“Advocacy” and “Activism” Are Not Dirty Words–How Activists Can Better Help Conservation Scientists

Whether scientists should be advocates for conservation has been amatter of debate in the scientific community and literature (Brussard and Tull, 2007; Lackey, 2007; Noss, 2007; Chan, 2008; Nelson and Vucetich, 2009; Scott and Rachlow, 2010; Parsons, 2013; Rose and Parsons, 2015). Some are set against it, such as Lackey (2007), who considers that while scientists should be involved in the policy process, they should not show any preferences for conservation policies, nor even use valueladen terms in their work, such as good, healthy, or degradation. On the other side of the spectrum, Noss (2007) argues that everyone has opinions and values and, when it comes to making policy recommendations, who better to do so than scientists, who are closest to the facts? However, Noss (2007) also highlights that there is a style of advocacy appropriate for scientists and another for environmental activists. Hixon (2000) adds that scientists are citizens, like everyone else, and as such have an obligation to engage in political debate and policy, because if they do not (as Noss, 2007 alluded to), decisions are made by those who are less familiar with the scientific method, and do not have as good a grasp of the facts as scientists do. In some sectors of the marine conservation field, advocacy is being seen as increasingly important. For example, Shiffman and Hammerschlag (2016a) found that 75% of shark biologists they surveyed said that shark scientists should advocate, and 53% said that policy statements should be included in their papers. However, for many scientists, advocacy is still almost a “dirty word” and they are staunch in their belief that scientists should remain in the ivory tower and remain “pure” (Rose and Parsons, 2015), and that scientists who engage in advocacy are not being objective and/or are no longer a “real” scientists (Parsons, 2013). But what exactly is advocacy? Also, what is the difference between advocacy and activist, and why in particular is activism often viewed so negatively? This paper discusses some of these issues.