Peter Pockley Recollects the Stoush Between Australasian Science and CSIRO With Regard to its Direction Under Chief Executive, Geoff Garrett.  (May 27, 2013)

In 2010 Dr Peter Pockley was awarded the 2010 Australian Academy of Science Medal for his services to communicating scientific matters, in particular: "His authoritative work is characterised by flair and rigorous accuracy."

This past month Dr Pockley published a three part blog on the Australasian Science website, in part as a consequence of the publication of Icon in Crisis: The Reinvention of CSIRO by Dr Ron Sandland and Mr Graham Thompson.

Part 1: How a Communications Saga Rocked CSIRO --

A "warts and all" account of CSIRO has sidestepped some of its most embarrassing failures. The first blog in the series outlines the documentary evidence behind CSIRO's appointment of a tobacco lobbyist as its Director of Communications, which led to a public black ban of Australasian Science. [More]

Part 2: Freedom of Information --

[R]equests of CSIRO internal correspondence by investigative reporter, Stewart Fist,  revealed the machinations behind the eventual appointment of a former senior tobacco executive and lobbyist as the science organisation's Director of Communications. [More]

Part 3: Science Lost in CSIRO's Matrix --

In Icon in Crisis: The Reinvention of CSIRO (University of NSW Press, 2012) Dr Ron Sandland and Mr Graham Thompson maintain that their book is a “warts and all” account of the massive restructuring of Australia’s largest public agency for science. Given the internal and external controversies surrounding the changes, their claim invites a search for gaps in its content. [More]