This article is more than 1 year old

This article is more than 1 year old

Judges have awarded an Australian scientist a prestigious international prize, saying he has battled political smears and public attempts to discredit his work in order to shine a light on the devastating effects of climate change on coral reefs.

Prof Terry Hughes was jointly awarded the John Maddox prize on Wednesday for bringing public attention to coral bleaching.

It comes only weeks after his research centre lost government funding for its work.

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Known as the “standing up for science prize”, the award acknowledges scientists who promote their research as a matter of public interest and do so in the face of attempts to criticise their work.

Hughes is an internationally renowned coral reef scientist based at the Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies in Townsville, one of the world’s leading research institutes in the field.

Last month, in a Senate estimates hearing, the Australian Research Council revealed the centre had failed to secure new funding and had been unsuccessful in even making its funding shortlist.

Hughes has declined to comment on the funding decision but on Thursday said he was grateful to receive an award “that goes beyond the normal nerdy science medals”.

“It’s about science with a public conscience,” he said. “Clearly the plight of coral reefs through the threat of climate change is resonating with people.

“I suppose I’ve been reasonably forthright in saying Australia’s policies around the Adani mine and our rising emissions are contrary to our obligations under Unesco and counter to our Paris commitments.”

He said Australians had become motivated by science that showed the effects of climate change on the Great Barrier Reef.

“It’s certainly not too late to save the Barrier Reef but we’ve got a narrow window of opportunity,” he said.

The judges of the John Maddox prize noted Hughes had been “tireless and courageous” in his efforts to communicate the research evidence on coral bleaching and tackle the misrepresentation of coral reef and climate science.

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“In doing so, he has experienced hostility from politicians, public figures and the Australian tourist industry,” they said.

“In the face of efforts to discredit his research, personal criticism and smears in the media, Terry redoubled his efforts to communicate with the widest possible audience, using diverse means and reaching mainstream media around the world.”

Last month Labor’s science spokesman, Kim Carr, said the Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies had missed out on funding after “political intervention” because of Hughes’s public criticism of the government’s reef policy.

The ARC’s chief executive, Sue Thomas, rejected this and told the estimates hearing “this has been a standard competitive process, there has not been any subversion of the process”.

A forecast from the US National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration last month warned that mass bleaching and coral death could be likely along the entire Great Barrier Reef this summer.