Chief Science Officer

Duties and Responsibilities: The Chief Science officer is generally responsible for obtaining and analyzing all scientific data received from the ship's sensors, whether from the main sensor arrays or hand-held tricorders.
The CSO may either be specialized, concentrating in one or two specific areas, or be a "general practitioner," a jack-of-all-trades. The CSO is responsible for taking raw data provided by these input devices and translating that data into dialogue easily understood by the crew, especially the ship's Commanding Officer. It is frequently the input of the CSO that tells a starship captain that what he is seeing on the viewscreen is a potentially hostile enemy. Because of relating functions, the CSO may sometimes be required to work closely with the CMO or the Counselor. The CSO has a staff which is usually commensurate with the size and mission of the ship in question. Small ships may have only one science officer, and he may also function as the ship's First Officer. On the other hand, larger starships, such as the Galaxy-class, may have dozens of science officers. The CSO on larger ships will have an office, while smaller ships may not have the space.
The primary responsibilities of the science officer are operation of sensor arrays, coordination of scientific endeavors, and interpretation of sensor data. Since sensor systems are a shared resource, the science officer is usually involved in a number of scientific projects. Departments such as stellar cartography often contact the science officer for advice and input. Command decisions are made based on all available information, which includes scientific information. The science officer is responsible for the interpretation and dissemination of all scientific data collected by available sensor systems.
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