Ethics and Science

What are Ethics?
Ethics are philosophical views which justify and support which behavior is right (good) and which behavior is wrong (bad). There are many different ethical view points which can conflict with each other under certain circumstances. Some believe as long as they intended to do something good, the results of their actions can be justified (Kantianism). Others believe the actions which benefit the most people should be taken (Utilitarianism). Some believe as long as they do what benefits them the most, they are doing the right thing (Egoism). So as you can see, different beliefs can have very different results.

What are some Common Ethical Theories?

•  Egoism: Self interest is the top priority in this belief; what ever benefits me is the most important.
• Utilitarianism: The greater good is always considered; if five lives can be saved by taking one then it is more beneficial for the group.
• Kantianism: The consequences are of less importance than the intentions behind an action.
• Principlism: Actions take four principles in to consideration; free-will, beneficence, non-maleficence and justice.
• Virtue: Look to emulate heroes/saints and what is believed to be good.
• Natural rights theory: 3 basic rights (listed in order of priority) are life, liberty and property. Life is the top focus and it trumps the other two rights if they are in conflict.

Why do Ethics matter in Science?

I believe that ethics are important in the field of science because they set guidelines on the behaviors of scientists. Ethics limit what actions can be taken/justified in the name of science. They stop us from testing treatments on living creatures (mostly). They keep scientists aware of what they should be striving for and most importantly, they limit what shouldn't be done in the pursuit of progress.

Important Aspects of Writing in the Sciences

The purpose of writing in the scientific field (and in general) is communication. Being able to record and convey ideas that will be read and learned by others at a later time is an invaluable tool. Below are the aspects which I believe are important in a piece of scientific writing. They are valuable because they allow information to be shared and received in the most effective way.

Style

The way which information is presented can be the difference between a piece of writing being praised or ignored. Even if the information is accurate, no one will want to continue reading it if the writing style is tedious, unexciting and redundant. Science is all about exploring and explaining the unknowns in the world so writing should reflect this and make it interesting for the reader. 

However sometimes writing will require a less interesting approach to style when the writing has to be formal and then the focus shifts solely to the accuracy of ideas presented in an effective way.

Organization and Clarity

Getting all the information to the reader is important however if the information isn't organized in a clear manner, it will be difficult for the reader to understand the information in the first place. People only have a limited memory capacity, so picking which information to present is an essential skill. A paragraph with some key points can easily be more valuable than a page of disorganized ideas.

Accuracy and Facts

The actual ideas which are being presented should be correct and just in case someone doesn't believe what you're say, they should be able to easily look up the information and find research which supports you. Personally, I find having to find sources to cite a chore however I do see their importance especially when any information is being presented in academic and scientific writing.

Plastic Pollution in Marine Environments

The reduction of plastic pollution in New Zealand’s marine environments

 

New Zealand is often thought of as a country full of vibrant forests, unique wildlife and alluring oceans. An environmentally friendly haven where littering has largely become a faux pas however a stroll along one of the many beaches usually results in coming across at least a few pieces of plastic partially hidden in the sand or being continuously bounced between the waves. The origin of the trash is puzzling, do we blame ninja litterers? Careless fishermen? Cost cutting corporations? Other countries whose waste is carried to us by currents? Personally I don't care whose fault it is, I just care that we fix it.

Currently many things are being done to reduce and remove plastics from New Zealand’s marine environments but is enough being done? I am currently writing a position paper on the topic of whether NZ needs to do more to reduce the pollution of our marine environment by plastics. The two different viewpoints on the issue that I am exploring are whether enough is being done by New Zealand to reduce marine pollution and whether more needs to be done by New Zealand to reduce marine pollution. 

Enough is being done
People usually look to the government to lead the way and set the standards when it comes to national and global issues. According to a government statement in Garbage disposal in the marine environment (2015) “New Zealand enforces tough new international regulations to protect the marine environment from garbage pollution by ships, pleasure craft and offshore installations”. This show us, the public, that enough is being done right now because the government is enforcing regulations to protect the marine environment from pollution, so we don’t need to worry, it would cost too much time, effort and money to do anything else. 

More needs to be done 

There are currently many positive efforts to clean up pollution in the marine environment but there is also not enough is being done. Even with the government enforcing international regulations, Morton (2015) reports that more than 25,000kg of plastic waste was littered in New Zealand each day and a large amount of that ends up in the ocean. These kinds of figures for pollution levels are unbelievable but we still buy drinks in plastics bottles and somehow they still end up in the ocean. It will cost a lot more time, effort and money to fix this issue but it needs to be done.

