Ethics Case No. 5
Resource Sector - Avoiding an Ethical Dilemma by Narrowing the Gap between
Client Expectations and Scientific Results

Anonymous

The ethics column this month will again describe a situation to raise awareness of an ethical issue affecting common practice today. The following case pertains to the pressures applied to a geoscientist who renders a negative opinion. It again reflects a situation where the culture of good science and the culture of business can collide rather than work together. This point of contact between these two cultures can and does lead to successful projects and outcomes; however, it also leads to some ethically challenging situations. Resource geoscience, by its very nature, more often than not tends toward more negative results than positive results.

In the case where a proponent has high expectations of the geological potential of their project and demonstrates less regard for the amount of scientific data gathered or what the scientific results suggest. Sometimes there is no ethical dilemma, as the science that evolves eventually supports the proponents expectations, however, it is not uncommon for a proponents expectations to be overly optimistic. Serious ethical challenges can and do evolve late in the investigation of a project when scientific data delivers results which dramatically diverge from the proponents expectations. These situations can be especially difficult when a proponent may have very little technical knowledge, however, is acutely aware of the financial implications of negative results which may have a devastating impact on the share price and investor confidence. With the current disclosure requirements of issuers, the motivation of proponents to avoid negative news can be significant.

The subsequent delivery of results, which fail to satisfy the expectations of the proponent, leads to a variety of responses some of which include accepting the results while others try to change, negate the message or undermine the message. Responses can range from persistent attempts at persuasion, verbal abuse, firing, hiring another geoscientist to discredit the work to aggressively attacking the credibility of the geoscientist. The geoscientist changing the proponent's expectations incrementally can manage the gulf between overly enthusiast expectations and scientific results.

Discussing upside and downside potential and general success rates in the exploration industry early on in the process can mitigate proponent's expectations. Understanding the proponents knowledge level can also help in both educating the proponent while sharing the results. Constant communication of results throughout the study or exploration program can also help in incrementally adjusting expectations. Effective communications, however, are not always possible. In these cases, the ethical challenge is for geoscientists to stand firm in the delivery of a well thought out and scientifically defendable opinion in the face of significantly differing expectations.

APGO does not necessarily advocate the solutions in this case. APGO’S intent in publishing this case is simply to stimulate discussion and thought.
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Wanted: Ethical cases regarding incomplete disclosure, problems with conflicting test data results, insufficient information with which to draw stated conclusions, pressure to rewrite conclusions or any others that you can think of that affect geoscientists. Authors will remain anonymous. Articles to be published in future issues of Field Notes.

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Field Notes is published by APGO and is edited by Wendy Diaz, P.Geo. If you have comments or wish to contribute material to this newsletter, please contact Wendy Diaz, P.Geo., or Norman Williams, P.Eng., Executive Director/Registar.

Copyright 2006, Association of Professional Geoscientists of Ontario (APGO)