Posted in Paparazzi Ethnography, tagged Umeå on December 5, 2012| Leave a Comment »
Posted in Paparazzi Ethnography, tagged Oslo on December 5, 2012| Leave a Comment »
12/7: Just returned from lunch at the American Embassy in Oslo, where I had such a fabulous time. Public Affairs Officer, Timothy Moore came down to meet me and thus, began my tour. We started with a chat in his corner office. The Embassy building is large, black, and imposing, built in 1959 and designed by Finnish-American architect, Eero Saarinen. The building has a parallelogram appearance about it, with strong pointy corners, and worth reading about further, so I have included the link here to the embassy site.
The security experience is rough, as you might imagine, and entering the building provides a self-enclosed experience on its own. Security came out and disciplined me for not having read the sign and standing behind the painted yellow line. When speaking with the guard though the gate, he inquired whether I was some kind of special agent, probably something to do with my academic tone, a combination of defiance and leisure.
At any rate, we warmed up to each other rapidly. I ran back to the Fulbright office, where I had started my day, to drop off my laptop computer (no computers in the building), and he promised to let me in out of the cold upon return, which he did. Intimidating, for first timers to the building, but the guards are polite, even if they appear a little stressed upon first glance when they greet you.
Typically, I employ a pseudonym to refer to folks as high up the chain as Tim, and I need to send this blog over to ensure he is happy with it. But I want to highlight Tim’s article on Norwegian policy, which I liked, especially his point about the ethos of Good which, based on a religious unity of message, becomes historically branded so to speak to a kind of concept of enterprise (note to self). Here is a copy of his piece, titled, Norway’s Focused Communication Strategy.
The interior of the American Embassy in Oslo is delightful. What a cool place to work. As you walk in, past the security gate, you enter into an atrium with a small reflection pool. “Gong by Harry Bertoia” — is etched into a brass plaque that sits on the front corner of the pond. Sure enough, as you look up, there hanging down from the 50 foot ceiling is a large Bronze Gong by sculptural artist from the 1950s, Harry Bertoia. What a fabulous sight. Tim even gave it a whack for my amusement. What a magnificent sound.
Did I mention that Tim received a BA in cultural anthropology from UC Berkeley? We had discussed this upon our introduction to each other, now a few weeks back, in Houston at the Norwegian Government sponsored TransAtlantic Science Week, where he was accompanying US Ambassador to Norway, Barry White.
Tim’s office is great. Let me just state that for the record. I felt like I was back in Washington, D.C., talking with a real live policy operative. But he is! And we chatted about everything. For lunch, we went downstairs to the cafeteria, and I ordered an omelet with a side salad. The cafeteria is a warm inviting place, and with its own street entrance, which the Embassy uses for social functions. In fact, Tim mentioned that the Obama inauguration is taking place in that very set of rooms near the cafeteria, in January, and he invited me to attend! So. Of course. I will be there.
After a litany of topics and introductions to members of staff, we exchanged notes on Arctic research. As you can imagine, he has a lot of connections, and knew things going on that I was not aware of, though, in truth, I had a few gems he was unfamiliar with too, and it was good to be able to offer my own little cache. We will come back to Tim, but for now, let me take a few steps back and a few steps forward, as one of the main purposes of my Oslo trip, was to come, pick up my invitation to attend the Oslo Nobel Peace Prize Ceremony, on December 10.
This week, I am holed up in Kamper Apartments near the Toyen subway station, 20 minutes walk from the national theater downtown. After waking up later than planned, wrestling with jet lag and academic sleep patterns, I swooped down upon the Norwegian Fulbright Office, to pick up my actual invitation for the Nobel Prize ceremony on Monday. Rena Levin and Kevin McGuiness are gracious hosts, giving me a place to hang out, check my email and do work on the side. I arrived there around 10:30 AM, settled in for one hour, had a home brew of coffee before heading out to my lunch at the American Embassy nearby.
Upon returning back to the Fulbright Office, I managed to do a lot of email transactions. There are so many small details associated with relocating to another country, and on top of that, I already needed to book flights back to Oslo in January and February, for the Presidential Inauguration (Jan. 21) and a dinner at the US Ambassador’s residence (Feb. 14).
Oslo looks a lot different than it did in August, that is for certain, when I was here to attend the Fulbright orientation, lest the good reader forget:
I should note in passing, that I had a wonderful evening as I blew into Oslo — still completing a National Science Foundation proposal, and chatting over skype with Maria Stoilkova, U Florida, about its final completion, when I decided around 10PM the first night, to check out in my neighborhood Kamper Bistro, a fabulous wine bar, delicious food, and a cabaret scene, crazy close to where I am staying.
11/15: I was just in Houston, Texas, attending the TransAtlantic Norwegian-American Science Week Conference, organized by Norwegian Consular General, Dr. Jostein (pronounced “U-stine”) Mykletun. In Norway, Jostein is a well known diplomat and more recently has come to be referred to respectfully as “Mr. Houston”, in no small part, because his name can nearly be pronounced in same the manner of the city for which he is currently appointed.
Between the hotel and the intensity of the meetings, I was able to get in some tennis along the way. I played on Thursday and Friday at the Rice University courts, nearby where the conference was taking place.
Actually, on Thursday evening, I began to wonder aloud whether I would make it to Norway in time for the Peace Prize ceremony. Tennis felt like so much fun. Perhaps I should just stay in Berkeley through December.
We went to dinner that night, me and some umpteen Norwegian experts, ministerial policy makers, university professors, administrators and so and and so forth. There was mixed opinion about what I should do. A few were incredulous that I would even bring up the topic. Moira P. who had visited the ceremony “several times” was ambivalent. Grete G., with whom I made the acquaintance that very evening, after I staggered into the ZaZa hotel lobby, having rescued myself from an overnight trip to Texas A & M — hoped my decision would not cost me too much, sentimental words as we parted that evening, driven back from the restaurant on the ZaZa hotel “magic bus”.
