Government scientists of the world, unite!

A call for an international network for government science

Cover image from The Story of Scientists and Engineers in Government (Source: the Government Science and Engineering Team, UK)

I worked nine long, achingly beautiful years in the public sector before trying my hand in academia. Much of that time was in a climate change science team, responsible not so much for understanding climate change, as for trying to understand what its impacts would be (or had already been) in the state of NSW. We took climate data and converted it into estimates of future fire danger, future runoff, future rainfall erosivity, future soil properties and future biodiversity condition.

We did a lot of talking. We spoke with climate scientists, who were generally outside the department (there’s quite a few there now, which is great). We gabbed with departmental scientists - ecologists, hydrologists, soil scientists and so on. And we spent a lot of time with people in policy and operations (many of whom had science backgrounds of one sort or another), who were responsible for dreaming up a credible response to the thorny (ok, brutal) challenge of adapting to the impacts of climate change. I’ve alluded to some of the dynamics at play between us and the policy peeps in another post.

Around 2015 when I probably first started seriously pondering what opportunities might exist outside of the public service, I stumbled across the EMCR Forum, which had formed a few years earlier under the auspices of the Australian Academy of Science. It was comprised of a small but energetic group of early and mid-career scientists who had tasked themselves with securing the future of Australian science. Through a mixture of engagement and advocacy, they aimed to improve the research environment for Australia’s future scientists. They were advertising an expression of interest to join the Forum Executive, which I could not resist responding to. To my everlasting surprise, I was selected, and thus began three fascinating and rewarding years mixing it up with Australia’s best, brightest, boldest and most unreasonable (for all progress depends on unreasonable people).

I will write about the Forum some other time, but their relevance here is that they took seriously the task of advocating for opportunities and stable career paths for scientists regardless of sector. In fact, my deep suspicion was that my path onto the Forum was greased not so much by my intellectual credentials as by my identity as a government scientist. Apart from Roslyn Hickson, who was working for IBM at the time, everyone else on the Forum worked in academia. They could surely have used someone like me to help represent the views and needs of that distinctive species of scientist in government. Unfortunately for them, I was only a government scientist and member of the Forum executive for about a month, because in early 2016 I left the environment department and took up a position at the University of Wollongong. Nevertheless, I retained (and still retain) a fondness for government science (and to a lesser extent, scientists - kidding! I love them too). I earnestly strove to ensure public sector scientists were not forgotten during my three years on the Forum exec.

Around the same time I stepped onto the Forum I came across the International Network for Government Science Advice. With a secretariat based out of Auckland University and headed by New Zealand’s Chief Science Advisor Peter Gluckman, INGSA were all about enhancing the global science-policy interface. What could be more exciting? I realise this may not be a rhetorical question for many of my readers. I reached out to INGSA, and have remained in touch with them on and off over the years, but it became clear that they were much more about government than about science, and particularly scientists. This was a clear example of a hole in the market which I raced to fill.

Here’s what I dreamed up:

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An International Network for Government Science [Scientists]

Context

Despite the strategic importance of public sector science in evidence based policy making and meeting the needs of all people and our planet, there is no overarching representation for the sector as a whole and the scientists working in government. There is yet no organisation to support, connect or speak out for the highly diverse, committed but sometimes isolated workforce within the government science sector of all nations at all levels of government. There is yet no platform to share knowledge and work towards practical resolution of shared issues unique to this sector. This relative neglect stands in stark contrast to the well-organised, represented and funded science in academia and the private sector.

Solution [Proposal]

An International Network For Government Science [Scientists] will fill this gap and provide a critical resource for public sector scientists. It will foster:

Networking – Providing a means for government scientists to talk to each other

Promotion –  Shining a light on the work done by scientists in government

Advocacy – Providing a voice for government scientists through engagement, outreach, and advocacy

Transferring – Enabling government scientists to remain connected to academia

Over time and with support from members and partners, the Network’s role should expand so that it can deliver:

Agenda Setting – Contributing to important issues, priorities and mechanisms for effective government science

Strategic Development – Keeping track of the sector e.g. career paths, working conditions, key players in the sector

Target Market [Audience]

The Network will be open to all practising scientists within any public sector organisation, with an initial focus on national and subnational government departments. Participation of government scientists in developing countries would be essential.

# Here something on demarcation from and complementing to INGSA

[Initially, the Network will deploy in the policy arena of sustainable development]

Business Model

The Network will begin as a mailing list and website to establish and facilitate information exchanges, with events serving as an important vehicle to promote, grow, and strengthen the Network.

A steering group will oversee and guide the development of the network. A small secretariat (1-2 full time equivalent) will manage the platforms and develop the network.

For more information, contact Hamish Clarke or Ruben Zondervan

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Not bad, eh?

After dreaming up the idea I set off on something of a wild goose chase, crossing paths with lots of really interesting people trying to convince them of its merit. I’m not sure if I ever presented the exact pitch above to anyone, but I definitely ran it past a who’s who of science policy mavens - people like the Academy of Science’s Nancy Pritchard and Chris Hatherly (Chris now heads up the Academy of Social Sciences), former Chief Scientist Ian Chubb and colleagues in his office, UK research policy guru James Wilsdon, and new groups like Apolitical and the UK’s Government Science and Engineering. GSE was really interesting to me as it covered a fair bit of the same ground as my proposal. They even put together this really cool brochure about the history of scientists and engineers in government, whose cover I’ve pinched for the image for this post.

In general people were very generous with their time and really positive about it. The former Executive Director of the Earth System Governance Project, Ruben Zondervan, even agreed to put his name to it! (I’m pleased to discover Ruben recently started his own substack). Ultimately I ended up following other paths and I never took it any further. Even if I had given it a try there were some sizeable obstacles. Still, looking afresh at the idea some six years or so after floating it, I’ll be darned if it doesn’t have legs.

I had better make at least one reference to future fire, and point out that there are many government scientists making amazing contributions to our understanding of, management of and coexistence with wildfire. They operate under a different set of constraints to us wildfire scientists in academia, and those in private industry. I might have to sound some of them out and see if they can get managerial approval to sign up to the first chapter. A Wildfire International Network for Government Scientists. Now there’s an idea with wings.