Veronika Wild

  Scientific integrity must be defended, our planet depends on it To conserve Earth’s remarkable species, such as the violet sabrewing, we must also defend the importance of science. Jeremy Kerr , Author provided Euan Ritchie , Deakin University ; James Watson , The University of Queensland ; Jeremy Kerr , L’Université d’Ottawa/University of Ottawa , and Martine Maron , The University of Queensland Science is the best method we have for determining what is likely to be true. The knowledge gained from this process benefits society in a multitude of ways, including promoting evidence-based decision-making and management. Nowhere is this more important than conservation, as the intensifying impacts of the Anthropocene increasingly threaten the survival of species. But truth can be inconvenient: conservation goals sometimes seem at odds with social or economic interests . As a result, scientific evidence may be ignored or suppressed fo...

  Way off balance: science and the mainstream media When a relationship goes off course, it can be hard to refocus attention. Digitalnative Stephan Lewandowsky , University of Bristol and Steven Sherwood , UNSW THE STATE OF SCIENCE: Has there been a communication breakdown between science and the media and, if so, is the damage terminal? In the concluding instalment of our series, Stephan Lewandowsky and Steve Sherwood take the pulse of a troubled relationship. Some marriages are made in heaven, others end in divorce. And then there are those that drag on until both partners have One Foot in the Grave. What about the marriage between science and the media? Few would think it was made in heaven. And parts of the media probably deserve to be divorced for reasons that have already been discussed on The Conversation . That leaves most of science and much of the media in an uneasy and never-ending alliance much like the Mildrews ...

    -Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay                                                                                               Brian Martin , University of Wollongong The 2017 March for Science was a powerful political statement by scientists. The marchers opposed political interference, budget cuts and lack of support for science at a government level. More commonly, though, scientists stay in their labs and avoid the public political spotlight. CSIRO scientist John Church – who initially acted as an individual (not a representative of his research institution) to “ stand up for science ” in 2015 – is cited as a recent example of the career ramifications that can flow from public activity. Actually, he’s not alone. For ye...

  -Image by Robert Jones from Pixabay       People from overseas have been asking why we aren't doing more to protect our koalas, why there hasn't been more action about bushfire prevention and why our policies don't reflect the urgency of Climate Change. Just when Climate scientists could be saying, “Nyah, Nyah, told you so," the majority are strangely silent. This is a great tragedy since most of the progress humans have made over the last 500 years or so – in health and sanitation, in technology and in mobility and communication, we owe to the work of scientists, yet now when our own lives, not mention that of almost every other species depends on them, we hear very little.  If you have also been scratching your head as to why there is such a disconnect between what is coming out the lab and the field and why a surprisingly large number of people who ought to know better, including many of our policy makers, are still in denial about Climate Change, even whe...