11/7: I received today a scanned copy of my invitation to the Nobel Peace Prize Ceremony next month in Oslo. Because of tight security, I will have to bring along the actual invite which is waiting for at the Fulbright Office in Norway.
Here is what the scanned copy looks like:
December 10 Ceremony – brought to you by Paparazzi Ethnography
Posted in Paparazzi Ethnography, tagged London, Oxford on November 26, 2012| Leave a Comment »
12/6: I just cannot say more wonderful things about London, what a fabulous town. As much as I was required to complete a proposal for a deadline, turn in a few academic applications, work on a revised article due tomorrow (yikes!), I still managed to get out and travel on my way to various spots, hopping in on the goings on, at Christmas time especially, with so many lights and happy revelers.
The days were quite standard from the beginning. Waking up, heading down for English Breakfast (₤ 10), grabbing my computer and heading to the lounge, working while peering out through the window at the representative city scape.
I cannot recall now when it was, perhaps the second day, but by 2PM, I had intended to travel over to 61 New Cavendish Street in order to participate in the IFEG quarterly meeting.
I am on the committee of Information For Energy Group or IFEG. The Group is part of the Institute for Energy here in London, and I believe I have written in detail on this very blog about IE during my last visit.
At any rate, we typically organize a variety of seminars and workshops having to do with information about, well, primarily oil and gas developments, and in particular, how access to information may take place, through various libraries at petroleum companies, on the internet, and the like.
And the Committee members are sincere. What a pleasure to be in their company. Emily Heath, IFEG Secretary was as sparkling as ever. Catherine Cosgrove, the ever present librarian was in good form, as was Greville Williams, IHS Asset manager. 
The meetings are quite formal actually. We have an agenda with “minutes” from the previous meeting that have to be discussed and approved. Then, of course, we move on to larger issues of the day, what visits and seminars IFEG plans to organize. On March 14, for example, there will be a visit to the Isle of Grain Liquefied Natural Gas terminal and in June a visit to the Dungeness B nuclear power station. I will certainly be in London for those visits.
We also had a lively discussion about virtual and seminar networks and the IFEG membership. In fact, now that I recall, I joined one of the break out groups for having a seminar on “Energy Blogging”. So we shall see where that takes us and I plan to report back soon on the IFEG members.
Well, I had the opportunity of once again visiting the offices of the global energy consultancy firm, UGR (pseudonym), and to discuss the possibility of spending time with them working on Arctic gas developments. Boy, was I surprised at the kind of data they have access to and are capable of building a pricing structure around. Indeed. One of the issues we discussed in fact, was confidentiality surrounding dissemination and sharing of data, and even the possibility of establishing standards for future UGR-academic relationships. Overall, I was pleased with the meeting, very much so.
It looks like I will have to get up and get on an airplane for Norway. Well, that was London. I expect to return shortly, for a number of visits that could not happen this time, including a scheduled meeting with a Statoil higher up, through a connection in Norway. But what a great town!
12/5: London Diptych: Organizational and Serendipitous Forms.
Earlier this year, in April, I had the opportunity to visit an energy consulting firm, UGR (pseudonym). Upon entering the building, my attention was arrested by the personal image of the front desk person, dressed as she was in a smart hair-bun, posturepedic grace, and so on. But evidently, I was mistaken.
When I arrived today, I saw nearly the same image of the person, and realized that the front desk attire is a constant expression of the outward form of the building itself, its assertion of identity to the passersby.
Earlier in the year, at the same time the first image was taken, I met with Arctic landscape photographist and travelry specialist, Nick Cobbing, at Nordic Bakery, located in Golden Square, approx. 7 minutes walk from Oxford Street station. 
Here is a map of how to get there from the tube station:
By chance, we decided to meet once again, today in December, in the afternoon. And as serendipity would have us, we found ourselves in the same seating arrangement as when we chatted previously, in April.
12/3: Just blew into the Central Park Hotel, near Paddington Station opposite Hyde Park. London looks fabulous, great weather, the same as Berkeley actually, a little damp, crisp with a slight breeze. Let us hope that it holds up over the next several days.
Arriving at Heathrow could not have been simpler. I usually take the tube, but at the bottom of the escalator, after passport control and just before baggage claim, salespersons were calling out tickets to Paddington aboard the direct train connection, for ₤ 52 first class round trip, + another ₤ 5 for taxi from Paddington to the hotel — 25 minutes later– and here I am with a latte, already getting together a final draft of the National Science revision proposal sent back to Maria Stoilkova at U. Florida, who is waiting for me to complete the final touches.
Posted in Paparazzi Ethnography, tagged Houston on November 15, 2012| Leave a Comment »
I had the opportunity on Friday of visiting the testing facility of Schlumberger, located 45 minutes from downtown Houston. Schlumberger is one of the most prominent contractors in the global oil and gas business producing everything from strategic knowledge to explosive devices for opening up rock and thus getting oil to flow.
Bob Jetson (pseudonym), above, took me on a tour of various types of products the company produces for subsea oil well drilling and capture. He was polite enough to humor me in my image making. While wearing a helmet, Bob appears with a Matrix-like hole in the back of his head, as if used by the company to download reality forming knowledge.
The Schlumberger facility has a strict policy of NO PHOTOGRAPHS. The images in this post were taken with permission of my tour guides.
Upon arrival, the entrance to Schlumberger appears like many corporate techno-parks, a combined artificiality and enlightened setting, man-made ponds and foliage transplanted to the area from elsewhere. In fact, the landscape along the drive to the facility is quite stark, just flat land with various prairie grasses.
The land was obtained some time ago, and far away from the center of Houston so that explosive testing could take place. “There is a rumor”, my guide person explained, that the Schlumberger family initially used the property for “goose hunting”, but that just rumor. The present facility and its environs began to expand to its present size beginning in the 1980s.
