Unmuzzling Government Scientists: How to Re-Open the Discourse

This outstanding and much publicized session is available as a webcast at:
http://www.pipsc.ca/portal/page/portal/website/issues/science/aaas
You can also follow related discussion on Twitter: #unmuzzlescience

The panel featured journalist Margaret Munro, Union of Concerned Scientists representative Francesca Grifo, and University of Victoria professor Andrew Weaver. Several representatives from the Canadian government were approached to participate, but none were able to attend.

Munro shared examples of Canadian government scientists prevented from speaking to media about published research. Prior to 2007, press were able to approach scientists directly for interviews, but now requests must go through many layers of bureaucracy, in many cases up to the Privy Council Office. The most notable example was Kristi Miller, who was barred from talking with media about her article in Science on sockeye salmon. Other cases involved authors of articles on the Younger Dryas Flood and Arctic ozone loss.

Grifo discussed how the situation for government scientists is improving in the US. She pointed out this periodic table of scientific interference which documents past muzzlings, and this newly released report on corporate interference in science. Several government agencies are developing better scientific integrity policies, with NOAA and NSF in particular having crafted clear policies about communication.

Weaver presented evidence of declining public belief in global warming, and connected this to an 80% drop in climate change coverage in Canada in recent years. He stressed that Canadian federal government atmospheric and oceanic scientists have an excellent reputation internationally, and muzzling only serves to limit the public's knowledge of the research their tax dollars have paid for. The information will come out eventually, via FOIA requests, and the coverage that results focuses on the government's attempt to censor rather than on the science. All members of the panel agreed with the quote an audience member shared, that a scientist is first and foremost a public servant.

--Ursula Ellis, University of British Columbia