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The Office of the Science and Technology Adviser to the Secretary (STAS) provides scientific and technical advice and resources to bureaus and offices at the U.S. Department of State, building upon the Secretary of State’s emphasis on utilizing “smart power,” “economic statecraft,” and “whole-of-society” approaches.

Reporting to the Under Secretary for Economic Growth, Energy, and the Environment (E), E/STAS promotes science, technology, and engineering as integral components of U.S. diplomacy. The establishment of the E/STAS office in 2000 followed a National Research Council study that highlighted the attrition of scientists from the Department of State at a time when the importance of science and technology was increasing in many aspects of foreign policy. More recently, the 2010 Quadrennial Diplomacy and Development Review confirmed that in a world of increasingly fast-paced change, “science and technology must be enlisted in an unprecedented fashion.”

On July 31, 2014, the Under Secretary of State for Economic Growth, Energy, and the Environment announced that Dr. Frances Colon will be serving as Acting Science and Technology Adviser to the Secretary.