Warren, Thank you for your comment and sorry for the restriction. The reason for it was exactly as explained by Martin (Martin, thank you for the email!). I did not mean any offense to scientists who do not have a Ph.D. degree and I know that in many cases they have much more experience than those with it. Unfortunately the authorities in Russia are more impressed by titles than by the reason these days and this extends to the society as the whole. There is a petition in Russian that has been signed by more than 42,000 people (http://babr.ru/?pt=baikal) and it receives very little attention. By contrast, my petition that was signed by ~400 people at the time has been featured in several newspapers and radio stations. After reading your email I realized that I should have thought a better way of "assessing knowledge and status". I apologize again and I welcome you and other scientists with relevant experience to sign the petition.
Best wishes, Dennis --------------------------------------------------------- Dennis V. Lavrov, Assistant Professor Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Organismal Biology, Iowa State University, 343A Bessey Hall, Ames, IA 50011 phone: (515) 294-9091; fax: (515) 294-1337 http://www.eeob.iastate.edu/faculty/LavrovD/ On Thu, Mar 25, 2010 at 8:29 PM, Warren W. Aney <[email protected]> wrote: > It's interesting how this petition process only wants signatures from PhD > scientists with institutional affiliation. That leaves me out, since I have > only an MA in ecological statistics, ESA Senior Ecologist certification, The > Wildlife Society's certification as a Wildlife Biologist, several decades of > practical field experience including aquatic habitat management, and some > knowledge of Siberian environmental management. > > Warren W. Aney > Senior Wildlife Ecologist > 9403 SW 74th Ave > Tigard, OR 97223 > (503) 539-1009 > (503) 246-2605 fax > > -----Original Message----- > From: Ecological Society of America: grants, jobs, news > [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Dennis Lavrov > Sent: Thursday, 25 March, 2010 15:29 > To: [email protected] > Subject: [ECOLOG-L] Petition to protect Lake Baikal > > Dear colleagues, > > It's not publicized much in the news, but there has been a > very unfortunate turn of events for Lake Baikal, the largest and the > most ancient lake on the planet and one of the UNESCO World Nature > Heritage Sites. On January 13, the Russian government made several > changes in the list of activities prohibited in the area of Lake > Baikal that allowed the re-opening of the Baikalsk pulp and paper > mill, the main air and water polluter in the region. This decision is > very unpopular in Russia, but the opposition is being suppressed > (e.g., http://www.www.greengrants.org/breakingnews.php?news_id=271). > Furthermore, the government is propagating the myth that there is no > scientific evidence for the negative effect of the mill on Lake > Baikal. I am trying to gather support from the scientific community in > order to convince Russian President Dmitry Medvedev to revert the > changes in the regulation. I posted an open letter at > http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/baikal/ and ask you to sign it. > You can find more information at > http://news.sciencemag.org/scienceinsider/2010/03/biologist-petitions-russia > -to-sa.html. > > Thank you very much in advance and sorry for a potential double posting, > Dennis > > Dennis V. Lavrov, Assistant Professor > Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Organismal Biology, > Iowa State University, > 343A Bessey Hall, Ames, IA 50011 > phone: (515) 294-9091; fax: (515) 294-1337 > http://www.eeob.iastate.edu/faculty/LavrovD/ > > >
