Guest essay by Eric Worrall
h/t Dr. Willie Soon – Reef Scientist Terry Hughes has received the John Maddox Prize for standing up for science, to acknowledge his spirited defence of his claim that reef coral which survived hundreds of millions of years of extreme climate shifts and extinction level events is in grave peril due to our gradual modern warming.
Reef scientist Terry Hughes awarded prize for standing up to political ‘smears’
Coral reef scientist jointly awarded John Maddox prize weeks after his research centre lost government funding
Judges have awarded an Australian scientist a prestigious international prize, saying he has battled political smears and public attempts to discredit his work in order to shine a light on the devastating effects of climate change on coral reefs.
Prof Terry Hughes was jointly awarded the John Maddox prize on Wednesday for bringing public attention to coral bleaching.
It comes only weeks after his research centre lost government funding for its work.
Known as the “standing up for science prize”, the award acknowledges scientists who promote their research as a matter of public interest and do so in the face of attempts to criticise their work.
…
Back in the real world Peter Ridd, a scientist who genuinely stood up for science by demanding evidence to support wild claims that the Great Barrier Reef is endangered, is still fighting to get his job back.
it seems you cannot be criticized for being wrong. Only for being off message. Welcome to the brave new world.
John Maddox hss just turned in his grave.
From my time as a college trustee I learned that when any one of the many incompetent or malicious administrators would put their foot in it, the first course of defense would be for the other incompetent or malicious administrators to cook up some award for the miscreant as proof of his or her continuing value.
“The award acknowledges scientists who promote their research as a matter of public interest and do so in the face of attempts to criticise their work”
So if I stand up in the face of criticism saying Coral Reefs will not die I lose my job but if I stand up in the face of criticism saying Coral Reefs will die I get an award? I think I will opt for religion.
Amen!
It seems like Australian climate science is very similar to narco politics in the Philippines, metaphorically. It is all a bunch of cover ups and lies within a slaughter of the truth. Presidenti Duterte would be proud of these climate crooks for how they can tell such a whopper of a lie with a bold face. Or maybe a better analogy is that Australia is the ‘Saudi Arabia’ of climate science. Luckily, history will not be so kind to these shiesters of the truth. Peter Ridd will be vindicated by history in his quest to bring out the truth regarding the GBR. Fired for practising true science. What a shame on Australian academia.
Again as per above detail I provided it’s a British award not an Australian.
Yes, I realize that and this implicates the UK as well in all this fiasco. I was referring to climate science in general, and specifically what was done to Peter Ridd, both in Australia. I think the state of climate science in Australia is similar to politics in the Philippines or Saudi Arabia, metaphorically speaking. You don’t dare speak out against the ‘climate elites’ in Australia without taking your ‘life’ in your own hand, metaphorically speaking. In the case of Peter Ridd, he lost his job for just practising science. What a shame!
If you promise the voter free stuff you have to be a professional liar. These people would be out of work in a real capitalist society where honesty is the only way to prosper.
The post truth world is a fascinating, yet frustrating, world to live in.
I thought the Maddox prize was for researchers suffering from mad cow disease, but battling on through it to continue their research. If so, I can think of many more climate scientists who would be eligible.
here is another one from the “it’s the sun, ‘stoopid’ …” crowd
https://youtu.be/LT7uIJHJ4SY
They got a great idea – a pal prize for pal-reviewed papers. Why don’t we copy it?
The “Corrupt your Science for Polotics Prize”.
The award wasn’t for the science, corrupt or otherwise.
The “Self aggrandizing award to promote your cause, award!”
To summarize, Australian coal lobby content provider & political PR smear author Worral tips his hat to Aerospace engineer turned coal lobby content-provider Willie ‘Deliverables’ Soon, for lamenting that late Cook University coal flack Robert Carter’s protege’ has not been an academic success.
Of course, neither have the Cook administrators who want to sack him – last spring, Queensland education union’secretary Michael McNally said: “All management have done is to feed a right-wing media narrative that universities are conformist and actively suppress heterodox views on topics such as climate change.”
But who could be more conformist than an energy lobbyist in full cry ? Here are Soon & Carter hard at work with Viscount Monckton’s crew :
https://vvattsupwiththat.blogspot.com/2015/12/its-christmas-time-in-cite.html
Utter . . . . not going your way in the climate game?
Institutional autocracy no match for democracy.
There now, have your medication and rest today.
You WILL … BELIEVE …. “science” I command you! BELIEVE!! 97% of Federally Funded scientists agree … BELIEVE! BELIEVE in our “projections”, “predictions”, and dead-reckoned guesses … BELIEVE!
… or you won’t get a prize.
In this age of hansen-mannian science the prize ought to be:
‘Standing Up To Science’.
Sir John Maddox was the editor of Nature. For 22 years until 1995. It was a respected publication, once upon a time. Now, not so much.
It’s obvious the Great Barrier Reef is doomed and the science is settled-
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-australia-38902672
https://www.news.com.au/technology/environment/natural-wonders/marine-biologist-discovers-blue-hole-at-the-heart-of-the-great-barrier-reef/news-story/6b1da9d66fdba031924ce471b3ff9237
https://www.australiangeographic.com.au/news/2017/12/new-species-of-coral-discovered-on-great-barrier-reef/
and before coral bleaching doom it was these dooming critters-
https://www.aims.gov.au/docs/research/biodiversity-ecology/threats/cots.html
Send more doom grants.
It’ll be inconvenient when / if the reef recovers. I guess they won’t claw back the award, though.
It would only be inconvenient to them if they ever acknowledged when they were wrong.
And really, when have you ever seen one of the Climate Faithful acknowledge that a prediction or ‘projection’ they made has failed? Or admit that one of their ‘warning signs’ has reversed, and is now getting better?
~¿~
That would be the sound of tipping points being moved on and it’s beyond the sensitivity range of many human ears by all accounts.