Quantum Quandary: International Science Council, 2024
The ISC is a body for scientific diplomacy; it catalyzes and convenes scientific expertise, advice and influence on issues of major concern to both science and society. It unites hundreds of scientific unions and associations that represent various countries and transnational councils. Although it is a relatively new organization, founded in 2018 after the merging of the International Council for Science and International Social Science Council, it is responsible for coordinating international action and being the global voice for the science community.
In a fast progressing world where the future was yesterday, scientific developments in biomedical research and AI are taking the world by a storm. While science can create worlds we can’t even imagine, it also has the power to destroy us if scientific research is left unchecked and unregulated, without regard to the ethical implications, so it is the International Science Council’s responsibility to determine what these international regulations should be. In addition, in a world of rapidly evolving technology, it raises the concern of the far-reaching geopolitical implications of science and technology in international and national security. It is your responsibility to shape policy regarding nuclear deterrence and proliferation in a multipolar world, scientific exchange across national boundaries, and how governments and non-state actors determine how innovations should be adopted into society in a way that limits the unforeseeable harms that they might bring.
You will be the pioneer in shaping scientific diplomacy on the international stage and it’s your responsibility to make sure that these new scientific innovations will not be the beginning of the end. Let’s make sure this experiment doesn’t fail.
Co-Chair:
Elizabeth Douglas
Co-Chair:
Ava Zhang
Elizabeth Douglas is a member of the class of 2025, studying Justice and Peace Studies and Chinese. She grew up in a town outside of Atlanta, GA and now lives in South Carolina, so she is a proud Southerner. She has loved staffing both NCSC and NAIMUN during her time at Georgetown, staffing various JCCs and Crisis committees, so she is excited to staff her first GA with her fellow Co-Chair Ava. Outside of Model UN, she is involved in various clubs and activities on campus, but prefers doing more fun things such as maintaining her daily sudoku streak, facetiming home to see her dog, or discussing a new C-drama with her co-chair. She hopes that delegates will come up with out of this world solutions and blow her mind with their crafty and innovative approaches to this crazy experiment that is called the International Science Council!
Ava Zhang is a member of Georgetown School of Foreign Service class of 2026. She is majoring in Science Technology and International Affairs with a minor in Biology. She is from New York City and this is her 7th year participating in Model UN. She also staffed for NCSC, Georgetown’s college MUN conference, where she was the director of the ECOSOCs Pacific Islands Committee. She is very interested in scientific research and hopes to incorporate it in her study at Georgetown. She is also involved in the Special Events Committee in the School of Foreign Service’s Academic Council. The way to her heart is a good touching story. She is excited to meet the delegates soon!
USG: Wisteria Hu
This committee is in the Assemblies & Summits Organ, and your Under-Secretary General is Wisteria Hu. Committees in this organ are General Assembly-style committees, with 50-160 delegates.
If you have any questions about your committee, please reach out to w.hu@modelun.org.