Any casual observer to the facility will be impressed immediately by two features. First, safety reminders surrounding every available space, on the walls, on the floors, there are reminders for workers to wear their Personal Protective Equipment or PPE. These reminders took the form of posters promoting awareness to fingers, different colored floors to highlight the boundary of PPE gear. Every door mat was custom designed to promote awareness. Here are just a few of the many images I encountered in my trip.
The second thing that is impressive is the kind of work they carry out. I was amazed. It was a real eye opener to see the specifics of how oil and gas is taken out of the ground.
We covered well preparation, the ability to drill thousands of feet into ground, and then, to “service” the hole from a variety of capacities that the equipment is capable of doing not only inside the hole, but the ability to communicate to operators above, what actually is happening. We went over the explosive testing, which opens up the rock for oil and gas to flow into the pipe, and directional drilling, the capacity to direct the drill laterally — the details of this ability are quite extraordinary when explained in person.
Schlumberger has a fabulous website as well, where anyone can look up oil and gas terms.
Check it out.
Finally, what was amazing to me, was the amount of materials and expert labor required to produce the high level of specifications involved in producing these materials. There were special steel mills that produce metals solely for Schlumberger, and special contractors identified and verified as meeting the specifications of a Schlumberger supplier.
In short, the company appeared to me as a civics lesson in how our society operates. I even mentioned that such knowledge should be taught in grade school –in the same manner as lessons about government or mathematics, so reliant we have become on the work of this vast company.
Posted in Paparazzi Ethnography, tagged Houston on November 10, 2012| Leave a Comment »
That was a great week. I would have liked to comment more on all the activities as they were taking place. I captured below a partial representation of all the great work we went through together.
In attendance this week were a lot of important folks from both sides of the Atlantic, Ambassadors, Ministers, Consular Generals, Arctic Chairs, the whole yard.
One of my favorite moments was heading up to an evening reception at the top of the Houston Hilton Hotel. We were waiting in the lobby when, as it turned out, one of the elevators was kaput. Hotel staff directed us to take the freight elevator.
Inside the elevator, packed to the gills so as to give the feeling we were in close quarters, Norwegian Minister of Health, Gahr Støre, was shaking everyone’s hands — that is, shaking the hands of those who knew of his importance in Norway. Minister Støre is expected to soon stand for the position of Prime Minister.
Minister Støre is charismatic, lean, handsome, tall, well dressed, articulate, sharply intelligent according to policy experts, with polished gestures, and a winning smile.
As serendipity would have it — I happened to have entered the freight elevator with American professor, John Tallis, (pseudonym) with whom I had a few beers just previously at the bar. Completely ignorant of Gahr Støre‘s identity, John was oblivious to the cultural moment taking place as we all headed vertically up to the rooftop terrace. From the casual look of things, the professor could not have interpreted the intensity of meaning associated with the ritual goings on now circling Minister Støre — all lined up and squeezed as we were into an inelegant freight elevator, yet in close proximity with a “political star”. The Minister was well aware of his star power in the midst of others, but when confronting both of us, the Americans, he provided a simple nod of his head, to acknowledge our ignorance of who he was.
I was, of course, caught up both in the star power moment — and the simultaneous recognition of the possibility of me being interpreted as a foreigner (we were two Americans in a Houston Hilton hotel).
I could not help myself, wanting to “shake the hand” of the power holder. I promptly introduced myself to the Minister, indicating that we had met the previous year, when he was Minister of Foreign Affairs, while attending the Oslo Energy Forum (OSE) in Holmenkollen on the outskirts of Oslo. He asked whether I had been back to the OSE, and I responded in the negative. On this point, our connection ended. But then, as if from a deep desire to maintain a lingering connection to the man, only to have a little more of his stardust cloud blow in my direction, I added having just met, several weeks before in Olso, with Johan Nic Vold, Managing Director of OSE.
This triggered an brief eureka moment regarding my existence, along with continued conversation as Minister Støre made his way to greet others with whom he is on politically intimate terms.
What a ride! Here is an image of Minister Støre from the Oslo Energy Forum, not too long previous to the Houston meeting:
11/15:Morning Day Four of TransAtlantic Science Week
Okay, now I am very far behind in my updates on what has happened throughout yesterday and in the evening. Nevertheless.
I am now attending the session: Fulbright Arctic Chairs and Beyond. I was able to meet Timothy Moore, from the Embassy of the United States in Norway and have a helpful chat about goings on in the Scandinavian political world. There was Petter Naess, who runs the Fulbright Office in Oslo, and up now at the podium is Pal Sørgaard, Deputy Director General, Norwegian Ministry of Education and Research. And even Paul Wassman is here, from Fram Centre, Tromsø.
11/14: Morning Day Three of TransAtlantic Science Week
Okay. I have to provide a wrap up for yesterday, but before we get to that, we are at the beginning of Day Three which begins with a Workshop on Petroleum Technology. But before that, I should mention briefly that this morning’s participants were mingling over (starbucks) coffee and chatting, and I had a chance to re-introduce myself to Kari (last name), with whom I traveled to Russia, along with workshop participants for the Teriberka workshop. And what do you know, Kari mentioned that there is a June workshop in Arkhangelsk (yay!).
Siri Helle Friedemann, Director Department of Petroleum, Research Council Norway is the chair for this daylong workshop. I met Siri as one of my first informants in Norway, but more about that later. For now, Siri is up on stage talking about RCN’r role as advisor to government, in networking and dissemination, and international cooperation. Wow. There is a Petromaks 2, a 10 year program supporting research, workshops.
Ove Flataker, Director General of Norwegian Ministry of Petroleum and Energy, gives a similar (same) talk as on the pre-conference day, see below.
Now up is theme, Drilling and Deepwater Technology. Satish Nagarajaiah Rice professor. Energy initiative on campus, is chair of this session. Okay, here we go.
