Anyone interested in a tenure-track climate science position at Georgia Tech? Because Judith Curry has decided to retire a few years early, turning her attention to her company instead and resigning from the university as of Jan 1.
Her decision is detailed in her latest post, one of the first in a while to consist of original writing and not just commentary of other papers. She writes that she’s done with academia, in no small part due to the fact that she has run out of advice for students on “how to navigate the CRAZINESS in the field of climate science.”
In justifying her shift in focus to her short-term climate and weather prediction company CFAN, Curry claims that “the private sector seems like a more ‘honest’ place for a scientist working in a politicized field than universities or government labs- at least when you are your own boss.”
This, of course, flies in the face of all sorts of studies and reporting that show private funding biases studies much more than the ones funded publicly (perhaps unsurprising to see her reject this consensus too.) Though she at least caveats her statement, saying it “seems like” there’s less bias, “at least when you are your own boss.”
But when you’re the boss of a company that has clients, in this case including those in the energy sector, aren’t they really your boss?
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