Zachary
Do political and industrial motives significantly influence the types of research conducted by Geophysicists and the impacts of the results they find?
I have always been interested in the environment and especially in geology. The amount of information that an experienced geologist can deduce from aspects of the local strata and environment is amazing to me, and I want to use that information to help people live safely and harmoniously with our natural environment. Unfortunately, it has been difficult for me to find a career that allows me to fulfill that dream. I have talked to a few people who quit working at environmental consulting firms because political interests were so much more potent in influencing company decisions than pure scientific research was. My moral code would not allow me to work in situations like that. I hope that Geophysics will have less political influence because of the emphasis on more theoretical mathematics and physics-based research applied to broader subjects like plate tectonics and seismology, but I know that the research still has practical applications and could be affected by political or industrial motives. #physics #environmental-science #earth-science #geology #geophysics
2 answers
Keith Martin
Keith’s Answer
Hi Zachary,
My experience is limited to having colleagues in academia who study geoscience, but talking to them, their research is motivated almost entirely by the problems they think are interesting. Many of those problems, however, are interesting to them because they are related to problems in politics or industry. For example, questions like how to safely store wastes underground, or mitigate the effects of climate change, or understand how geologic changes affect agriculture. Scientists pursue these questions because they are interested in them, but also because they are important to society at large. They may have to alter the focus of their research to address problems that are considered more relevant; funding agencies are less interested in research that doesn't have benefits to society. But no academic scientist I have met would remotely consider changing the findings of their research to meet political or industry demands.
I don't have as much knowledge on geoscience work being done in industry, but often in industry one needs to balance research with other factors to help the business succeed. For example, I may do research that says method A is superior, but that may not consider all the non-technical reasons to use a different method. That's normal and usually does not compromise anyone's integrity. The circumstances may vary, although everyone has their own standards for integrity, and most companies will respect that.
Keith
Jeremy Greene
Jeremy’s Answer
The actual scientific studies should not be influenced by politics and policies. I’d like to think they are not.
However, funding for research does have “science s’ jour”. For example, if you want to study global warming, it would likely be funded if it mentions man made influences.
In industry, funding , or support would be more dictated by potential to succeed or hep your company (why you are there).