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Professional ethics

September 02, 2007           

Contents:

• Be respectful of genuine Limnologists!
• Recommendation to all consultants and scientists: follow the superb Canons of Ethics for Engineers
  • But it is incumbent upon professional engineers not to encroach upon scientific specialties that they are not proficient in unless they can prove it through published papers in leading international journals; see also an editorial by a Dalhousie University academic!
  • Professional engineers must work under the supervision and/or in partnership with scientists specializing in the specific disciplines; for example, in authentic limnology, i.e., professional lake management, an aspect generally ignored until it is too late!

• Graceful admissions by the Nova Scotia Dept. of the Environment & Labour (NSEL), and Halifax Regional Municipality (HRM)

• Dalhousie University's web site on Plagiarism and Intellectual Honesty (these tenets should also apply to the academia)

• So whom do we trust- an extensive scientific survey conducted by specialists, shore-to-shore of Canada, for the internationally renown Reader's Digest  

• Leading journals to examine how they review articles  

• Biases and conflicts of interest among peer reviewers  

• Professional bodies racist, Crown corporation asserts  

• Universities under the gun

Be respectful of genuine Limnologists

For example, most are aware that a well qualified (at grad or post-grad level) Marine Biologist and/or a Oceanographer specializes in the marine ecosystems, hence it always overwhelms some of us why the vast majority have never heard of a Limnologist, whether a theoretical limnologist and/or an applied limnologist! Limnology is indeed the prime discipline of freshwater sciences!

Essentially, there are two kinds of Limnologists, the first, more common are THEORETICAL LIMNOLOGISTS (many freshwater biologists with graduate education/training could fall under this category though not necessarily so in every case), and the second, less common are APPLIED LIMNOLOGISTS (accreditation/certification is needed in this from scientific authorities worldwide and it is usually in Lake Management)!

Extremely important re `qualified limnologists' with sincere salutations to the NS Dept. of Environment & Labour (note the term, `qualified'):-- Although the Nova Scotia Dept. of Environment & Labour (NSEL) has finally proclaimed that new serviced developments which drain into lakes have to incorporate reports conducted by a QUALIFIED LIMNOLOGIST, and that Policy is over one-and-a-half years old, still there seems to be tremendous resistance on the part of not only many regulators but also on the part of the vast majority of the so-called professional consultants who act for the proponents; as a reminder, see Sec. V.2 in NSDEL's Policy in our web space!

We had indeed made numerous formal submissions to the NSEL to that effect over the years commencing way way back in February 1994, and we even made submissions to the Law Amendments Committee of the Nova Scotia Legislature!

Even prior to the coming into force of the aforementioned Policy of the NSDEL on December 10, 2002, `common sense' should have told any authentic/dedicated professional about the professional competence of all educated people; one does not need a `policy' for everything.

All studies whether funded by the public purse or by private enterprise should always identify all the authors and their professional designations, in brief; no need for lengthy CVs (as CVs can grossly exaggerate); they should also note any formal `acclamations' if they received any especially in the discipline covering the study domain!

Recommendation to all consultants and scientists: Follow the superb Canons of Ethics for Engineers

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