April 11, 2017 — Standing in a high-ceilinged work bay on the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution’s Quissett Campus, United Nations General Assembly President Peter Thomson was surrounded by sophisticated ocean sensors, robot gliders and moorings that towered overhead, bristling with technology.
“As a young boy in Fiji, I read my National Geographic, and saw the photos of Woods Hole and bathyscaphe sailing out of here, and this has always been a place where I thought, at least there’s some place where the good science is going on,” Thomson told scientists and media Friday at a briefing held during his tour of the institution’s facilities.
Thomson said he came to WHOI to ask that the organization send scientists to the upcoming UN Ocean Conference, which will be held June 5-9 in New York City.
“I’m an advocate, I’m not a scientist,” Thomson said. “It’s very important to me if I can seduce these guys at Woods Hole to come down and play an active role.”
WHOI Director Mark Abbott embraced Thomson’s request.
“It is a recommitment of a lot of things we do and we will be an active participant,” Abbott said.
WHOI is already involved in international research and projects, and had a program that sponsored scientists from around the world doing research at the institution, he said.
Thomson is a career civil servant and diplomat, has been his country’s permanent representative to the United Nations in New York since 2010, and served as the Fijian Ambassador to Cuba until he was selected as President of the General Assembly this year.