IRIS. Center for Research Innovation, International Research Institute of Stavanger (IRIS), Sigmund Stokka, Research Director, 230 people, working on energy, marine environment and social science. Center for research based innovation. Describing a variety of partners, locations and test facilities, and numbers of MA and PhD students.
Very technical discussion.
Elisabeth Tørstad VP DNV is up now taking about the kinds of risks involved in developing oil and gas. Several categories. Wow, a lot of information. External risks, Internal risks. (major overruns, major delays) — keeping an eye on risk picture and on barriers. Initial risk assessment and create “barriers” — e.g., a contract that has terminated or transferred. A company may be put up as responsible and then falls. Decisions are made on the basis of barriers that are set up and they are not.
One of the questions that comes up is “drift” — small changes that slide a project into disaster. Monitoring drift is important. A barrier is degrading.
11/13: Afternoon Day Two of TransAtlantic Science Week
A panel on Think Tanks.
I always like to get in early, to get the lay of the land, and with 15 minutes to go on a topic that I am keenly interested in, a panel titled, Special Session: Think Tank Collaborations, I have already settled in. Look, there is another photographer besides myself, but with much more elaborate equipment for taking images.
Okay. we are underway.
Ambassador Edward Djerejian, Baker Institute Founding Director making opening comments: Talking about how private funding create opportunities that university institutions do not have. A distinction between university-based versus non-university based think tanks. There are, in fact, 1776 think tanks in the United States, there are 230 major think tanks.
Another thing to consider, is whether they are partisan and non-partisan. Baker Institute is non-partisan despite the Republican bias of James Baker himself. A final distinction, based on foreign policy and internal policy.
Thinking about collaborations. One the biggest challenges is translating ideas into viable policy programs that can influence government and academia. Baker has had enormous influence and had some failures. Presented their ideas to Obama on tax reform, which was not accepted, but ideas on G.W. were taken.
Emphasizes how only folks “inside” government decide.
Now, here we have Wegger Strømmen, Norway’s Ambassador in the United States, talking about think tanks. They actually created a report for the Norwegian government about think tanks and collaborations with them. The Peterson Institute for Economic Studies, is a firm the Norwegian government is very interested. International Institute for Strategic Studies in London was a location Strømmen spent time at.
Wow. This is interesting. Strømmen states that in America, “you have to look quickly for political affiliation and connections to industry“.
Peter Hartfel (?) professor economics at Rice U. and affiliated with Baker Institute. There is a deliberate attempt here to encourage collaborations with academia. The folks at Baker joint supervise graduate students, a very good example of how a vision of collaboration between university and think tanks work well.
Okay, energy security. An important part of the work is natural gas in global markets and geopolitical issues. Joint program on with Stanford and developed a World Gas Trade Model, which they have involved Harvard recently. Looking at long-term contracts to “market-based” price. Baker has worked with Institute for Energy Economics in Japan. A number of subscribers, “some of our best research topics come from industry”.
Edward Djerejian: No matter who finances the research, it is created without bias.
Okay, up next, Kristian Berke Harpviken, Director of Peace Research Institute Oslo (PRIO).
Best practice of policy is based on sound academic research. Talking about the make up of PRIO now.
They publish no less than four peer-review “long standing” journals, highly ranked in international relations, that create a revenue. Twelve propositions for a good think tank. Into four groupings (1) People (2) Money (3) Outputs (4) Impact.
Now here, the conversation surrounds around actually making money off the journal, and Ambassador Djerejian would like to know “how can you make money?” — to which Harpviken replies in some detail how money is created, through primarily bundling and library distribution.
Baker Institute does not produce a journal and every time they go to consider it, it appears too daunting.
A point about “images” and how they are interpreted differently by experts versus lay folks, bringing to mind my distinction in Empathy for the Graph.
Now up. Dean Eric Schwartz. Two elements relevant to the present conversation: (1) Integration of service, scholarship, and training; (2) Science, Technology and Environmental Policy (STEP) as a critical component for enhancing public discussion. Emphasizing policy literate scientists, and science literate policy makers.
Up now is Jon Pedersen, Head of Research, FAFO Institute of Applied International Studies.
11/13: Lunch Day Two of TransAtlantic Science Week
We have all gone to a group lunch being held in the prestigious Baker Institute. I have not been here previously, but of course, I am familiar with its top notch reputation.
At lunch, we heard again from Subra Suresh, Director of the National Science Foundation. The lunch is delicious and the surroundings prestigious. There were so many folks who wanted to attend the luncheon, the organizers created an overflow room where the good director could be seen on a screen.
Here below area few images of the luncheon in the Baker Institute itself:
And here below, is an image of the overflow room, where folks could lunch as watch on the screen the happenings taking place a building away.
11/13: Morning Day Two of TransAtlantic Science Week
Okay, we are just getting started here. I always like to arrive early to see the setting, get a seat up front, and take a few photographs of the environment in which folks will be giving talks. Sometimes when the auditorium fills in, it becomes difficult to start taking photographs around the room.
Okay. All of the big whigs have stepped into the auditorium and are taking their seats in a reserved section near the podium. Wegger Strømmen, Norway’s Ambassador to the United States has just introduced Neal Lane, Senior Fellow in Science and Technology Policy, who is now introducing David Leebron, President, Rice University.
Neal Lane. Begins with a comment about the cool weather, and the new art work on campus, now giving directions to and discussions about the Tyrell Sky Space. In general, Dr. Lane refers to the importance of technology in energy development and promoting science, but also, relationships between our two countries and populations who share an entrepreneurial spirit.
Wegger takes the stage again to introduce Kristin Halvorsen, Norwegian Minister of Education and Research. Halvorsen is now up talking about innovation and higher education, new knowledge by research communities and its practical use. Managing the contradictions between petroleum wealth and climate change concerns, requires close cooperation with international research centers to achieve political goals. I should note that Ms. Halvorsen is wearing a very smart Navy blue pea coat-like dress over a skirt with white brocade.
