News Coutts: Discovery and Keyla Detmer

[Burning Hearts of Qo'nos]

I think depending on the officer in question, these roles are filled in different ways. Samantha Wildman was the science officer but not the first officer, because she had no business being one. Spock was first officer and science officer because he could handle both duties, as a super smart Vulcan. T'pol, was in the same vein. Data is capable of being both science officer (probably) and ops manager because he could handle both duties, in the vein of Spock as well. Saru was science officer on the Shenzhou and Michael was the dedicated first officer. They switched roles later on the Discovery. Science officer does not have to equate first officer, nor does a ship being a science vessel demand that the first officer be science officer, I would assume. For the most part, science officer is just filled in with anyone who knows a little more science than other ppl in Star Trek's storytelling, given that Seven, for all intents and purposes, is basically the science officer after Samantha disappears from the show.

Tuvok was once a science officer, but later became a security/tactical officer. He probably could have been security/science or tactical/science if tactical and security were split positions (in the Titan books, security/tactical are in split between two people IIRC, one of them being Tuvok) and still wear gold.

 

[Crazy Eddie]

^ That was my thinking too. I'm thinking Discovery's engine design is sufficiently unconventional (spore drive and all) that they had to bring in a subspace physicist who at least had the right science background to understand what the hell Stamets was trying to do. Stamets, after all, is definitely not an engineer and his specialty is the mycellium spores and the weird physics involved in that. SOMEBODY ELSE had to have devised a way to run a warp drive from these operating principals, and Ariam -- who operates the spore drive from the bridge and seems to supervise the warp drive too -- would be the most likely suspect.

 

[Burning Hearts of Qo'nos]

^Agreed here for the most part, but I don't think Airiam is the chief engineer or an engineer at all, given she is in the sciences division. I don't think the chief engineer would be a role that would be given to people in different departments other than engineering the way Science Officer/First Officer/Ops Officer/Second Officer is thrown around and has flexibility. I'm pretty sure the chief engineer, whoever they may be, is an actual engineer. Airiam, who probably does have technical experience, but is of the Science department, is chief operator of the drive and a liaison between the engineers who built and maintain the drive, but are directed by the science officers who understand how and why the drive works, led by Stamets. The warp and spore drives probably work in tandem in one way or another (perhaps the warp drive powers the spore drive, that seems like something that Star Trek would do) and that is her only real connection to working with the warp drive. While she pilots the spore drive, engineering is supporting her actions, but are directed by her as a science specialist who understands the physics of the drive where they only know how it connects to the warp drive, and they maintain that connection...would be my guess.

 

[DEWLine]

At any rate: one more reason why both Airiam and Detmer ought to get more screen time, and even the occasional "a" plot for one or two episodes apiece.