Silencing Science - a new BWB Text by Shaun Hendy

Silencing Science - a new BWB Text by Shaun Hendy

In late 2014 the New Zealand Association of Scientists invited scientists around the country to take part in an online survey: ‘Have you ever been prevented from making a public comment on a controversial issue by your management’s policy, or by fear of losing research funding?’ Within just a few days, more than 150 scientists had answered ‘yes’ to this question.

So writes Shaun Hendy in this thoughtful and revealing new Text, Silencing Science, from Bridget Williams Books. The excerpt points to the tension at the heart of his project: in a ‘golden age’ in which scientists have been encouraged more than ever to communicate, are awarded major prizes for excelling in the field, and have numerous accessible social media channels in which to do so, how is it that science in this country is in danger of being silenced? And, indeed, if this is the case, what can and should be done about it.

Hendy is well-qualified to explore the conundrum. He is director of Te Pūnaha Matatini, a centre of research excellence, and a Professor of Physics at the University of Auckland. He has a PhD in physics from the University of Alberta in Canada and a BSc (Hons) in mathematical physics from Massey University. He is the author with Paul Callaghan of Get Off the Grass: Kickstarting New Zealand’s Innovation Economy, and in 2012 was awarded the Callaghan Medal and the Prime Minister’s Science Media Communication Prize.

For scientists in New Zealand universities, he points out, the right and responsibility to speak on matters of public interest is spelled out in Section 162 of the Education Act, which makes it clear that academics must play the role of the ‘critic and conscience of society’. Equally, the Royal Society of New Zealand’s Code of Ethics and Professional Conduct states that its members must ‘endeavour not to compromise the well-being of society’ – which, Hendy suggests – ‘would surely include keeping the public informed about matters that might put their health at risk’.

He firmly believes that like ‘all other modern societies, our wellbeing depends on our ability to generate knowledge and scientific evidence, to weigh this evidence, and to make decisions that are informed by this evidence’. But with reference to a number of high-profile science-related controversies – the Fonterra botulism scare, communicating seismology in post-quake Christchurch, the Folate in bread issue, the politically-driven, targeted personal attacks on alcohol and diet scientists in social media – Hendy teases out the obstacles, arguments, relationships and structures that increasingly seem to impede this self-evidently common sense objective.

This includes examination of the part-industry-funded Crown Research Institutes and how commercial interests can dampen science communication; how politics, policy and the implied threat to career prospects can constrain openness; how tradition and stereotypes contribute; and a keen discussion on whether experts have a role beyond just sticking to the science when contributing to issues of public concern.

Hendy concludes that they can and must, and further that we need new institutions to protect the sanctity of science which, he writes, ‘like any human endeavour, is vulnerable to the influence of politics, power and money’. His answer, in this balanced but bold critique of the status quo, is that New Zealand needs a Parliamentary Commission for Science ‘to forge a new relationship between scientists, policy-makers and the public’ and ensure that silence in this country is never silenced.

ENDS

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