Up now is Dr. Subra Suresh, Director of National Science Foundation (NSF). Summarizing thesis of the origin of the NSF. Innovation is necessary for the strength of the nation, and comes from research in science and engineering which should be carried out in the university and funded by NSF. First year’s budget in 1950 (?) was $200k and now it is $7 billion. NSF funded early research for the mathematics which ultimately became GPS and Google.
“Innovation comes in different ways: we put a man on the moon before we put wheels on a suitcase”. Seventy percent of all Nobel Prize winners have come from early NSF research. Actually, Subra is a superb speaker.
Okay well, Subra is a hard act to follow, but some one has to follow him. And up now is Arvid Hallen, Director General, Research Council of Norway. Arvid has some interesting slides, graphs that show performances of Norwegian science via publication indexes.
Above are a great set of slides indicating research centers. This is something that I am interested in, of course, for looking at the linkages of energy production and research innovation.
BREAK
Okay, now we have Ambassador Edward Djerejian, Founding Director of James Baker Institute for Public Policy, Rice University, whose presentation title is Geopolitics of Oil and Gas. Strait of Hormuz. Transportation of oil — can be easily shut down, if only temporarily, spooking the energy industry with a spike of prices. Promises that the Western Hemisphere will be come “energy secure” within the next decade, and thus the geopolitical map will change. Second “Arab awakening” — a “tectonic shift” in the political landscape — the “true end” of the colonial era.
What is necessary is “political and economic reforms in our bilateral relationships”.
Great question: How do think tanks learn? How do they see themselves as doing things better? Do they learn from each other, do they collaborate with each other? How do they work with each other, is this meeting one way they learn from each other?
11/12: Day One of TransAtlantic Science Week
Wrap up for the day: After the last session, conference attendees made their way to the Consular General’s residence in Houston.
Perhaps one of the most remarkably casual instances of this trip is the number of informants that I know based on my research of the Norwegian energy knowledge industry. This list includes Siri Helle Friedemann, of Research Council Norway (RCN), with whom I met when I first began my project in 2010, and at that time attended her RCN funded Norwegian-Russian energy workshop in Murmansk and Teriberka, Russia. I also bumped into Petter Naess, who heads up the US Norway Fulbright Foundation, in Oslo, and with whom I met at the orientation meeting in August.
Crazily, as it would seem, I also bumped into Ole østein Aspholm, Senior Principal Consultant, Det Norske Veritas (DNV), who attended my talk at DNV last month in Høvit, at the corporate offices outside of Oslo. These folks are in addition to those mentioned below.
Most of the evening was spent in the backyard patio, around a Texas shaped pool, where we dined on indian food buffet style. Consular General Jostein Mykletun provided a warm reception over a microphone to everyone, stressing the theme of the conference, to bridge partnerships between Norway and the United States across academia, government, and industry.
The typical manner of entering a consular’s home is to line up and greet first his wife (sonia) and then the consular general, of course, with a handshake and brief introduction. This occasion was no exception. Among the party I had arrived with, a group of recent PhD’s or nearly there, Katherine Hedegaard was engaged in rock science, and we spoke together at length about our respective projects, she speaking about the problems of oil recovery in North Sea chalk basins which collapse inexplicably and I about my recent National Science Foundation proposal, that I am writing at this moment, attempting to put together a revision that makes sense.
Panel: Sharing Environmental Data Across Boundaries in the Arctic Part II: Now up. Jon Staerkebye, Senior Vice President, Kongsberg Oil and Gas Technologies. Showing movies that depict the advance communication strategies for envisioning environmental monitoring on the sea floor.
Okay, now speaking is Dr. Larry Hinzman, Director of Arctic Research Center, U. Fairbanks, talking about the best of international partnerships for understanding the Arctic.
International sea ice prediction network. Ice-ocean model run by ACCESS working group to provide guidance on how to target observations.
Streaming thoughts in my head: I woke up today deciding to chance it that most folks would be wearing a suit without a tie. I was correct. Now where on earth did I learn that? It was in Holmenkollen, at the Oslo Energy Forum (OSE), when Johan Nic Vold, managing director for the Norwegian Energy Foundation, organizer of the OSE, instructed participants on the first day, in a collective manner, that wearing a tie is limited only for dinner gatherings.
Coffee break: I just bumped into DNV’s Elisabeth Tørstad (Exec. VP and Chief Operating Officer, Division Americas and Sub-Saharan Africa), who joked that she sees me everywhere — to which I responded that I request her travel itinerary from DNV. We laughed. I first met Ms. Tørstad at the Berkeley CO2 sequestration meeting, where we exchanged stories about the Oslo Energy Forum. Then, some months later, we bumped into each other in Tromsø, at the Arctic Frontiers conference this past January.
Sharing Environmental Data Across Boundaries in the Arctic Part I: Jarle Aarbakke, Rector, U. Tromsø. former Chair of Norwegian Government appointed High North/Arctic Committee.
Wow. This turns out to be an interesting panel. Climate “regime shifts” in Marine environments. I barely got my tail over here, thinking the meeting room was close by, but turns out a 10 minute walk, so I missed some of Dr. Hepsø’s (Statoil anthropologist) opening. But Dr. Aarbakke is stirring things up already by jumping directly into Norwegian-Russian data sharing on climate change, marine environments in the Barents Sea area, which requires cooperation by all Arctic countries. “Key Message”.
A “next generation” environmental monitoring system. That it is harder to find financing for data management. Sharing requires (a) recognition of ownership (its traceability) (b) standardized and readable formats (c) known data sources (d) known quality of data.
I wish he would go into more detail about these points, traceability of ownership, for example, seems to be a curious rabbit role to chase down.
