Eight researchers from ANSTO were prominent among the 160 scientists around Australia who met with 60 politicians as part of Science meets Parliament 2011.
Events over the two days included tips on how to convey messages to politicians, presentations from journalists, and informal meetings with politicians.
Dr Debashish Mazumder, a Research Scientist from ANSTO’s Institute of Environmental Research, said it was a great learning experience.
“The community needs to understand what we do, why we are doing it, what it is important for and why it is very important for society,” he said.
“We scientists are sometimes really shy. We are motivated by our research we don’t focus on the money or other side of things, we are really passionate about research. But at the same time I think it is very important to show the community what we do,” Dr Mazumder said.
As well as providing an opportunity for politicians to hear from Australia’s top experts in a wide range of disciplines, Science meets Parliament provided unique opportunities for the scientists to learn about how public policy is formulated. The result is that both politicians and scientists are better informed.
Attendee and Post Doctoral Research Fellow from the Bragg Institute, Dr Neeraj Sharma described Science Meets Parliament as a great experience.
“We learnt a lot about the political process and how we can have a say in decision making. We also learnt how to engage with the community, politicians and policy makers about our work. It gave us another perspective,” he said.
ANSTO’s scientists spoke to decision makers about their important work in areas as diverse as climate change, agriculture, chemistry, renewable and low carbon energy alternatives, obesity and human nutrition.
ANSTO also sponsored the National Press Club speech delivered by Australia’s new Chief Scientist, Professor Ian Chubb. Professor Chubb told the audience that too often, science is seen as a cost rather than an investment.
Published: 24/06/2011