The man who sued to stop the mangrove eradication project on the Big Island, Sydney Singer, has developed a reputation for activism on behalf of non-native species that are targeted for control by mainstream conservation groups. In addition to his crusade against mangrove eradication, he has also championed coqui, strawberry guava (or waiawi), feral pigs, feral cats, and wild sheep.\u00a0<\/p>\n
One of Singer\u2019s most ambitious campaigns was launched against the plan of state and federal agencies to introduce a scale insect, Tectococcus ovatus,<\/i> intended to slow down the spread of strawberry guava (Psidium cattleianum<\/i>), generally considered one of the greatest threats to tropical and subtropical islands worldwide. Singer\u2019s efforts to stymie the release of the biocontrol agent, thoroughly tested to ensure little likelihood of it jumping to another host plant, found fertile ground in the minds of many members of the public and, more significantly, that of county legislators as well.<\/p>\n
That campaign has recently been written up in a scholarly journal. Authors Keith Warner, assistant director of the Center for Science, Technology, and Society at Santa Clara University and Frances Kinslow, a graduate student at Chaminade University, analyze Singer\u2019s efforts to rally support for his claims as a case study in how risk communication can be communicated. (The article, \u201cManipulating risk communication: value predispositions shape public understandings of invasive species science in Hawai`i,\u201d appears in the May 25 edition of Public Understanding of Science.<\/i>) The case, they write, \u201cillustrates the obstacles to invasive species risk communication to the public, and its vulnerability to manipulation by an activist opponent.\u201d<\/p>\n
The authors describe a situation on the island of Hawai`i where more than a decade ago, relations between conservationists, on the one hand, and pig hunters and their supporters, on the other, became almost hopelessly broken. A \u201ccommon theme \u2026 emerged: resentment by the local people toward the advice brought by mostly white, mainland-born scientists whom they considered \u2018outsiders.\u2019 Hunters maintained that the conservation scientists\u2019 assertion that pigs harmed forests was speculative.\u201d The so-called pig wars of the \u201990s thus put in place an \u201cestablished, popular narrative that conservation science is used by \u2018outsider\u2019 government agencies to justify decisions that directly conflict with how rural Hawaiians use forests,\u201d Warner and Kinslow write.<\/p>\n
It is against this backdrop that Singer\u2019s opposition to the release of T. ovatus<\/i> played out. The authors note that Singer and his wife, Soma Grismaijer, had already run up against mainstream science with a book arguing that bras cause breast cancer. \u201cTheir argument has been rejected by cancer researchers and the mainstream medical community, but was popular among some advocates for alternative medicine,\u201d the article states. Their critique of \u201cconsensus science,\u201d it goes on to state, then turned \u201cto invasive species control efforts, specifically of the noisy Puerto Rican coqui frog (Eleutherodactylus coqui<\/i>).\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThrough websites dedicated to these issues and extensive advocacy via petitions, participation in public events, and postings on the internet and local bulletin boards, Singer constructed a public identity as a contrarian scientist who articulated local values and criticized government scientists. Singer drew on this local credibility in his campaign against the T. ovatus<\/i> introduction.\u201d<\/p>\n
Singer\u2019s \u201crhetorical strategy had two thrusts,\u201d they write. First, he raised doubts about the \u201ctrustworthiness of conservation scientists.\u201d Second, they say, he linked efforts to suppress strawberry guava through biocontrol \u201cwith the established narrative of government agency indifference to rural livelihoods.\u201d They note how, through the selective use of phrases from a government researcher\u2019s reports, Singer made it appear as though the researcher was endorsing opinions diametrically opposed to those he actually held. \u201cSinger thus selected from [U.S. Department of Agriculture researcher Tracy] Johnson\u2019s risk communication to regulatory scientists and then constructed his own narrative \u2013 using scientific terms \u2013 to appeal to some local values.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSinger drew from the same lexical field used by those who objected to pig fences,\u201d the article goes on to say. \u201cHe claimed that free, wild food was under attack\u2026.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was not that Singer was himself a credible messenger, but rather that he was able to discursively appeal to established narratives about government agencies and science.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSeveral critical questions about the public understanding of invasive species science are cast into sharp relief by this case study,\u201d the authors write. Might \u201ccredible local authorities\u201d \u2013 they suggest a pig hunter or native Hawaiian cultural leader who uses native forest plants for cultural practices — be called on to speak in favor of invasive species control? On the other hand, \u201cskeptical members of the public could reasonably ask for greater transparency on the part of government agencies and more responsiveness to community concerns.\u201d<\/p>\n
They conclude: \u201cWhen a gap exists between invasive species scientists and a network of opponents, in the absence of public engagement, the potential for a perverse outcome exists: augmented public mistrust of science institutions.\u201d Singer\u2019s \u201cknowledge of the local values predisposition\u201d gave him \u201ca form of social power that can hold off government efforts to pursue conservation goals\u2026. [The case] illustrates how routine risk communication can be manipulated by reframing deliberation about scientific management practices into a debate about the credibility of government scientists.\u201d<\/p>\n
Singer Responds<\/i><\/p>\n
Singer commented on the article in a posting made to an online user group for people concerned with invasive species in Hawai`i. The article, he wrote, \u201cwas poorly written and I believe inaccurately described the strawberry guava biocontrol project\u2019s public reaction and my personal reason for opposing this project\u2026..\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI think, in general, the environmental managers are wanting to get the public behind their agenda, rather than adapting the managers\u2019 agenda to the public\u2019s values,\u201d he continued.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Also, \u201cspecies being targeted are vilified\u2026.,\u201d he wrote. \u201cThe species becomes the \u2018enemy\u2019 as war is declared. As a scientist I find this extremely objectionable, and my personal crusades to protect the coqui, strawberry guava, and mangrove began when I read propaganda coming from the government and saw it was not objective, honest science.\u201d Among other things, to achieve \u201cimproved risk communication,\u201d he suggested that resource managers \u201cadmit the benefits of target species and be more holistic in seeing the complex interrelationship between species and the environment.\u201d<\/p>\n
Although describing himself in this post as a scientist, at other times, Singer has specifically stated he is not<\/i> one. On the same online user group, in a comment just a few weeks earlier on another invasive species, Singer wrote, \u201cAdmittedly, I am not a scientist.\u201d<\/p>\n
On many occasions, Singer has described himself as a medical anthropologist and a biochemist. A resume he provided to the court says he received a bachelor\u2019s degree in biology from the University of Utah. He also informed the court that he received a master of arts degree (in anthropology) from Duke University, \u201cwhere I spent two years in the Ph.D. program in biochemistry and an additional two years in the Ph.D. program in anthropology.\u201d Following that, Singer claims to have been enrolled in the M.D.\/Ph.D. program at the University of Texas medical branch at Galveston, \u201cwhere I spent two years in the medical school program and an additional year in the medical humanities program.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Patricia Tummons<\/b><\/p>\n
Volume 22, Number 1 —
\n July 2011<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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