Title: ‘What is the role of scientists in the climate change debate?’
Speaker: Dr Jeff Harvey
Facilitator: Quentin Cooper
Venue: Het Marnix Gymnasium, read their report (in Dutch)

Jeff Harvey was born in Canada (Toronto) in 1957 and studied zoology at the University of Liverpool in 1988, where he graduated in 1991 with first class honours. He then did a PhD at the same university, on insect-parasite interactions, and was awarded his PhD in 1995. After doing post doctoral research at the University of Wageningen and the University of Wisconsin-Madison USA, he became Associate Editor at the Journal Nature. Currently, Jeff Harvey is senior research scientist at the Netherlands Institute of Ecology.

Quentin Cooper was recently described by The Times as 'an expert on everything from pop music to astrophysics. The Daily Mail claim his “wit and enthusiasm can enliven the driest of topics”. After a master’s degree in psychology and artificial intelligence and a postgraduate diploma in journalism, Quentin joined the BBC as a news producer, later becoming a presenter for radio and television. An avowed populist, he continues to present a range of science and technology documentaries, magazines, discussions and phone-ins across radio and television.

Be aware, be informed, be critical – Jeff Harvey

This event began with the students themselves giving presentations on different aspects of climate change. Jeff Harvey then spoke about how the climate change debate is influenced by scientists and the media. He talked about the consensus that exists amongst specialists that climate change is happening and is influenced by human activity, but pointed out that the media sometimes gives dubious climate change sceptics as much space as respected scientists. Jeff Harvey gave several examples of websites sceptical about climate change, which purport to be ‘environmentally friendly’ but on further investigation turn out to be bankrolled by commercial parties who have a vested interest in preserving the status quo.

A radical change is needed from people all over the world – how will you get their attention?

The only way to counter this bias is for respected climate scientists to make the public aware of the body of knowledge which supports the issue of climate change. Individual citizens need to be critical of the information which they receive and scientists have a moral obligation to not only advance science, but also to ensure that it reaches the public forum.

Who will the change in attitude come from?

After his lively talk the students confronted Jeff Harvey with some passionate opinions: some were sceptical about changing attitudes as they believed that most individuals and governments look for short-term benefits rather than thinking in the long-term. Someone also questioned where priorities should lie; with issues such as hunger and poverty, or with environmental issues. Jeff Harvey argued that the health of the environment underpins economic health and therefore improving the environment is a vital step towards improving the well-being of the world’s growing population.

This opening Junior Science Café was a highly charged event and several students even stayed behind at the end to question the speaker further.