Australia's Scientists - We Cannot Speak Freely In Our Work, Or On Logging/Mining/Climate Policy
Australian scientists say they are prevented from speaking openly about their work and their advice is being suppressed by government and industry when it comes to the impact of logging, mining, land-clearing and the climate crisis, new research suggests.
A study by the Ecological Society of Australia, published in the journal Conservation Letters, surveyed 220 scientists across government, industry and academia on the extent to which their work had been suppressed. Forms of suppression include not being able to present or publish results, changes being made to findings before the work is released and self-censorship due to fear of retribution.
The society found about a third of government and industry-employed ecologists and conservation scientists who responded said they had experienced undue modification of their work. About half the government scientists and nearly 40% of those working for industry said they had been blocked from releasing or discussing what they had found either publicly or internally where they worked. Slightly more than half of all respondents (56%) said they felt the constraints on public commentary had become more severe in recent years.
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Euan Ritchie, a Deakin University associate professor in wildlife ecology and co-author on the paper, described the study as “pretty clear evidence the democratic process, which is based on having an informed public, is being interfered with”. He said it also showed that suppression of scientists’ work was having a heavy toll on their mental health. The paper includes anonymous quotes from respondents who said they had been threatened with losing their job if they spoke up after their advice was ignored, were intimidated by senior public servants on the phone and social media, and had quit their position due to stress and loss of motivation.
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https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/sep/09/australian-scientists-say-logging-mining-and-climate-advice-is-being-suppressed
