Peter Vincent Ridd is an Australian

physicist A physicist is a scientist who specializes in the field of physics, which encompasses the interactions of matter and energy at all length and time scales in the physical universe. Physicists generally are interested in the root or ultimate ca ...

, author, and former professor at

James Cook University James Cook University (JCU) is a public university in North Queensland, Australia. The second oldest university in Queensland, JCU is a teaching and research institution. The university's main campuses are located in the tropical cities of Cairn ...

(JCU), North Queensland, Australia.

Education

Ridd received a Bachelor of Science degree in Physics from James Cook University in 1978, and later a PhD in Physics from that same institution in 1980.RIDD v JAMES COOK UNIVERSITY (No.2) [2019] FCCA 2489
Federal Circuit Court of Australia, 2019. "Dr Ridd was disciplined for repeated breaches of the same directions given to him over a course of almost two years. Dr Ridd was invited to remove confidential information he placed publicly online, and he refused to do so." At this time, he also joined the

Australian Institute of Marine Science The Australian Institute of Marine Science (AIMS) is a tropical marine research centre located primarily at Cape Ferguson in the locality of Cape Cleveland, City of Townsville Queensland, Australia. It is around from Townsville. Establishe ...

. He started studying the

Great Barrier Reef The Great Barrier Reef is the world's largest coral reef system composed of over 2,900 individual reefs and 900 islands stretching for over over an area of approximately . The reef is located in the Coral Sea, off the coast of Queensland, ...

in 1984, mainly focusing on

ocean current An ocean current is a continuous, directed movement of sea water generated by a number of forces acting upon the water, including wind, the Coriolis effect, breaking waves, cabbeling, and temperature and salinity differences. Depth contou ...

s and the movement of

sediment Sediment is a naturally occurring material that is broken down by processes of weathering and erosion, and is subsequently transported by the action of wind, water, or ice or by the force of gravity acting on the particles. For example, sa ...

Career

While teaching at JCU, Ridd was the head of the Physics department from 2009 to 2016, and head of the Marine Geophysical Laboratory at that institution for 15 years.

Great Barrier Reef article

With Piers Larcombe, Ridd wrote an

opinion piece An opinion piece is an article, usually published in a newspaper or magazine, that mainly reflects the author's opinion about a subject. Opinion pieces are featured in many periodicals. Editorials Opinion pieces may take the form of an editorial ...

in November 2017, published in the January 2018 issue of ''Marine Pollution Bulletin'', challenging the prevailing understanding of the state of the

, drawing attention to what he argued was a

reproducibility crisis The replication crisis (also called the replicability crisis and the reproducibility crisis) is an ongoing methodological crisis in which the results of many scientific studies are difficult or impossible to reproduce. Because the reproducibi ...

and certain specific papers relating to the state of the Great Barrier Reef, and recommending a new review body for

policy science Policy studies is a subdisicipline of political science that includes the analysis of the process of policymaking (the policy process) and the contents of policy (policy analysis). Policy analysis includes substantive area research (such as health ...

. A viewpoint article in rebuttal was printed in the April 2018 issue of the same journal by Schaffelke ''et al.'' Ridd replied in a further article in the June 2019 issue.

Dismissal from JCU

Beginning in April 2016, James Cook University took a number of disciplinary measures over two years against Ridd, which culminated in Ridd being fired, for refusing to take down confidential information which he had placed publicly online. The university denied that the dismissal was over Ridd's views on climate change. Ridd filed two

crowdfund Crowdfunding is the practice of funding a project or venture by raising money from a large number of people, typically via the internet. Crowdfunding is a form of crowdsourcing and alternative finance. In 2015, over was raised worldwide by crow ...

ed lawsuits, the second over the dismissal. On 16 April 2019, Ridd initially won the lawsuit, with James Cook University found to be in violation of the ''

Fair Work Act 2009 The ''Fair Work Act 2009'' (Cth) is an Act of the Parliament of Australia, passed by the Rudd Government to reform the industrial relations system of Australia. It replaced the Howard Government's WorkChoices legislation, it established Fair ...

''; in September 2019, Ridd was awarded in excess of AU$1 million, together with AU$125,000 pecuniary penalty. While the two parties continue to disagree whether the case related to academic freedom, the ruling judge said the case was "purely and simply about the proper construction of a clause in an enterprise agreement", although he also stated James Cook University had "not understood the whole concept of intellectual freedom". In July 2020, JCU won an appeal against this judgement from the full bench of the Federal Court. Ridd appealed to the

High Court of Australia The High Court of Australia is Australia's apex court. It exercises original and appellate jurisdiction on matters specified within Australia's Constitution. The High Court was established following passage of the ''Judiciary Act 1903''. It ...

, but that appeal was dismissed.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ridd, Peter Living people Australian physicists 21st-century Australian writers James Cook University faculty Year of birth missing (living people)

Education

Career

Great Barrier Reef article

Dismissal from JCU

See also

References