SS#11 - The scientist who lost his job for questioning the science: Interview with Dr. Peter Ridd
Channel: Saving Democracy dot ca
Date: 2020-11-02

I interview  Dr. Peter Ridd, the scientist who lost his job for questioning Great Barrier Reef (GBF) science. We go over the problems with the GBF science, deficiencies w/ peer review, updates on his legal case against James Cook University to get his job back, & his proposed Scientific Office of Quality Assurance system to check GBF science so the Australian government can make sounder policy decisions re: farming regulations & managing the GBF.

Topics:
00:03:04 Ridd’s background, story, & initial discoveries of problems with Great Barrier Reef science
00:09:36 Ridd’s motives, why so determined to speak out against bad GBF research (unfair treatment of farmers; farmer’s child: “Dad, you’re killing the reef!”), & response to criticisms of COIs given small funding from IPA
00:14:48 Updates on his lawsuit against James Cook University who fired him in 2018
00:28:56 peer-review does NOT mean a scientific finding is true, & we/the media must stop lying about this to the public
00:32:56 Update on political uptake in North Queensland, upcoming election where GBF is focal issue (whether justified to spend that much money “fixing” the reef, unfair regulations & persecution of farmers)
00:36:46 grant peer review a worse version of broken peer review, & need for funding agencies to fund replication studies (like the Netherlands)
00:42:16 Scientific Office of QA system; should be done as part of Auditor General office, given required independence/impartiality (NOT government department of science)
00:48:31 replication is NOT optional, cannot just say it’s too expensive; must “build-in” replication from outset
00:53:16 institutionalized red-team, random audits, will significantly raise standards because researchers will be forced to think twice about publishing sloppy findings (given will be higher perceived likelihood of getting caught)
00:56:16 How this fits w/ Curate Science, an integrated QA system to verify, ensure, & track the transparency and credibility of research for Rs, Js, Us, and Fs (will be used for TARGETED and RANDOM scientific audits).
01:00:09 Ridd: The profession of SCIENCE the MOST **untrustworthy** of all professions. Science is currently the MOST SHAMEFUL profession on the planet, & we need to do something about it!
01:04:34 Next steps: Funding the QA system, crowdfunding to continue implementing integrated QA system
01:11:05 Final words: Very optimistic, many positive developments, political uptake, public waking up; dark, but never been more optimistic! 

Ridd’s links:
YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCJ45gojrG-PyOBNrNU6Z_8Q 
Blog (w/ all relevant details): https://platogbr.wordpress.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DrPeterRidd/
Book: Reef Heresy:  Science, Research and the Great Barrier Reef https://bit.ly/2TM9j93
Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Ridd

Media coverage of his situation:
https://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/national/queensland/sacked-jcu-scientist-peter-ridd-to-take-fight-to-high-court-20200729-p55glu.html
https://ipa.org.au/peterridd
https://tinyurl.com/yxlbbox5
https://tinyurl.com/yy6xuak5

Counter-perspective (for full context for the viewer):
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/oct/09/scientists-claim-coalition-misrepresented-their-evidence-to-great-barrier-reef-inquiry 

===SAVING SCIENCE SHOW INFO===
Dr. Etienne LeBel bio: 
LeBel is a psychologist & independent meta-scientist who has contributed to raising transparency & replication standards in academia for more than 10 years.  He has published over 30 peer-reviewed scientific articles in internationally renowned journals, including the prestigious journal Science.  He is founder & lead of Curate Science, a nonprofit global initiative to verify, ensure, and track the transparency and credibility of research (see etiennelebel.com and CurateScience.org for more details). I'm motivated by (1) the ethical duty of intellectuals to report on matters of public concern & (2) the fact that properly functioning science is the best way to finding better treatments for cruel medical conditions like suicide, cancer, and Alzheimer’s, which have touched my family personally, and continue to afflict millions of people worldwide every year.
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https://CurateScience.org
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