Video: Committee for Freedom and Responsibility in Science - Wellington
On Wednesday 3 December 2025, guest speakers from the International Science Council’s (ISC) Committee for Freedom and Responsibility in Science discussed their work to counter threats to the integrity of science from around the world.
Our Wellington panellists:
Marcia Barbosa is International Science Council (ISC) Vice-President for Freedom and Responsibility in Science. She is a physicist and rector at University of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil, science policy expert and globally recognised advocate for gender equality in science.
Robert French is the former Chief Justice of Australia and former Chancellor of the University of Western Australia.
Karly Kehoe has been heavily involved in the ISC’s Science in Time of Crisis project around threats faced by scientists and academics during times of war. She is Professor of History, Saint Mary’s University, Canada.
Krushil Watene, Associate Professor of Philosophy at the University of Auckland, weaves together the relationship between science and Indigenous knowledge systems, particularly mātauranga Māori.
The event was moderated by Dacia Herbulock, Director of the Science Media Centre New Zealand.
In this wide-ranging and truly global conversation, the panel discuss the declining trust in institutions around the world and human rights related to science. They introduce the Committee’s work towards equity, equality and academic freedom—for example for women and environmental scientists— and advocacy in times of war and political disruption.
In discussing the benefits of sharing science for everybody’s humanity, they highlight the importance of scientific literacy in the face of global socio-ecological challenges.
The Wellington event (one of two) marked the Committee’s first visit to Aotearoa New Zealand, and ten years of support by the Society in hosting an MBIE-funded Special Advisor to the Committee.
Read more about the Society’s endorsement of the ISC’s interpretation of the right to science.
Learn more about the International Science Council and the Committee for Freedom and Responsibility in Science.
This event was filmed at the Royal Society Te Apārangi in Wellington on 3 December 2025.