Joanne Nova
Background
Joanne Nova holds a Bachelor of Science degree in microbiology from the University of Western Australia. She also has a Graduate Certificate in Science Communications from the Australian National University. After graduation, Nova joined the Shell Questacon Science Circus, a Shell-sponsored program that employs university students to travel around Australia teaching interactive science programs to children. Currently, Nova works as a professional speaker, the Director of Science Speak, and the writer and creator of the blog, JoNova.
Joanne Nova and Global Warming
Joanne Nova is a self-proclaimed climate change skeptic who declares that science has disproved the theory of anthropogenic global warming (AGW). Nova's most notable work in the area of climate change is the controversial document, "The Skeptic's Handbook."
Read our take on Joanne Nova's Skeptic's Handbook.
Mistakenly Referred to as a Climate Change Expert
Although Joanne Nova has not published any research in peer-reviewed journals, she is often presented as an expert in the area of climate science. For example, Fred Singer's Science & Environmental Policy Project mistakenly described Joanne Nova as holding a PhD in meteorology.
Furthermore, Nova has been a speaker at the Heartland Institute's International Conference on Climate Change where she is listed as one of several specialists on the issue of global warming. In 2009, she gave a presentation entitled, "The Great Global Fawning: How Science Journalists Pay Homage to Non-Science and Un-Reason."
Joanne Nova has also given presentations for the Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI) and the Cooler Heads Coalition. The Cooler Heads Coalition is run by CEI and its mission is to "dispel the myths of global warming by exposing flawed economic, scientific, and risk analysis." Members of the coalition include conservative think tanks such as FreedomWorks (formerly Citizens for a Sound Economy), the Heartland Institute, Frontiers of Freedom, the George C. Marshall Institute, JunkScience.com, the National Center for Policy Analysis, and the Fraser Institute.
The International Climate Science Coalition (ICSC) lists Ms. Nova as a "qualified endorser" of the Manhattan Declaration. The ICSC defines a qualified endorser as an individual that is "well-trained in science and technology or climate change-related economics and policy."
Science Speak
Science Speak is a business run by Joanne Nova and David Evans. It describes itself as a "scientific modeling and mathematical research company, and we speak about some science issues." The website, however, is almost entirely dedicated to the issue of global warming and yet fails to provide any examples of current projects or areas of research. Furthermore, Science Speak does not accredit Nova with any of its research in the area of global warming. In fact, with the exception of "The Skeptic's Handbook", Nova's written commentary on the failures of science communicators and journalists on the issue of global warming has been relatively limited to her personal blog.
Nova and Protesting the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change
In 2007, the Heartland Institute arranged for and funded a group of scientists to be sent to Bali to challenge and protest the annual conference of the parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change. Included in this team of "scientists" was Joanne Nova. Other members of the group included Christopher Monckton, Vincent Gray, Will Alexander, and David Evans.
The group's activities attracted media coverage from outlets such as Fox News, Rush Limbaugh's radio show, and the Drudge Report.
