Green Party MLA Andrew Weaver may have paused his academic career for politics, but his scientific peers are still taking note.
The climatologist was named among the top one per cent of most frequently cited researchers in the world, in a report released by Thomson Reuters.
About 3,200 researchers working in 21 science and social sciences fields made the list. Other University of Victoria researchers listed are mathematician Pauline Van Den Driessche and engineers Ned Djilali and Yang Shi.
In compiling the list, analysts assessed journal entries indexed in the Web of Science Core Collection, a platform for scholarly research, between 2002 and 2012.
The methodology began with identifying which papers in the database were most frequently cited. Then, analysts reviewed the individuals who authored or co-authored the greatest number of those documents.
A total of 91 Canadian scientist were listed.
Weaver, who was elected in Oak Bay-Gordon Head in May 2013, is the only Canadian to receive the distinction in the field of geoscience. It is the first time he has been named to the list, last updated in 2004.
“What it says is essentially that I went into the political realm at the peak of my career,” said Weaver, who co-authored or authored 136 articles in the period considered.
“The reason I did it is I felt there was far too much decision-based evidence-making going on, and not enough evidence-based decision-making.”
Weaver said he’d like to see more scientists enter politics, to balance the disproportionate number of lawyers who win debates based on argument and not necessarily data.
“I just hope we see that in the years ahead More and more scientists getting engaged in this, and not at the tail end of their careers, but right at the peak when they can actually have the most impact.”