End of presentation, stressing the need for the Arctic Council to step in to create a major presence in data sharing. Of course, during Q and A, I made my few comments, always interested in having my voice circulate around the room, though not even sure what I referred to, just enjoying the fleetingness of exchange (yay).
Okay. Up now is Dr. Robert Detrick, NOAA Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research. Again, partnerships with industry, government, academia, to create expertise on data sharing. This is interesting: Observation network should include Operational Forecasting and Anticipation of changes in Ecosystem Structure. Point out the combination of technologies, traditional (ships, drifters) and emerging (unmanned aerial systems, cable observatories).
Data management. Tremendous volumes. NOAA has MOA’s with ConocoP, Statoil, and (?) on environmental data sharing partnerships.
Now up is Svenn Ferry Utengen, VP Statoil Research Development Innovation. “As my son told me, I am a ‘Fairly Good Representation of the Fossil Industry'”.
Using the best available technology requires sharing, in this particular field. Actually, that is a good question, what types of knowledge require sharing (e.g., arctic technology and development, including environmental) and what kinds of knowledge are proprietary (e.g., intellectual property).
Okay, now concrete technologies. Svenn puts up a slide that defines five areas where uncertainty surrounds how to move forward with technological developments. His activities refer to in house expertise on, well, just a whole number of issues, including oil spill response technology, Arctic drilling units, Seismic technologies — I will post a few slides in a moment.
David Womak, IBM, Director, Worldwide Chemicals and Petroleum, began his career with Exxon, BA, MBA holder. paper titled, Bridging Partnerships. “Smarter Responsibility” — successfully, safely, productively. A series of partners who come together to explore “collaborative development activities”, things IMB thinks are going to impact the industry “going forward”.
Market research on chief ideas on the minds of global companies. Amazing. He distinguishes between global companies and petroleum companies. Cycle time, is 7 years for an engineer to become productive straight out of college, and looking to reduce it to 3 years. Environmental issues number one.
Wow. Oil and gas acknowledging the nature of complexity it needs to solve and will be outsourcing problem solving. Several threads if you will toward moving to solving data issues, environmental/sustainable issues.
Lunch: Tuna sandwich with potato chips. I learned that Vidar Hepsø, anthropologist at Statoil will be delivering a talk on Arctic energy at 2PM. Also, Amy Jaffe has since moved from Rice University to UC Davis to become Ex Dir. of Energy and Sustainability, and replaced by Kenneth Medlock, who I plan to look for tomorrow morning after the plenary taking place at the Baker Institute.
I am a push over for colored lights. I love dazzling colors. Whether used to depict complex capillary formations in oil deposits or as spot lights for jazzing up science posters, or even just mosaics on ceilings and pharaonic design patterns for architectural motif, the sight catches me my tracks.
Up next, a session on sharing environmental data across boundaries in the Arctic.
Ove Flataker
10AM: Just settling in and immediately began chatting with Ove Flataker, “Ekspedisjonnsjef” (Director General) of Norwegian Ministry of Petroleum and Energy, who just up, gave us a well rounded story about the history and future of Norwegian petroleum, respectfully referring to American titans of oil and gas development for establishing the industry in Norway beginning late 1960s.
I always like images that depict the Arctic, from different perspectives and highlighting resources in different ways.
Here are two such images that Ove employed in his talk:
“The best way of collaborating is physically, to meet each other”, says Prof. Arne Graue, Chairman of the Executive Board Petroleum Research, Norway, mentioning the value of networking.
Oops, we just heard from Dr. Graue that the dinner at the Consular’s residence tonight is restricted by invitation only, so hold on to your tickets everyone! Here is an image of the invite:
PhD student from NTNU, Trondheim, Elena Parmiggiani, just gave a great talk on environmental knowledge management. Good grief, some folks have great projects. I am in the midst of revising a proposal for research funding on quite a similar topic, and found her talk inspiring.
One aspect that caught my attention is how knowledge is gathered — referring to (1) what is “new” versus what is “traditional” knowledge (2) what is local represented versus standardized knowledge and (3) what is top-down versus bottom up (e.g., folksonomies) knowledge.
11/11: I blew into Houston this afternoon to attend the Norwegian-Texas TransAtlantic Science Week via invitation of Dr. Jostein Mykletun, Norwegian Consular General to the United States, and former Ambassador of the High North.
This is a view of Houston from inside the taxi.
Some of you may remember that just over one year ago I had the opportunity to present a key note discussion of my research in Houston at the Arctic Oil and Gas Workshop.
At that event I got to mingle with folks in the technical part of Arctic oil and gas industry. It was at this workshop also that I first met Jostein, if I may take such liberties to refer to him by his first name.
I should mention that it was then also, at a reception at the Consular General’s home, that Sonia Mykletun invited me to apply for the Fulbright Research Chair position. This was an especially generous gesture. In fact, my visit here this week includes extending a warm thanks for support as I was awarded US-Norway Fulbright this year. 
It is just about dinner time and I will head over to the Hilton now to see what other pre-conference activities are taking place.
Posted in Paparazzi Ethnography, tagged Brussels, Moscow on October 30, 2012| Leave a Comment »
10/30: During my last day in Brussels, as serendipity would have it, I was able to meet with a member of the United States Mission to the European Union (EU) — a Mr. Epelson Dawers (pseudonym, pronounced DA-yers), Counselor for Energy, at his office located on Rue Zinner within 20 minutes walking distance from the botanical garden. A lean, dapper, and distinguished gentleman whose previous appointment was in Baghdad, Mr. Dawers’ expertise appeared on the surface of his gestures, but also of course, through his expressed knowledge of affairs in Europe and interests of the US state.
