It's the brain drain all over again
Submissions to the latest Australian Biosecurity and Quarantine review have lamented the continuing decline in qualified technical staff in important posts win the Australian Quarantine and Inspection Service (AQIS), and Biosecurity Australia (BA). The Australian Plant Pathology Society submission claims that both organisations have been guilty of appointing "customer service" oriented managers rather than candidates with technical know-how, and this may be impacting on effective decision and policy making in scientific matters.
This reflects a wider trend to customer focus in many local science, education and research organisations, that ultimately changes their direction, either subtly or drastically. An understanding of the science behind policy decisions is absolutely crucial in maintaining efficient Quarantine measures, and biosecurity protocols. But it is also necessary in fields such as education and general scientific research capacities. The people who can best interpret the guidelines for policy decisions are those who fully understand the science which sets their parameters, and the changes in scientific knowledge, or environmental conditions which may predict required alterations in those policies.
In the case of science, it may be that the customer is best served by someone qualified in the area of technical service, rather than just being possessed of people skills. This is compounded by the lack of young people training for these positions. CSIRO estimates 50% of Australia's diagnostic expertise will be lost in the next twenty years, due to the advancing age of current scientists in the workforce. The lack of trained pathologists and taxonomists in itself is actually dangerous, as an unidentified or mis-identified threat could spread to non-eradicable levels very rapidly, especially in the case of micro-organisms and invertebrates. At present, protection is often in the hands of unpaid, volunteer retirees called in for their expert advice.
Obviously this is tied in to the promotion of technical science as an educational pathway for young students, which should obviously be a priority for both State and Federal governments to pursue, and budget for. The cost of funding university places or creating scholarships and other incentives to attract and keep young scientists in technical positions in this country is a drop in the ocean compared to the potential loss of entire export industries due to a lack of local expertise.
This reflects a wider trend to customer focus in many local science, education and research organisations, that ultimately changes their direction, either subtly or drastically. An understanding of the science behind policy decisions is absolutely crucial in maintaining efficient Quarantine measures, and biosecurity protocols. But it is also necessary in fields such as education and general scientific research capacities. The people who can best interpret the guidelines for policy decisions are those who fully understand the science which sets their parameters, and the changes in scientific knowledge, or environmental conditions which may predict required alterations in those policies.
In the case of science, it may be that the customer is best served by someone qualified in the area of technical service, rather than just being possessed of people skills. This is compounded by the lack of young people training for these positions. CSIRO estimates 50% of Australia's diagnostic expertise will be lost in the next twenty years, due to the advancing age of current scientists in the workforce. The lack of trained pathologists and taxonomists in itself is actually dangerous, as an unidentified or mis-identified threat could spread to non-eradicable levels very rapidly, especially in the case of micro-organisms and invertebrates. At present, protection is often in the hands of unpaid, volunteer retirees called in for their expert advice.
Obviously this is tied in to the promotion of technical science as an educational pathway for young students, which should obviously be a priority for both State and Federal governments to pursue, and budget for. The cost of funding university places or creating scholarships and other incentives to attract and keep young scientists in technical positions in this country is a drop in the ocean compared to the potential loss of entire export industries due to a lack of local expertise.
posted by The Last Scientician at 10:31 AM
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