A James Cook University researcher is calling for the military to become more involved in environmental research and climate action through participation in citizen science projects.
Dr Adam Smith is an Adjunct Professor at JCU and his invitation to give a presentation at the annual Indo-Pacific Environment Security Forum (IPESF) resulted in new insights, research, collaborations and actions.
“Citizen science is the structured reporting of phenomena in the natural environment by people who are not professional scientists. In Sri Lanka, Maldives and Micronesia, military personnel performed observations of marine species following training in iNaturalist, Eye on the Reef and eDNA methodologies.
“While scientists face limitations in data collection due to constraints in time, funding, and manpower, the military possesses ample skills, resources and an increasing interest in environmental security,” said Dr Smith.
He says engagement in citizen science projects by defence entities offers both regional and personal advantages.
“These include enhanced community, scientific and policy knowledge. As well as personal benefits such as improved health and well-being, heightened scientific literacy and positive shifts in attitudes and behaviours – particularly regarding environmental stewardship and climate action,” Smith says.
Combining civil capacities
A co-author of the paper, Admiral Piyal De Silva (Retd), says the military possesses a greater strength achieved through tangible and intangible resources.
“There is a tremendous synergy for mitigation and responses when civil capacities are combined with such might,” De Silva says.
The IPESF has increased recognition of the military’s role as a polluter, with militaries accounting for 5.5% of global greenhouse gas emissions – with the US spending over $US 20 billion annually just on air conditioning for troops in Iraq and Afghanistan at the height of those missions.
Rear Admiral Paul Beattie, Director Naval Staff, Royal Navy, says balancing security and environment and assuming the role of a global leader is no easy task.
He recently characterised the measures required for climate change adaptation in the military as the “biggest change programme in defence”.
He says that, unusually for technology, countries “can’t look to the US” for global leadership and that some were therefore looking to the UK.
Australia can become global citizen science leader
The research from Dr Smith with colleagues in USA and Sri Lanka indicates that Australia has the capacity for global leadership to help solve these problems, adding that military-civilian collaboration through citizen science is emerging as a paramount practice, poised for expansion through bilateral and multilateral partnerships.
“As global security challenges like climate change, extreme weather events, marine plastic pollution and biodiversity loss escalate, there is a growing imperative for defence entities to engage, collaborate, and proactively address these issues alongside civilian stakeholders,” Smith says.
