The science in everything

Weekend Australian
Saturday 4/4/2009 Page: 7

To South Australia's chief scientist Ian Chessell, adversity is the proven driver of cutting-edge science. Whether in war or in drought, Chessell says, scientists are the ones who often come up with the breakthroughs, along the lines of necessity being the mother of invention. "Most science developments have been done in wartime where a situation demands them," he says. "Can we produce innovative answers if you've got the innovative infrastructure in place? That's the question governments have to face all the time, because they invest in that infrastructure."

Broadly speaking, the chief scientist's role is to provide independent advice to the South Australian Government on matters of science, research, technology and innovation. Chessell also co-chairs the Premier's Science and Research Council. After completing a PhD in physics at the University of Melbourne in 1970, he soon joined the Defence Science and Technology Organisation, retiring as Australia's chief defence scientist in 2003.

Appointed as SA's chief scientist in March 2008, he found himself in a state beset by different challenges: a prolonged drought and critical water shortages. "Water is the key to South Australia's future, in my opinion," he says. "It underpins the future of mining, of agriculture and obviously the critical human needs of the people of Adelaide and other communities in the region."

The water debate in South Australia is politically sensitive, from the condition of the Murray River to the construction of a $1.8 billion desalination plant in Adelaide. Charged with producing intelligent answers, Chessell sees a need to create a single source of accurate, unbiased, up-to-date knowledge on the water situation.

In a report shortly to go to the state Government, he proposes an institute for water research, a central database drawing on the research of the three South Australian universities, the CSIRO and the Government's principal research body, the South Australia Research and Development Institute. "We are looking at providing an environment where decision-makers, whether they be ministers or officials or industries, come in and actually see the data, explore the data and question the data," Chessell says. °i It will help to underpin the science basis of the decision making.

"It will help, I believe, in taking the left-field stuff that goes on all the time: you know, my grandmother knows a scientist who said such and such, that we could capture all the stormwater in Adelaide and live off it. Those sort of issues. It will at least provide a basis for examining those proposals and bringing in people to look at them.

It could have a community engagement role as well, where groups could come in, the Conservation Council or any other group that is proposing initiatives, and have them examined in the broader context of real data." According to Chessell, South Australia should be at the forefront in coming up with innovative solutions for climate change issues, from securing water supplies to reducing carbon emissions. In particular, he says, the state was ideally placed to become a "powerhouse for renewable energy".

"We've got the best resources in geothermal in the world. "We've got almost the best in solar. We've got great wind energy; and near world's best in terms of tidal energy, wave energy." He is also excited at the prospect of producing biodiesel fuel from micro-algae to totally replace petroleum-based products in our cars". The CSIRO, Flinders University and SARDI are involved in a test plant on Torrens Island, on the Port River, using different forms of micro-algae to tailor-make specific oil products.

The project is bidding for a round of federal funding to scale up the process. Another Chessell ambition is to increase the uptake of science at primary schools. He says educational research shows the key to producing future scientists is to enthuse children at the earliest possible age. "What we find is that kids, as they make up their minds about their own identity, they also form an impression or an understanding of what a scientist is," he says. "If there is not a match between the two by the time they are 11 to 14, then no matter what happens after that, the research suggests, they won't be scientists.

"They may have an interest in science but they perceive themselves as having a career somewhere else. But in primary school, kids love science if we can just give it to them in the right way. "It's exciting, it's interesting, it's connected to the world in the playground, the rivers, science is somewhere other than television all the time. We've got to help them recognise that science basically includes everything."