Macquarie University has dropped Santos branding and support for a school science roadshow after a senior Australian climate scientist complained sponsorship from a company expanding fossil fuel production was inappropriate.
Prof Lesley Hughes asked her own institution, Sydney’s Macquarie University, to pull out of hosting one of the events for the Santos Science Experience, arguing the company’s expansion plans were putting children’s future at stake.
In a move to apparently appease critics, organisers have established a parallel event – The Science Experience – dropping the Santos name, but with only Macquarie University and the University of Tasmania listed as hosts.
Hughes told the Guardian: “We wouldn’t enter into a year 10 science experience program sponsored by [cigarette maker] Benson & Hedges. I don’t think that should happen for an oil and gas company either.”
The Santos Science Experience charges year 9 and 10 students between $65 and $260 to attend programs running from one to four days at more than a dozen universities and other institutions. It starts next week and goes until the end of the year.
A web archive of the Santos Science Experience from late March shows Macquarie University as a participating institution.
But the university told the Guardian it was now hosting the students under the banner “The Science Experience”, which would be supported by the event’s not-for-profit organisers, the Victorian-based Science Schools Foundation. That foundation is also organising the Santos events.
Hughes is a high-profile and accomplished scientist who this week was confirmed as a new member of the government’s Climate Change Authority that will advise the Albanese government on emissions targets.
She said she had spoken with colleagues after seeing an email asking academics to get involved. “I said I personally thought the university shouldn’t be working with a fossil fuel company that’s looking to explore for more fossil fuels.
“I also don’t think [Santos] should be sponsoring a science program when the science is clear that we can’t have any more oil and gas exploration if we want to get to net zero.
“The paradox here is that they are hosting a high school science program when the science is so clear and it is those kids’ future that is at stake.”
According to the Santos Science Experience website, students do experiments, attend site visits and hear about careers in science, technology and engineering.
Dozens of universities and tertiary colleges are hosting the Santos-branded events, including the University of Technology Sydney, the University of South Australia, the University of Melbourne, RMIT and the University of Sydney.
Macquarie was listed on the official event website as host for a three-day event from 4 October. But on Thursday – the same day the Guardian asked about the event – Macquarie’s name disappeared.
The national director of the Science Schools Foundation, Jacqueline Bellars, said the event would go ahead at Macquarie and no children would be disappointed. She directed questions about any criticisms of the sponsorship to Santos and the university.
She said the program for each event was set by the hosts and they were geared to encourage young people to explore a career in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (Stem) and expose them to life in university or tertiary education.
She said the Santos lead sponsorship began in 2020, taking over from previous main backer ConocoPhillips – another oil and gas company.
In a statement, Macquarie University said its “involvement with this event is focused on the promotion of science, so a decision was made to proceed with our Science Experience event without any sponsorship or branding from Santos”.
“The Science Experience held at Macquarie is an important opportunity for high school students, including rural, regional and Indigenous students, to engage with Stem,” the statement said. “The activities taking place at Macquarie on 4-6 October are now being supported by the Science Schools Foundation.”
A Santos statement said: “Santos is proud to fund this initiative that helps more than 3,000 children each year engage in science activities, and we have been doing so since 2013.”
Santos is also a prolific sponsor in the sports world, appearing on the back of the Australian and Queensland Reds rugby union team shirts.
The gas company also sponsors the road cycling Santos Tour Down Under. The event has come under sustained pressure from protesters over the sponsorship, with some professional cyclists calling for an end to the deal.
Senator David Pocock, a former Wallaby, has compared the company’s sponsorships to the era when tobacco companies used sports sponsorships to try to retain social legitimacy.
Earlier this year Tennis Australia confirmed it had dropped Santos as a major partner just one year into a multi-year sponsorship deal.
