R. J. Wasson
Biography
Professor Robert (Bob) Wasson is a geomorphologist and Quaternarist with a PhD from Macquarie University, and postdoctoral fellowships at the University of Auckland and the Australian National University (ANU). He has held senior positions in Australia's SIRO, becoming the head of the Canberra Laboratory of the Division of Water Resources. At the ANU he was head of the Geography Department, Director of the Centre for Environmental and Resource Studies, and Dean of Science. At Charles Darwin University he was Deputy Vice Chancellor Research and International. He was a senior academic at the National University of Singapore in the Geography Department, Asia Research Institute, and Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy. He has focused on
palaeoenvironmental change in desert dunefields in Australia and India, and fluvial systems including palaeoflood hydrology and flood mitigation. He has a record of influencing decision making, the use of cross-disciplinary methods, most recently in for mine site rehabilitation in Australia, and flood mitigation in India and Thailand. He has done research in Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, Indonesia, India, Timor-Leste, Malaysia, Nepal, Pakistan, China, and Myanmar. He is Emeritus Professor at ANU, and Adjunct Professor at James Cook University and Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia.
Abstract
Quaternary Research and Public Policy
The key take-home messages from this talk are: if you want your research to influence policy, understand the policy process and engage with relevant policy makers to assess how best to have influence; and this is not an enterprise to engage with lightly, requiring time, resilience, and patience.
A dual taxonomy of problems requiring research input is adopted, as follows:
Tame problems are the easiest with which to engage. The problem is well understood, has been identified by policy makers, there is little disagreement among stakeholders, and scientific evidence can be marshalled to help solve the problem. It is a linear process which will involve few areas of science or policy.
Wicked problems, the most common, are characterized by uncertainty about the nature of the problem, there is a highly partisan community and scientific debate, there are winners and losers and no clear equitable solution, and political support waxes and wanes. Such problems require engagement with multiple policy areas and academic disciplines, a challenge for most scientists whose incentives are much narrower. And the path to influence is far from Linear
Depending upon the context, and relevance, the following issues may need to be taken into account: the problem needs to be urgent, the language used in communication by scientists is calibrated by negotiation with policy makers, uncertainties are made clear, credible policy options are kept to a minimum, research collaborators are identified including those from policy-making institutions, acknowledge that a coalition for advocacy separate from the policy makers has been constructed, identify the main approach of the scientist (e.g. honest broker).
Examples will be provided for each of the two main problem types from palaeohydrology, palaeoclimatology, river catchment management, and landscape
