Professor Paul Arthur Berkman
Timeline
The following timeline contributed to the development of science diplomacy as well as the Science Diplomacy Center™ that Paul founded in 2020. The goal of sharing personal milestones is to inspire next-generation science diplomats – illustrating a lifelong journey to triangulate education-research-leadership “for the benefit of all on Earth across generations.”
1958 INTERNATIONAL GEOPHYSICAL YEAR, leading to the 1959 Antarctic Treaty “with the interests of science and the progress of all mankind” as our world’s first nuclear arms agreement
1968 CHILDHOOD IMAGINATION – Paul at the age of 10 playing with a swell shark in a tidepool, awakening a lifelong sense of responsibility to protect our world
1981 Winter-Over Antarctic SCUBA Research Expedition with Paul, involving THE GUINNESS WORLD RECORD FOR the deepest dive through an ice hole (16 meters) on Earth (McMurdo Ice Shelf, Antarctica)
1982 ANTARCTIC MARINE ECOLOGY AND OCEAN POLICY course, designed and taught by Paul as a Visiting Professor at the University of California Los Angeles
1988 DOCTORATE IN OCEANOGRAPHY with Paul as a National Science Foundation Graduate Fellow at the Graduate School of Oceanography, University of Rhode Island
1989 BYRD FELLOW, Byrd Polar Research Center, The Ohio State University, integrating oceanography more broadly in view of Earth sciences
2002 SCIENCE INTO POLICY: GLOBAL LESSONS FROM ANTARCTICA
2007-2008 Fulbright Distinguished Scholarship at the University of Cambridge, Scott Polar Research Institute, regarding the ANTARCTIC TREATY SUMMIT: SCIENCE-POLICY INTERACTIONS IN INTERNATIONAL GOVERNANCE in 2009, hosted at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C., in the city where the 1959 Antarctic Treaty was signed "with the interests of science and the progress of all mankind."
2009 ANTARCTIC TREATY SUMMIT, chaired by Paul at the Smithsonian Institution with an international team of co-conveners (including Oran R. Young on the Board of Directors with the Science Diplomacy Center™), more than forty sponsoring organizations around the world with the Martha Muse Foundation as Benefactor and HSH Prince Albert II as the patron
2010 First Formal Dialogue Between NATO and RUSSIA Regarding Security in the ARCTIC, chaired by Paul at the University of Cambridge with co-direction by Alexander N. Vylegzhanin from MGIMO University and an international team of co-conveners (including Oran Young)
2013 'MARCOMET’ with NATO MARITIME COMMAND in Whitehall, London, United Kingdom, involving Paul as an invited speaker and panelist
2015 Paul invited as Professor of Practice in Science Diplomacy at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, Tufts University, as the first academic position in this new field
2016 1st INTERNATIONAL DIALOGUE ON SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY ADVICE WITH FOREIGN MINISTRIES, co-convened by Paul with the International Network for Government Science Advice (INGSA) and Foreign Ministries Science and Technology Advice Network (FMSTAN) at the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA), revealing the ‘continuum of urgencies’
2016 AMBASSADORIAL PANEL ON BUILDING COMMON INTERESTS IN THE ARCTIC OCEAN, co-convened by Paul with Reykjavik University and the Arctic Circle
2017 Publication IN SCIENCE – THE ARCTIC SCIENCE AGREEMENT PROPELS SCIENCE DIPLOMACY, leading to the theory of informed decisionmaking as the engine of science diplomacy
2017 Synergies with the Intertwined ARCTIC OPTIONS AND PAN-ARCTIC OPTIONS Projects enabled initial development of a SCIENCE DIPLOMACY CENTER at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy [note: Center closed in 2020 when Paul left Tufts University]
2017 Creation of SCIENCE DIPLOMACY ACTION as a serial with an International Standard Serial Number (ISSN) for print (2573-9751) and online (2573-976X) versions, now published through the Science Diplomacy Center™
2017 2nd INTERNATIONAL DIALOGUE ON SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY ADVICE WITH FOREIGN MINISTRIES, co-convened by Paul with the International Network for Government Science Advice (INGSA) and Foreign Ministries Science and Technology Advice Network (FMSTAN) at Talloires, hosted by the Science Diplomacy Center at Tufts University European Centre.
2018 DIPLOMATIC SCHOOL OF ARMENIA Through the MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS OF THE REPUBLIC OF ARMENIA, invites Paul to Yerevan to train science diplomacy and informed decisionmaking with foreign ministries for the first time
2019 INFORMED DECISIONMAKING FOR SUSTAINABILITY, book series initiated under contract with Springer, involving Profs. Berkman, Vylegzhanin and Young as series editors
2019 UNITED NATIONS INSTITUTE FOR TRAINING AND RESEARCH (UNITAR) initiates science diplomacy and informed decisionmaking training, coordinated by Paul, starting with the RETREAT FOR DIRECTORS OF ARAB DIPLOMATIC ACADEMIES AND INSTITUTES in Algiers
2019 BASELINE OF RUSSIAN ARCTIC LAWS, published by Springer with legal documents from 1821 – 2019 that were translated into English, enabled by former Foreign Minister of Minister of Russia to facilitate transparency
2020 GOVERNING ARCTIC SEAS: REGIONAL LESSONS FROM THE BERING STRAIT AND BARENTS SEA. VOLUME 1. INFORMED DECISIONMAKING FOR SUSTAINABILITY, involving regions with Russia and the United States as well as Norway in the Arctic Ocean
2021 SCIENCE DIPLOMACY CENTER established at MGIMO UNIVERISTY (Moscow State Institute of International Relations), with Paul as the Director from the United States (note: the Center was closed in 2022)
2021-2022 Fulbright Arctic Chair at UiT | The Arctic University of Norway in Tromsø regarding SCIENCE DIPLOMACY AND INFORMED DECISIONMAKING FOR ARCTIC OCEAN SUSTAINABILITY
2022 February-March 2022 Webinar Series on ENHANCING INTERNATIONAL SCIENTIFIC COOPERATION: ARCTIC SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY ADVICE WITH MINISTRIES, funded by the MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS OF JAPAN to the Science Diplomacy Center™ and hosted by the UNITAR
2022 Science Diplomacy Center, Inc. (SDCI) incorporated as a nonprofit in Massachusetts, United States.
2023 ARCTIC SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY ADVICE WITH MINISTRIES at the Arctic Circle Japan Forum, co-hosted with the Sasakawa Peace Foundation, in Tokyo
2023 First GLOBAL INDIGENOUS YOUTH SUMMIT ON CLIMATE CHANGE (GIYSCC-2023) on the International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples (August 9th). This "virtual dialogue by, for and among Indigenous youth with global inclusion." circle the Earth across three 8-hour time zones in 24 hours (00:00 - 24:00 GMT), involving 1300+ registrants from 112+ nations across 88+ languages, hosted by UNITAR and coordinated by the SCIENCE DIPLOMACY CENTER™.
2023 Invited Nature Commentary written by GIYSCC-2023 Indigenous Youth Leaders that Indigenous Youth Must Be at the Forefront of Climate Diplomacy.
2024 Second GLOBAL INDIGENOUS YOUTH SUMMIT ON CLIMATE CHANGE (GIYSCC-2024), involving 800+ registrants from 100+ nations across 230+ languages, hosted by Future Earth and coordinated by the SCIENCE DIPLOMACY CENTER™.
