Colleagues rally over 'trivial' dismissal

Dr Salinger's abrupt dismissal a week ago after 25 years sent ripples around the world. Photo / Brett Phibbs

Scientists have rallied around Niwa man Jim Salinger, saying the alleged reasons for sacking him have nothing to do with science.

Dr Salinger's abrupt dismissal a week ago after 25 years sent ripples around the world, where he is widely known as a pioneer of climate change research.

Dr Salinger said last Saturday that he was given three hours to clear his desk after being dismissed for speaking to the media about issues such as high temperatures, flooding and snow lines. He told the Weekend Herald he received no formal written warnings, and no criticism of his work.

Neither Dr Salinger nor Niwa will confirm details of the sacking because Dr Salinger is taking legal action. But scientists spoken to by the Herald were outraged a leading scientist had lost his job over what they said appeared to be trivial breaches of policy.

Former Niwa scientist Andy Reisinger, who now works at Victoria University, said the decision to sack someone of Dr Salinger's standing for breaking media protocol was "incomprehensible".

"I'm not sure how that can be justified."

Dr Salinger - who spoke regularly to the media before his sacking - said it was not a political plot to hush up climate change, as some people had suggested.

He told Nature magazine Niwa bosses had decided some months ago they wanted him to keep a lower profile, and told him to ask for permission before speaking to media.

There has been no suggestion the information he gave reporters was incorrect. Niwa has a contract with TVNZ to provide weather-related updates.

Former employees of Niwa and other crown research institutes criticised what they said was a culture of corporatisation and limited freedom for scientists at the Government-funded research bodies.

Dr Dave Lowe, who left his job as a principal atmospheric scientist at Niwa about 18 months ago, said one reason for his departure was a lack of freedom "to get on with the job".

"These big Crown research institutions have become dominated by managers. They tend to forget that the bread and butter for the company ... comes from its top scientists and they include people like Jim Salinger."

Dr Lowe said he had worked all over the world and was yet to see anything like the "draconian" level of bureaucracy faced by scientists at some CRIs.

Another scientist, Dr Doug Edmeades said he left Crown-funded Agresearch to set up his own company six years ago, partly because he was not free to speak publicly.



Dr Lowe said New Zealand did not have so many climate scientists that it could afford to lose someone like Dr Salinger.

Australian scientist Dr Roger Jones, a professorial fellow at the Centre for Strategic Economic Studies Victoria University Melbourne, said scientists across the Tasman were shocked to hear of Dr Salinger's dismissal.

Dr Jones, who worked for the Australian Government-funded research institute CSIRO before taking a position at Victoria, said requiring scientists to ask permission before they spoke created barriers to sharing publicly funded information.

"In one of the instances [that Dr Salinger alleges led to his sacking] it was late in the day, there was no one around, as often happens, [and] he got a call from someone at a paper. You're the only one there, so you respond. There's absolutely nothing wrong with that."

Niwa spokeswoman Michele Hollis said the institute's media policy had not changed for at least five years. All staff apart from chief scientists and some senior scientists had to get permission from both the media team and a member of the senior science staff before speaking.