa, the Middle East, and South and Southeast Asia to form partnerships in all areas of science and technology. The envoys will be supported by new embassy officers who will engage international partners on a range of environmental, scientific, and health issues.

From National Science Foundation
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