About / CV

My research looks at the way that states determine what counts as militarily significant technology.  It draws on and contributes to the literature on classification, boundary work, international political/technological institutions, and the co-production of social and technological systems.

I am currently the Academic Coordinator for the Center for Science, Technology, Medicine, & Society at the University of California, Berkeley, where I am also a Visiting Scholar.  In addition, I am  an Associate Research Fellow at Harvard University’s Program on Science, Technology, & Society (STS), located within the Kennedy School of Government.  From 2009-2011, I was a Postdoctoral Fellow at Harvard, which was a joint appointment with the STS Program and the School of Engineering & Applied Science.  I completed my doctoral research in 2009 within the Institute for Science, Innovation, & Society (formerly the James Martin Institute for Science & Civilization) at the University of Oxford.  This research, supervised by Professor Steve Rayner, was on the Wassenaar Arrangement, an international informal group that works to prevent destabilising accumulations of conventional arms and dual-use technologies in regions of concern.

Feel free to contact me if you have any questions!

Research Interests

  • The Wassenaar Arrangement on Export Controls for Conventional Arms and Dual-Use Goods and Technologies
  • Ambiguity, uncomfortable knowledge, and  the social construction of ignorance
  • Classification systems, particularly how we catergorize items as military or not
  • Science & technology studies
  • International security

My Zotero Library  View my Zotero reference library to see a complete list of articles I work with.

Publications & Presentations

  • “States, borders, and security: exports controls in physical space and cyberspace,” invited paper presented to Stanford University’s Center for International Security and Cooperation and the Program in Science,Technology, and Society, 10 January 2011.  Also given at the Naval Postgrad School, 11 January 2011.  Slides.
  • “Imaginaries of State Security”, paper given at the Science Democracy Network annual meeting, in conjunction with the British Royal Society’s 350th celebrations, Kavli House, UK, 28-30 2010.
  • “The Bounds of Applicability of Export Controls”, paper given at The Rightful Place of Science? conference at CSPO, Arizona State University, 16-19 May 2010.
  • “Finding Common Ambiguity: what is left out of dual-use technology definitions”, paper given at the Uncertainty: Ambiguity and Doubt in Knowledge Production conference at Stanford University, 23-24 April 2010.
  • “Technological Ambiguity in Export Controls: A tool for legitimacy?”, invited presentation to the Cornell University Peace Studies Program, jointly sponsored by the Cornell Department of Science & Technology Studies, 11 March 2010.  (PDF of slides; Streaming quicktime movie of the slides)
  • “Technological Ambiguity & the Wassenaar Arrangement” DPhil thesis, University of Oxford, submitted Trinity Term 2009.
  • “How do we prevent the malicious use of technology? Can we?” Presentation the the New College Graduate Colloquium, University of Oxford, 22 October 2008.
  • “Is it possible to define technologies to be controlled?” Talk given to the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies, Monterey Institute of International Studies, California on 26 August 2008.
  • “Governing trade in dual-use items: the problem of definition“  Paper prepared for The 2008 Oxford/Sciences-Po Doctoral Seminar on Regional and Global Institutions in the 21st Century, 1 May 2008.
  • “‘You want to control technology? Fine, give me a list.’ ‘It’s not that easy, sir.’”, Talk given to the James Martin 21st Century School Advanced Research Seminar Series, University of Oxford, 16 November 2007.
  • “International Relations, Cultural Theory, and STS: Can these children learn to play together?”, Presentation given to the James Martin Institute Work in Progress Seminar, University of Oxford, 15 May 2007.
  • “The Wassenaar Arrangement: The unsexiest of international regimes”, Invited talk given to CPASS Speaker Series, Georgetown University, 11 April 2007.
  • “Governing the Unknown Knowns: A reply to Jerry Ravetz”, Presentation given to the James Martin Institute Work in Progress Seminar, University of Oxford, 31 October 2006.
  • “Defining Dual-Use: An international assessment of the discourses around technology”, Talk given to the ESRC New Directions in Weapons of Mass Destruction Proliferation Workshop, King’s College London, 27 February 2006.
  • “Pluralistic Tools for Policy Analysis”,  Talk given to the Mid-Summer YSSP Workshop, International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis, Austria, 20 July 2005.
  • Evans, Samuel A. (2004) The Governance of Technology at the World Trade Organization: a cultural theory framework. Dissertation for the degree of Masters of Science in Management Research, University of Oxford.
  • Bryant, R. G., S. A. Evans, E. R. Long Jr., R. L. Fox (2000) “Thermal and Mechanical Characterization of NASA High Displacement Actuators For Satellite Instrumentation.” Smart Structures and Materials 2000: Industrial and Commercial Applications of Smart Structures Technologies, Proceedings of SPIE Vol. 3991. 195-200.

Research Experience & Employment

Awards

  • Next Generation Science and Technology Policy Leader (2010) Awarded by the Consortium for Science, Policy & Outcomes, Arizona State University.
  • Dan Gowler Award (2004)  Awarded for the best dissertation in the Management Faculty, University of Oxford.

Education

Last updated: 27 October 2011