Mr. Dawers had agreed to meet with me on very short notice, through a phone call to his office from Tevan Sefiv, Director of Transport and Markets, for the Energy Charter Secretariat, who I lunched with earlier in the day. During my conversation with Tevan, I learned of a workshop that he is organizing in Warsaw in November, and to which he invited me to attend if I could be accompanied by a member of the US diplomatic corp. To find out, we decided to give Mr. Dawers a ring. Once on the telephone, Tevan deftly skipped from one topic to another, and then mentioning finally, of his meeting with me, suggesting in fact, that I was indeed, in the room at that very moment and then abruptly handed the phone receiver over to me. And that is how I came to be invited to meet with Mr. Dawers.
The US Mission to the EU is distinguished from the US Ambassador’s office to Belgium and from the US branch for NATO — all three offices within sight of each other and administratively integrated. There is a lot of security that surrounds these offices with numerous practices for entering and leaving buildings that conform roughly to security for all US government sites.
Speaking as a cultural anthropologist of energy meetings on the high level, I am quite use to security measures, such as bar coded identification badges tagged visibly to the body, the passage through metal detectors, turnstiles and barricades, and the presence of armed security personnel.
Yet, today, from my excitement at meeting with Mr. Dawers and from my lingering thoughts at having just met with Tevan, but also having now just passed the Russian embassy, along the same street and accessible through a 19th century wrought iron gate — I became quite flustered when at a certain moment, the pedestrian walkway simply ended in the presence of armed guards asking me politely where I was headed, and whether I knew I was standing before the American Embassy.
I have never quite considered myself a bumbling academic, but after having passed through security, with a tie in my hand, along with a one-quarter inch stack of loose papers that included business cards, hotel stationary and google map print outs, I must have left just that impression to Mr. Dawers, who introduced himself to me as I was stashing all these articles back onto my person.
The building was swank and soon I had a chance to settle into a black leather arm chair and explain how I found myself in Brussels (see post below) and what my project was all about.
It is so shameful for me to admit this on the Paparazzi Ethnographic blog, but where else if not here should I state that in such instances, when I am surrounded by such a well ordered and elegant setting, among persons so disciplined, knowledgeable, and clearly a part of social networks linked to important political and economic forces — my first impulse is to ask whether I can have a job (!) — as if academic work is somehow non-work, a non-productive lifestyle made up of a non-well ordered regime of non-continuous mental productivity.
But that is the specific feeling I get inside such offices where everything seems to look so appropriate. Of course, I should remind my readers that I served in some small capacity as a political operative, while working in an appointed position under two Alaska governors on the Senate side of Capitol Hill in Washington D.C., mingling as I did with US Department of State, etc. Then, what I appreciated most about that position (and yearn nostalgically over), is the appearance of wealth, intelligence, and connectedness it provided me, and of course, the sense that my finger was close to the “pulse of history”, as Max Weber refers to politics as a vocation.
But the job was also a bit boring.
For example, and this is not a slight to anyone in the diplomatic corp. — in fact, it is with deep respect for their capacity to keep multiple discourses available on the tip of their tongue — one of the freedoms I have as an academic is my ability to ask questions about knowledge and to illicit discussion that reveals the strict discourse or style of speech that becomes embodied in officials in their capacity as officials.
I find this fascinating. The style of diplomatic talk by Mr. Dawers carries a performative quality that remains on the level of the distribution of statements. These uttered statements clearly have flexibility, they are after all, spoken by a specific person (Mr. Dawers). But they are also manufactured outside of Mr. Dawers, they carry a life of their own in that some variation of their structure is being reproduced and discussed elsewhere by other members of his staff and even other personnel in other governmental offices. And it is through these statements that each of these different persons can locate their own interests of state and express their position to each other on a variety of different topics.
One example is the topic of the Energy Charter that had come up throughout the day.
It was only a few years ago, for example, that I was in Moscow attending the 8th Russian Oil and Gas Congress, when I heard from Tevan’s predecessor, Ralf Dickel (Ральф Дукель), that a transition of the European natural gas industry was underway.
A global economic crises combined with the rising production of natural gas in the United States from non-conventional sources (shale gas), suggested that Europe would be awash with expensive natural gas from Russia, and that the only course of action that lay ahead would be a renegotiation of long-term contracts to favor competitive pricing based on short-term contracts along side a realigning of the pipeline grid itself, to create more capacities for multi-directional flows, and so on and so forth.
While these issues remain in stages of development, affecting the prospects of one Arctic proposal that I had been investigating, the off-shore Shtokman natural gas development project in the Barents Sea– they have become also increasingly linked to Europe’s trajectory toward developing a renewable energy portfolio aimed somehow at reducing Western European dependence upon Russian energy sales.
In the midst of all this, the Energy Charter exists as a political initiative creating multilateral rules to provide net exporters of energy and net importers a balanced and efficient framework for international cooperation (bilateral agreements and non-legislative instruments aside). To do this, the Energy Charter established a Treaty signed by 51 European participating countries in December 1994 (entered into legal force in 1998) creating a legal foundation for energy security, based on the principles of open, competitive markets and sustainable development, thereby mitigating risks associated with energy-related investment and trade.
Two countries, however, Norway and Russia, do not participate as fully binding members, and in fact, Russia formally withdrew from participation to the Treaty in 2009, despite the fact that it can still be held accountable in an ETC Tribunal process.
It was within this context, that our speech took place and pleasure. For Tevan, his concern was whether the US diplomatic mission would be participating in upcoming events and keep abreast of developments about the Energy Charter. For Mr. Dawers, the question of what appropriate level to participate in such discussions and events, whether representatives from the local embassies (whether the US embassy in Poland would attend the Energy Charter workshop in Warsaw), State Department in DC, or Mr. Dawers’ own office. The concern on both sides is ensuring security, security of supply, security of investments, security of an affordable price, all issues that both sides agree upon, with respect to Russian exports, that energy should be a commodity and not a political tool.
After my meeting, I had a brief moment to carry out some sight seeing in Brussels. The most interesting location I found was a Kodak photography store, that continues to provide film development services for customers.
