Heartland "500" Still Co-Authors

onJun 6, 2008 @ 17:13 PDT

As most of the blogosphere will remember our Heartland 500 story from the other week, I thought it was time for a quick update.

For those who don’t remember, take a quick read of this quote and you’ll get the picture:

I view that the inclusion of my name in such a list without my permission or consensus has damaged my professional reputation as an atmospheric scientist.”

That quote is from Dr. Ming Cai, Associate Professor, Department of Meteorology, Florida State University. Dr. Ming Cai (along with many other researchers) was none to pleased being listed as a “co-author” on a paper produced by Dennis Avery, Senior Fellow at the Heartland Institute, titled “500 Scientists Whose Research Contradicts Man-Made Global Warming Scares.”

A quick click through to the Heartland website today still finds that Dr. Ming Cai and his colleagues are still listed as “co-authors” of Avery’s paper.

Just for the Heartland Institute and Avery’s sake here is a reminder of the definition of “co-author”

A collaborating or joint author.

Seems simple enough to me. Am I missing something here in what it means to be a “co-author?”

By Kevin Grandia

Kevin is a contributor and strategic adviser to DeSmogBlog.

He runs the digital marketing agency Spake Media House. Named a “Green Hero” by Rolling Stone Magazine and one of the “Top 50 Tweeters” on climate change and environment issues, Kevin has appeared in major news media outlets around the world for his work on digital campaigning.

Kevin has been involved in the public policy arena in both the United States and Canada for more than a decade. For five years he was the managing editor of DeSmogBlog.com. In this role, Kevin’s research into the “climate denial industry” and the right-wing think tank networks was featured in news media articles around the world. He is most well known for his ground-breaking research into David and Charles Koch’s massive financial investments in the Republican and tea party networks.

Kevin is the first person to be designated a “Certified Expert” on the political and community organizing platform NationBuilder.

Prior to DeSmogBlog, Kevin worked in various political and government roles. He was Senior Advisor to the Minister of State for Multiculturalism and a Special Assistant to the Minister of State for Asia Pacific, Foreign Affairs for the Government of Canada. Kevin also worked in various roles in the British Columbia provincial government in the Office of the Premier and the Ministry of Health.

In 2008 Kevin co-founded a groundbreaking new online election tool called Vote for Environment which was later nominated for a World Summit Award in recognition of the world’s best e-Content and innovative ICT applications.

Kevin moved to Washington, DC in 2010 where he worked for two years as the Director of Online Strategy for Greenpeace USA and has since returned to his hometown of Vancouver, Canada.