BAMOS
March 2017
4
President's report
The Sciences in Australia and globally
“The importance of advanced physical, mathematical and biological sciences to the Australian economy”. That is the title of the report by the Australian Academy of Science and the Chief Scientist in 2015–2016. According to the report, scientific advances over the past 20 to 30 years have underpinned an estimated $330 billion of Australia's economic growth, and contributed to a quarter of all Australian economic activity. Our sciences (meteorology and oceanography) save lives on an almost daily basis and help communities and businesses manage the fluctuations of weather and climate that affect their lives and businesses, and so are part of that significant underpinning. These messages are sometimes hard to hear amongst the plethora of sometimes-noisy news and wide-ranging information sources in today’s media landscape.
A March for Science has been proposed by a number of science-related and friends-of-science groups for Saturday 22 April, within Australia and globally, as a possible opportunity to overcome the message barriers and to communicate the value of science to a wide audience. This latter is quite a challenge. AMOS Members are invited to read Seven things to keep in mind if you're going to March for Science, by Will J Grant and Rod Lamberts, Australian National University, and a previous post by Rod Lamberts: Speak out, climate experts – but stop making tactical mistakes.
In many ways AMOS (as a Society) can be more effective behind the scenes, working and advocating directly with policy makers. AMOS aims to: “advance the scientific understanding of the atmosphere, oceans and climate system, and their socioeconomic and ecological impacts, and promote applications of this understanding for the benefit of all Australians”, and maintains an independent stance in representing the atmospheric and oceanographic sciences in Australia. AMOS recognises that there is a need for scientists (as a whole group, not just climate scientists) to engage with policy makers on the integrity of science. How can we demonstrate its overall integrity and its general, purposeful checks and balances, and hence that it is useful for evidence-based policy making? This is a task beyond the scope of a march, and so your Council will consider whether AMOS could prepare a short statement that reiterates the benefits of the sciences and endorses rigorous scientific inquiry, as a contribution to the discussion on the value of science to Australia.
Of course, all scientists are welcome to choose to participate in a march or other activity on Earth Day, 22 April, should they judge it to be a positive and useful activity.
Our Annual conference in Canberra
This was a most successful event with thanks to everyone involved, including the organisers and all of you who participated with talks, posters and side events. It was very pleasing to join with our colleagues across the Tasman, encouraging strong participation from New Zealand thanks to the Meteorological Society of New Zealand.
With our guest and keynote speaker Professor Gordon McBean, President of ICSU joining us in Canberra, we had the opportunity to arrange meetings with officials. Thanks to Rob Vertessy, Jon Gill and the Australian Academy of Science (AAS), we held meetings during that week with the Chief Scientist, the Secretary of the Department of the Environment and Energy, the Secretary of the Department of Innovation, Industry and Science and a policy adviser to the Minister for Foreign Affairs. Gordon was also able to hold meetings with AAS officials and Fellows about the evolving ICSU Program called Future Earth. These were opportunities to reiterate the benefits of national and international programs in our sciences.