Scientists from the Pacific Islands have long felt left out of discussions of global scientific challenges, even those that impact their region. Hoping to gain a stronger voice in such discussions, some 150 scholars from 21 Pacific Island nations and territories will meet this week in Samoa to launch the Pacific Islands Academy of Sciences. The group aims to foster research partnerships, bolster science education, and build scientific capacity in one of the world’s last regions without a science academy.
Supporters point to climate change as a prime example of a global issue that would benefit from greater input from Pacific Island scholars. Globing warming is driving sea level rise that threatens low-lying islands, making it “the single biggest challenge to the lives and livelihoods of Pacific people,” says physician Collin Tukuitonga, a native of the Polynesian island of Niue and public health scholar at the University of Auckland. He co-chaired the academy establishment committee, formed in December 2023. Rather than complain about being ignored, “we ourselves have got to conduct quality, relevant research and share the information to influence policy,” Tukuitonga says. Yet the region’s small number of qualified scientists limits contributions.
A priority for the academy, say organizers of its 23 October launch, will be improving science education and offering resources, guidance, and support for young Pacific Islanders interested in research careers. “This academy is not [going to be] established scientists patting themselves on the back, we have to invest in young people,” Tukuitonga says.
To ensure the views of younger scientists are reflected in academy planning, the establishment committee made Salote Nasalo a member. A native of Fiji, Nasalo just completed a master’s degree in mangrove ecology at the University of the South Pacific and is now a Ph.D. candidate. She attracted the committee’s attention, she says, because “I was very vocal about the challenges [of] being an aspiring, Indigenous scientist.” The first from her family to earn a university degree, she says she is keenly aware of the need for role models and mentors for young scientists. “I believe that the academy will serve that purpose,” Nasalo says, noting that she convinced the committee to propose an “early career members” category.
Establishing a science academy is the realization of a long-held dream “by many people, including myself,” Tukuitonga says. Previous efforts failed to go beyond talk. This time the International Science Council, the Australian Academy of Science, and the Royal Society Te Apārangi provided logistical support; Japan’s Sasakawa Peace Foundation and the Australian government contributed funding.
The academy will start by naming 12 “foundation fellows” from the region to get the organization and its Samoa-based secretariat up and running. Membership will be open to Pacific Island scientists worldwide and non-Pacific scientists interested in the region. Tukuitonga says, “We want to be inclusive of everyone who has the Pacific as their primary focus of study.”
More: https://www.science.org/content/article/pacific-island-scientists-launch-academy-sciences
