Exploring blue San Francisco: a post-doc’s perspective

There are some moments in life when one realizes how small the world is. Taking the nowadays run-down BART train, I ended up in a conversation with an equally unimpressed stranger by the name of Benjamin Slotnick. It turned out to be an entrepreneur with a researcher background. As if this wasn’t coincidence enough it turned out this new acquaintance was not only a scientist entrepreneur, but one that worked with algae as a solution for rejuvenation of sea water. As it happens, I’m doing research centering on university and science impact in the field of ocean solutions for a sustainable future.

After a good night’s sleep, awaiting the jetlag that never came, I met up with Barbro Osher. Barbro is the intriguing woman behind the Osher scholarship I can thank for allowing me to go to San Francisco in the first place. Our discussion centered around the San Francisco region and what Sweden may gain in being more active there. As well as societal issues and the impact of Covid-19 and the following restrictions has had on the region. Even as a visitor it was evident how many commercial properties had been abandoned and that many people were left in desperation. Thinking back on my last visit in the city in 2014, the many homeless people in the streets 2023 was something I didn’t expect.

Experience exchange with PhD student at Stanford’s Ocean Solutions.

Day three I met up with a PhD student currently at Stanford’s Ocean Solutions. His research related to how to measure impact in applied research, startups and projects dealing with solutions for a cleaner ocean. I think we were both struck by how aligned our respective research where and by some of the differences in our respective research approaches. He had a background in Oceanography and I in innovation, entrepreneurship, and further back finance. Our discussion ended up in the conclusion that there’s a lack of innovation leaders in “oceantech” (in lack of a better word). We agreed on the view that there is a need for someone doing the same as Elon Musk did for electric cars and space tech to attract more interest and stimulate more solutions into this space.

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Visit to the Nordic Innovation House

Day four I got up early and took the Caltrain to Palo Alto, the center of famed Silicon Valley. On the agenda was visiting the Nordic Innovation House (NIH) and meeting with a manager of science impact at the Center for Ocean Solutions at Stanford. Nordic Innovation House is a Silicon Valley hub founded by the governmental agencies for innovation in the Nordic countries. At the NIH I met Anna Seitz and Sarah Johansson, two of the managers responsible for managing the hub and more importantly the community of startups and network that has been built over the years. They introduced the hub and the various services they provided to emerging startups wanting to explore the American market. Many startups have passed through its doors since it became the NIH in 2014, after the house had been run by Innovation Norway exclusively since 2011. This history does make an impact in the composition of startups taking advantage of their services, as Norwegian firms are the second most common after the Swedish ones. As it happens, surprisingly often in this area of California, I bumped into a fellow northerner from Business Region Västerbotten who is visiting the NIH as part of the Wallenberg Fellowship.

After having productive dialogue with the people at NIH, off I went to the Stanford campus. The Stanford Center for Ocean Solutions is an interesting center, with some similarities to the Centre for Sea and Society at the University of Gothenburg. They aim to do science from "insight to impact" in the ocean solutions space and are based out of Stanford's main campus yet also have an office at Hopkins Marine Station in Pacific Grove, CA.

Approaches and solutions for a bluer future

When I arrived at the meeting, the manager had asked a newly arrived Wallenberg Post Doctoral Fellow from Stockholm Resilience Centre to join us. The discussions centered on our respective research into university impact and differences in the respective approaches in the US and Swedish/European environments. The US often applies a bottom-up approach with many private actors and philanthropists financing ocean solutions as the European and Swedish approach involves the Government and State taking on this role, i.e., a more top-down approach. Which approach is the better, time will tell. But more importantly, for a bluer future, many types of approaches are needed. 

With these words, I end this note on my experiences during these days and hope that you have enjoyed joining me on this trip to our Atlantic neighbor. 

By Linus Brunnström, PhD and Wallander Postdoctoral Scholar at the Unit for Innovation and Entrepreneurship and U-GOT KIES.