Jim Salinger

Who is Jim Salinger?

Michael Jim Salinger is an Auckland-based climate change scientist who formerly worked for the Crown Research Institute National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research.

He was a lead author for the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change which was awarded a Nobel Peace Prize in 2007 "for their efforts to build up and disseminate greater knowledge about man-made climate change, and to lay the foundations for the measures that are needed to counteract such change"

From 2006-2010, Salinger was President of the Commission for Agricultural Meteorology at the World Meteorological Organization.

On Thursday 23 April 2009, Salinger was dismissed by NIWA, ostensibly for breaching NIWA's media policy. Salinger had represented NIWA to the public and media for many years and the dismissal caused a 'wide public outcry' according to Television New Zealand. The Institute of Agricultural and Horticultural Science described the incident as a 'national embarrassment'.

In late May 2009, Salinger stated that mediation with NIWA over the dismissal had failed and that he would be lodging a claim with the Employment Relations Authority. On 19 October 2009, the Employment Relations Authority in Auckland began a hearing into Salinger's dismissal; during the hearing it emerged the Salinger has suffered from depression. In December 2009, the Employment Relations Authority upheld Salinger's dismissal.