A WSU Spokane administrator is moving into the leadership of one of the state’s most prestigious science groups. John Roll will serve as the new president-elect of the Washington State Academy of Sciences.
“It’s a group of over 300 distinguished scientists and engineers and physicians and nurses in the state of Washington and I get to spend the next year working with our current president and helping with some of the administrative tasks and then two years working as the actual president, followed by a year as the past president," said Roll, the vice dean of research for WSU’s College of Medicine.
The academy is a group that convenes a wide range of relevant scientific discussions.
“We’ve had recent symposia on creating a model for global decarbonization, looking at wildfires, cannabis use, cannabis research in the state of Washington, climate change, Columbia River treaty issues, things like that. Health disparities in the state," he said.
Most of those fall outside of Roll’s own research portfolio, which has focused in recent years on addiction and rural health.
“One of the things that I really like about being president-elect is that it helps me be able to get up to speed as much as a non-expert can in these other areas," he said.
He can do that with by calling on the real experts in the state around particular subject areas.
Roll will take over his new leadership role at a time when trust in science and scientists is shaky, at least among some segments of society.
“Everybody thinks they’re right all of the time and the corollary of that means those who disagree with them are wrong. That really doesn’t resonate with how I believe science should work," he said. "We have to hone in on truth and we have to always be open-minded and willing to listen to arguments and have conversations as we approach whatever the truth may be. It actually makes me really sad to see that, in our society, we have this polarization and I would love it if we could find ways to overcome that. That’ll be something I’m going to be thinking about in my time there.”
John Roll will take over as president-elect of the Washington State Academy of Sciences on September 16.