Canadian Space Agency first to appoint an external science advisor

Dr Sarah Gallagher has been appointed the first science advisor of the Canadian Space Agency - the first in a proposed network of external science advisors to key departments and agencies across the federal government. The two-year appointment will see Gallagher – an associate professor of physics and astronomy at Western Univ - report directly to CSA president Sylvain Laporte and establish a close working relationship with Dr Mona Nemer, Canada’s chief science advisor and the architect of the external advisory network.

Gallagher’s advisory role will be focused on helping to shape and champion the nation’s direction in space science. In an interview with RE$EARCH MONEY, she says she intends to spend one week a month at CSA headquarters in the Montreal suburb of Saint-Hubert and anticipates frequent trips to Ottawa to liaise with the chief science advisor and relevant government officials. A mandate letter is currently being finalized although its public release is not certain.

Gallagher was appointed to the CSA through a government interchange program (Interchange Canada) that allows participants to “remain employees of their home organization and continue to receive their full salary and benefits from their home organization”. She says she anticipates the position will likely occupy at least 50% of her time.

“There are two aspects to the job and both serve the mandate. The first is how to best enable space research. I have a different perspective from the people at CSA because I’ve been involved in missions from the science side and I’m at a university which is a unique perspective from what the engineers and the people at the CSA have,” says Gallagher. “The other aspect which I’m really looking forward to - and I believe is quite novel - is interacting with the government through the team of science advisors for the chief science advisor. That is an opportunity to really advocate for science and how powerful it can be for other things that are important for the government. We have this huge country and we can’t keep track of it without using space resources.”

The CSA is not an unknown entity to Gallagher who has participated in several CSA science projects including the Cosmological Advanced Survey Telescope for Optical and UV Research (CASTOR), a proposed next-generation optical telescope for ultra-deep imaging. CASTOR could be a future CSA mission worth at least $500 million and recently completed a mid-term review of its science maturation. Gallagher says that her participation in CASTOR would represent an “absolute conflict” if she was asked to weigh in with advice on its merits if it’s in competition for resources with other science projects or missions.

“If I were asked and there were several missions that were competing against one another … I would have a conflict of interest and would recuse myself,” she says.

Another area into which Gallagher may be drawn is the balance between space science and technology commercialization. While she’s not sure whether this aspect of CSA activities will be within her purview, she says collaboration between science and industry does not represent conflicting interest and has been a core part of the CSA’s strategic focus from the beginning. She points to the development of the James Webb Space Telescope project in which the CSA is participating as a true partnership between science and industry.

“The James Webb Telescope is one thousand times better than the Hubble (Space) Telescope in certain ways,” says Gallagher. “So that is a giant leap in terms of the technology and the instruments that are required to do that … Certainly there’s room to make that partnership smoother but I really don’t see them as conflicting.”

Gallagher does caution, however, that government should be wary of giving industry control over setting scientific goals. She says the energy and motivation of scientists lie in “actually pursuing goals that the scientists are intrinsically interested in”.

“The technology that is required to enable those goals completely pushes the envelope,” she says. “There’s the science and motivation and then there’s the innovation and technology that happens to meet that science. I consider that the most efficient way to make things happen. If you try to direct the science to serve the technology you need to develop, you’re ultimately going to be unsuccessful because the scientists are just not going to be excited about it.”

A 2016 evaluation by the CSA’s Space Expertise and Proficiency Program recommended that the agency’s Space Science and Technology directorate “should ensure that its objectives and activities are aligned not only with current but also emerging needs of Canadian universities and research institutions in advancing space science and technology knowledge, while also facilitating the work transition of the developed HQP toward sectors, including but not limited to the Canadian space sector, where their advanced technical skills and behavioural competencies (soft skills) can be best applied.”

Tough times at CSA

Gallagher’s new advisory role to the CSA comes at a time of declining public funding for the 29-year-old agency which has been struggling for years to establish a new Long Term Space Plan (LTSP) since the last such document was released in 1994. A 2017 report by the CSA’s Space Advisory Board issued an urgent call to action, stating that a lack of coordinated action and funding is negatively impacting company revenue growth, talent retention and Canada’s ability to participate in international programs and projects. As an example, the SAB noted that a suite of programs geared towards technology adoption, outreach and education has been cut, lowering the agency’s visibility and effectiveness.

According to the government’s 2016-17 report on the CSA’s plans and priorities, the CSA’s budget is in decline, particularly under the Liberal administration. Federal funding for the CSA was $408.7 million in FY 13-14, rising to $432.4 million in FY 16-17 before falling to $338.7 million in FY17-18 and $330.0 million in FY 18-19 (planned).

Regardless of the fiscal constraints and lack of coordination that a LTSP would alleviate, Gallagher sees her new role as a major opportunity to contribute while bringing together the academic and engineering facets underpinning space science, knowledge generation, social benefits and space-based economic development.

“There’s a tremendous desire at CSA. They consider themselves as a science agency. When I was there (September 12) I got an extremely warm welcome (and) a huge desire for people to engage me and tell me what’s going on,” she says. “I’m looking forward to meeting everyone else (in the science advisory community). I love hearing all the things that are going on around the country. There are lots of opportunities for synergies when people know what’s going on.”

R$