SCIENTISTS working for a short stint in the media so that they can hone their
communication skills and get some idea of what it鈥檚 like to face constant
deadlines鈥鈥檇 like to see that. Well, it鈥檚 about to happen at the Australian
Broadcasting Corporation. Against the trend of 鈥淎unty鈥檚鈥� budgets being cut, the
ABC Science Unit was last week awarded $1.83 million over the next three
years. One of the plans is to establish three Science Media Fellowships, along
the lines of schemes that are popular in the UK and the US.
The idea is for scientists in mid-career to be seconded for about six weeks
to one section of the ABC such as the radio and TV science units, the Natural
History Unit, or even Triple J, the up-market end of ABC radio. They will
research stories, record interviews, and perform basic production and writing.
The aim is not to lure them into a new career but to help breakdown the barriers
between scientists and the media.
I鈥檓 all for it. But why restrict such fellowships to the electronic media?
Newspapers and magazines are other places where scientists could !earn what the
media is about. I wouldn鈥檛 be surprised if such an idea was among those made to
the science awareness programme of the Department of Industry, Science and
Tourism. DIST has called for submissions.
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And how about fellowships going the other way鈥攇iving the science
journalist some idea of what goes on in the laboratory or in the field? The US
leads the way in this sort of initiative. For example, each summer the Marine
Biological Laboratory at Woods Hole in Massachusetts offers what it calls
hands-on laboratory courses to joumalists. It鈥檚 highly practical too, not just a
lot of seminars. Fellows isolate and sequence DNA, learn PCR techniques, run
gels and use electron microscopes. A swag of foundations, media outlets, and
science societies help sponsor the fellowships. A three-month programme like
this is probably beyond our resources in Australia, but there is no reason why a
scaled-down version couldn鈥檛 be attempted.
Following the govemment grant, a number of other initiatives are on the
drawing boards at the ABC. There are plans for three graduates to be trained as
science broadcasters鈥攕omething that has not happened for a number of years
at the ABC. A so-called Science Online Service will be established. The idea is
to make ABC science programmes and expertise available through the Intemet.
Students and teachers will be the main target. The ABC will also help to enhance
the Australian Science Festival, an annual event in Canberra, by staging the ABC
Science Week at the same time. The ABC, through its programmes, will give the
festival national exposure.
How all this is going to be achieved鈥攕pecially the multi-media
plans鈥攚ith the money available is a good question. But at least it鈥檚 a
start. Radio science guru, Robyn Williams, who played a hand in obtaining the
funds, says that the ABC needs to spread its science expertise to new audiences
through the JJJ network and the Intemet. 鈥淲e need to take science to where young
people are,鈥� he said.
Another good question is how did Peter McGauran, the Science Minister, manage
to squeeze almost $2 million out of govemment coffers for the ABC? Some
of his colleagues were surprised, I gather. Anyway, job well done. It鈥檚 good
news for all those interested in the communication and popularisation of science
in Australia.
There鈥檚 still the matter of savage cutbacks to Quantum, the
award-winning television programme, which was reduced to 18 episodes this year.
I鈥檓 told there is a debate going on within the upper echelons of the ABC on
whether science programming should be boosted next year. That could include more
Quantum programmes. And some of the thinking is really cheeky. How about
comedy science, a la Live and Sweaty, but with science as the topic,
not sport? A pilot is being considered, I鈥檓 told.
LOBBY group, the Federation of Australian Scientific and Technological
Societies (FASTS), has announced its next president. The post has gone to Peter
Cullen, director of the CRC for Freshwater Ecology and professor of resource and
environmental science at the University of Canberra. Cullen is very keen on
science communication and finding ways for scientists to get their message
across. No doubt it will be one of the first topics he discusses with Minister
McGauran.
THE Institution of Engineers, Australia is worried about the state of the
nation鈥檚 roads, water mains, sewers and public buildings. The Institution held a
conference on the topic last August and, as a result of that meeting, it has
released a discussion paper, Long Term Planning and Infrastructure. The
paper recommends the establishment of a National Infrastructure Advisory Council
to coordinate planning. 鈥淚t will end up costing everybody more in the long term
if essential maintenance works aren鈥檛 attended to now,鈥� says Barry Grear, the
Institution鈥檚 deputy president. We have layers of government in
Australia鈥攍ocal, state and federal. It鈥檚 time they heeded what the
engineers are saying and addressed the issue.
THESE days engineers have to cope with a whole range of legal requirements.
Oleg Morozow, environmental manager at Santos, told a recent Adelaide conference
on energy and the environment about the burdens of his job. Dealing with
environmental requirements is hard enough, he said, but he brought a gasp from
his audience when he displayed a list of the laws he needs to consider in
exploring for oil or gas. The list covered an A4 page. I was particularly struck
by the need for the company to comply with the Sandalwood Act and the Dog Fence
Act.