Given the proliferation of digital photography, I could never have imagined such a store still operates, and felt there should be some kind of guidebook for endangered industries, as such activities represent a twilight of tradition now quickly fading into the past. They are forms of the past present participle — a cultural heritage of sorts, labors of loss, managing to hang on to the present long after their functions have been replaced by the future.
Particularly touching was the site of developed film in bags awaiting customers. Who are these folks who hang on to folksy ways of taking photographs and the delayed forms of gratification that come from awaiting the images to be developed, and ensuing discussions about whether the image a proper reflection of the moment.
From the street perspective, I fully intended to find the store closed and abandoned, as this window dressing demonstrates, a kind of haphazard look, covered over with graffiti that itself looks to be in stages of decay.
Posted in Paparazzi Ethnography, tagged Brussels on October 24, 2012| Leave a Comment »
11/28: Brussels. Fairly inconstant weather. Cigarette smoking still allowed. Women wear casual and men wear perfume. Belgian waffles on every corner but also chicken wings. Campari on ice or Campari with no ice and soda water.
I have been in Brussels now for several days, staring out of a hotel room window while mulling over comments I received from various professionals in different cities concerning the European Research Council (ERC) Consolidator grant due February 17, 2013. The grant itself is a generously large 5 year research funding stream with individual requests amounting up to € 2.75 million. Review decisions are made on the basis of a 2 step process, the first step consisting of a 2-page resume; 2-page outline of scientific career; and 5-page outline of the proposed research. In all, 9 pages of Times New Roman, 12 point, 2 cm margin, type-written paper. The second stage, if successfully passing the first, is a 15-page outline of the proposed research. Finally, if the research merits the high standard of the scientist panel reviewers, there is an interview at the ERC Executive Agency right here in Brussels.
The latest set of intelligence gathering comes to me from Horace Penroe, a pseudonym referring to an ERC program officer who was kind enough to meet with me on Friday to go over details of the proposal. Earlier in the week, in Oslo, I attended a workshop led deftly by Mette Skraastad (see below) and organized by ERC national contact point person, the Research Council of Norway‘s (RCN) Per Magnus Kommandantvold, who I had met earlier this year, in January, at the Arctic Frontiers conference in Tromsø.
It was then, where I participated on a panel cross-talk for research funding, invited by Jen Baeseman to represent the US standpoint on behalf of the Association of Polar Early Career Scientists — and along side Rena Levin, the Norwegian Fulbright Program Officer with whom I was making my acquaintance because I had been short listed for the award — that I first heard in detail about the ERC program from Per Magnus. Luckily, U. Tromsø’s ERC grant administrator, Thorbjørg Hroarsdottir, and budget coordinator, Bjørg Hunstad — familiar to me from an RCN proposal I turned in just a few weeks earlier through my faculty sponsorship from Sidsel Saugestad in the Department of Anthropology — suggested that I apply for a research title in order to go after the ERC.
And thus, was the windy road that led me to Brussels, my last stop in gathering background information for the final preparation of the proposal.
When the sun comes out in Brussels, the city carries a stereoscopic feel, as if every scene were taken as a daguerreotype, and then painted over with colors.
There are a number of threshold concerns that I have to consider when preparing the proposal, and that require some time to gel, hence, the mulling around in a hotel room, allowing the information to settle before getting back to writing in California on Thursday.
One area in particular surrounds the concepts of “innovation”, “high risk”, “preliminary findings”, “incremental research”, all terms of art over which the ERC places great emphasis. In simple terms, a proposal must be innovative and of a high risk nature, but there should be preliminary findings to ensure the research can be carried out successfully and these findings should not be so well developed so as to suggest the proposal is an incremental part of an earlier project. More precisely, I have to make very clear that what I am going to do is unique and has great potential. If I claim that no one has done it before, I should therefore know the “state of the art”, and cover from it all angles. Be “assertive without sounding arrogant” as it was explained to me.
The ERC Executive Agency is located in an oval shaped steel and blue glass tower that can be seen from the botanical garden in these photos above.
From my hotel room window, seen at the top of this post, the roof of the botanical garden’s glass house can be seen on the left. From afar, the oval of the ERC building casts a reflection upon a glass sky scraper located nearby. Up close and inside the ERC oval tower, looking through Horace Penroe‘s window, the adjacent building appeared in stark manner.
Not everything taken under consideration is a key theme. There are also many small details that require clarity. There is the selection of which panel to submit my proposal to, which was a mystery until Friday. There are a number of Social sciences and Humanities (SH) Evaluation Panels to select from. What key words would be important to differentiate my project would be important. My resume, what I state as my experience on two pages. The definition of innovative, etc.
But what I found most helpful about meeting with folks, and traveling through various offices and workshops, is not so much the process of getting a feel for the ERC proposal process, but in fact, getting a feeling of curiosity about the proposal itself.
There are in fact, so many documents, website pages, PDFs to go through, which on the surface of things, do not make a lot of sense or attract attention. But in fact, each of these pages is quite important and the information represented is key to fashioning the language of a proposal. The trick, if you will, then, is to figure out how to interact with this language, to develop a passion for its code, to be drawn to its pages as a style of life — as a lifestyle over all others.
Among such “passion” for the text, I found myself booked into a disco hotel, Hotel Bloom, with the sound of an electronic high-hat (tst tst tst) — and addictive minor chord progressions permeating every space.
It is a wonder, how music and movies can permeate the consciousness so rapidly, and become so infectious without the slightest interruption other than the time it takes to walk into a room
9/10: While speaking with U. Tromsø’s Thorbjørg Hroarsdottir about our upcoming submission to the European Research Council (ERC), we remembered to check in with Norwegian Research Council’s Per Magnus Kommandantvold, National Contact Person for ERC, with whom we organized a phone call to request advice on our visit to the Cognizant Program Officer at ERC in Brussels.
Paparazzi Ethnography 