Soothing international disputes with science diplomacy

High-flying Washington-based science diplomat Dr Vaughan Turekian spoke to RNZ's Kim Hill while in Auckland for the Liggins Institute-hosted Gluckman Symposium.

Dr Vaughan Turekian is the Executive Director of the Policy and Global Affairs Division (PGA) of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine.

He also serves as an honorary professor at University College London and a fellow and adjunct professor at the Georgetown University School of Foreign Service.

Prior to joining the Academies, he served as the fifth Science and Technology Advisor to the U.S. Secretary of State. In this capacity, he advised the Secretary of State and other senior State Department officials on international environment, science, emerging technology, and health matters affecting the foreign policy of the United States.

Dr Turekian was in Auckland to attend a Liggins Institute symposium celebrating the life's work of his friend Sir Peter Gluckman.

He was also the first guest at Sir Peter's new think-tank, the Centre for Science in Policy, Diplomacy and Society (SciPoDS), part of the University of Auckland's Public Policy Institute.

Listen to his wide-ranging conversation with Kim Hill on RNZ.