 

References:

Garbage disposal in the marine environment. (2015). Retrieved from http://www.maritimenz.govt.nz/Environmental/Garbage-disposal.asp

Morton, J. (2015). More than 25,000kg of plastic littered in NZ daily. Retrieved from http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11401696

Literature

Finding Literature

The topic of finding literature to reference for a position paper is a highly uninteresting topic however, I also know that it is a crucial skill to learn early on in university. In this weeks post I will be covering what types of literature I use and what types I avoid when searching, what tools I use to find them and how to make the search easier.

What I avoid:

•  Don't use Wikipedia: Anyone can edit Wikipedia, I had a friend who was listed as the mayor of cork for half a year.. need I say more?

•  Don't just google for any websites: Although some websites can be useful, the majority of the websites on the internet are not peer reviewed nor scholarly!

•  Don't use the majority of magazines and newspaper articles: Sometimes there might be an article which has been written by someone who knows their stuff, or who interviewed someone who knows their stuff but I've found this usually isn't the case.  

• Don't buy expensive academic books: Books can be valuable resources however the ones written by someone who has a PhD usually cost over $100 each so I'll gladly avoid these.

What I search for:

• Scholarly, peer-reviewed journals and articles: These can be found on the internet in easily accessible formats and are usually my first choice.

• Government published websites: Sometimes they know what they're talking about There is nothing they do not know.

• Library books: The easy way to access those expensive books, however sometimes it might be difficult finding specific books.

Searching tools:

Scholarly, peer-reviewed journals and articles
When I'm looking for scholarly, peer-reviewed journals and articles, I like to use Massey's library database search. The Massey library search function can be found at www.massey.ac.nz/massey/research/library/.

Government published websites
A simple google search with the word govt (or similar keyword, ex. gov) will usually return results but there usually aren't more than a couple of relevant results

Library books
I'd probably look for these in a library.. maybe

How to make the search easier:

• Use keywords: Make sure you're using keywords which are most relevant to your topic. Less words are usually better for finding more specific results.

• Use a phrase search: To search for a group of words in a specific order, surround the phrase with quotation marks. This allows for more accurate results.

• Use a date filter: Limit your search between a certain time period which is relevant to your topic or exclude results which are outdated.

• Use a file type filter: I like to search for files which are easily accessible (PDFs or websites containing journals/articles)

...And that's how I find my literature when I'm looking for academic resources. These methods have worked well for me many times in the past but I'm also aware that I don't have the most varied resource types so I'm open to any suggestions about more extensive methods.

Introduction

 Introductory Post 
For the next nine weeks I will be recording a series of blog posts for a communication paper I am taking over summer.

Where a summer is usually spent when a person isn't communicating for a university paper

Who am I?
My name is Jaco Wilhelm Uys but I prefer being called Wil. I was born in South Africa around 20 years ago but came to New Zealand at an early age so I've spent most of my life growing up and living in this awesome country. During my free time I enjoy being outdoors and exploring the many forests, lakes and beaches which New Zealand is filled with. If i'm not out and about I'll usually be drawing, producing music or reading. After finishing my degree in plant science I plan on traveling around the country and doing as much camping, kayaking and hiking as I can before heading overseas.

Why am I doing this and Where do I want to be?
After I finished high school, I had no idea what I wanted to study or if I even wanted to study further but I also didn't want to sit around doing nothing or working 40 hours a week. I had an interest in nature so this lead to me finding a year long course in horticulture and while it was good fun chilling in a garden and doing re-vegetation plantings in the bush for the most of the day, I felt the need to continue on to something more challenging. I searched through botany and horticulture related university courses and found Massey's Plant Science program which has lead me to taking the communication paper behind the creation of this blog.
I've looked at conservation and plant breeding for possible areas that I would like to work in after studying plant science at Massey. I want to work in these areas because I would like to make a positive impact on the world by researching and breeding plant varieties which:

• are more resilient
• are better grown in dry areas
• produce higher yields
• absorb more CO2 and produce more oxygen 
• produce larger quantities of medicinally used chemicals

Another potential summer location

How do I think this paper will help me?
One day I'll be living in a cabin in some remote forest but until then, communication will be an unavoidable and important aspect of getting things done in life so my expectation is that this paper will be helpful in many aspects of my future studies but in particular, group work, presentations and writing.

Future Posts
Over the next nine weeks, the posts I make will be about things I find interesting in the areas of Botany, Communication, Conservation and Science.