Thomas Quirk is a
corporate director
A corporation is an organization—usually a group of people or a company—authorized by the State (polity), state to act as a single entity (a legal entity recognized by private and public law "born out of statute"; a legal person in legal ...
of
biotech
Biotechnology is the integration of natural sciences and engineering sciences in order to achieve the application of organisms, cells, parts thereof and molecular analogues for products and services. The term ''biotechnology'' was first used b ...
companies and former board member of the
, an Australian conservative think-tank for which he has written numerous articles and papers and provided comments to the media. Quirk joined the board of therapeutics company Sementis in 2011 as a non-executive director. Quirk is an occasional speaker on the topic of innovation in Australia, and has written extensively on subjects of
energy policy
Energy policy is the manner in which a given entity (often governmental) has decided to address issues of energy development including energy conversion, distribution and use as well as reduction of greenhouse gas emissions in order to contri ...
and
climate change
In common usage, climate change describes global warming—the ongoing increase in global average temperature—and its effects on Earth's climate system. Climate change in a broader sense also includes previous long-term changes to E ...
. He is a former member of the
Australian Climate Science Coalition's Scientific Advisory Panel. Quirk is a critic of
Tim Flannery
Timothy Fridtjof Flannery (born 28 January 1956) is an Australian mammalogist, palaeontologist, environmentalist, Conservation biology, conservationist, Exploration, explorer, author, Science communication, science communicator, activist and p ...
, the
Climate Commission
The Climate Commission was an independent body established in 2011 by the Government of Australia to communicate "reliable and authoritative information" about climate change in Australia. Abolished by the newly elected LNP government led by Prime ...
and
environmentalists
An environmentalist is a person who is concerned with and/or advocates for the protection of the environment. An environmentalist can be considered a supporter of the goals of the environmental movement, "a political and ethical movement that se ...
generally.
Career
Quirk has worked for resources company, CRA (now known as
Rio Tinto Rio Tinto, meaning "red river", may refer to:
Businesses
* Rio Tinto (corporation), an Anglo-Australian multinational mining and resources corporation
** Rio Tinto Alcan, based in Canada
** Rio Tinto Borax in America
*** Rio Tinto Borax Mine, a ...
). He has also worked in the United States at
Fermilab
Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory (Fermilab), located just outside Batavia, Illinois, near Chicago, is a United States Department of Energy national laboratory specializing in high-energy particle physics. Since 2007, Fermilab has been operat ...
, the universities of Chicago and Harvard and at
CERN
The European Organization for Nuclear Research, known as CERN (; ; ), is an intergovernmental organization that operates the largest particle physics laboratory in the world. Established in 1954, it is based in a northwestern suburb of Gene ...
in Europe. He was an early director of Biota, a company which developed an influenza drug. He has held several positions in utilities, electricity and transport industries including a founding directorship of the
Victorian Power Exchange. Quirk was Deputy Chairman of
VENCorp
The Victorian Energy Networks Corporation (VENCorp) was a Victorian State Government-owned entity established in December 1997 responsible for the efficient operation of gas and electricity industries in Victoria, Australia, within Victoria's p ...
, which managed the transmission and wholesale
natural gas
Natural gas (also called fossil gas or simply gas) is a naturally occurring mixture of gaseous hydrocarbons consisting primarily of methane in addition to various smaller amounts of other higher alkanes. Low levels of trace gases like carbo ...
market and system planning for the electricity market in
Victoria, Australia
Victoria is a state in southeastern Australia. It is the second-smallest state with a land area of , the second most populated state (after New South Wales) with a population of over 6.5 million, and the most densely populated state in Au ...
. He is also a former Chairman of
VicTrack
VicTrack, the trading name of Victorian Rail Track Corporation, is a Government of Victoria, Victorian Government state-owned enterprise which owns all railway and tram lines, associated rail lands and other rail-related infrastructure in the ...
, the owner of the state's railway assets.
Quirk also worked for
James D. Wolfensohn in a venture capital fund based in
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
. Quirk was appointed as a Fellow of the Heide Museum of Modern Art in Victoria, of which he is a benefactor.
Political views
Quirk is an advocate for the expansion of Australia's role in the nuclear fuel chain and has expressed support for the development of
uranium enrichment
Enriched uranium is a type of uranium in which the percent composition of uranium-235 (written 235U) has been increased through the process of isotope separation. Naturally occurring uranium is composed of three major isotopes: uranium-238 (238U ...
capacity, spent fuel reprocessing and future storage of
nuclear waste
Radioactive waste is a type of hazardous waste that contains radioactive material. Radioactive waste is a result of many activities, including nuclear medicine, nuclear research, nuclear power generation, rare-earth mining, and nuclear weapons r ...
in Australia.
One of the potential applications of nuclear energy in Australia is powering
seawater desalination plants. He has also challenged the work of
anti-nuclear
The anti-nuclear movement is a social movement that opposes various nuclear technologies. Some direct action groups, environmental movements, and professional organisations have identified themselves with the movement at the local, natio ...
activist,
Helen Caldicott
Helen Mary Caldicott (born 7 August 1938) is an Australian physician, author, and anti-nuclear advocate. She founded several associations dedicated to opposing the use of nuclear power, depleted uranium munitions, nuclear weapons, nuclear we ...
. Quirk contributed a chapter entitled ''Opportunities in the nuclear fuel cycle'' to the 2011 policy perspective publication ''Australia's nuclear options'' for the
Committee for Economic Development of Australia
The Committee for Economic Development of Australia (CEDA) is a bipartisan, non-profit organisation providing thought leadership and policy perspectives on the economic and social issues affecting Australia.
Its expressed aim is to "promote nat ...
(CEDA).
Between 2006 and 2011, Quirk wrote numerous articles for the website ''Online Opinion'', including criticisms of
wind power
Wind power or wind energy is mostly the use of wind turbines to electricity generation, generate electricity. Wind power is a popular, sustainable energy, sustainable, renewable energy source that has a much smaller Environmental impact of wi ...
and
renewable energy
Renewable energy is energy that is collected from renewable resources that are naturally replenished on a human timescale. It includes sources such as sunlight, wind, the movement of water, and geothermal heat. Although most renewable energy ...
and pieces promoting nuclear power. Quirk is also a regular writer for
Quadrant online.
Quirk co-signed a letter to the UN Secretary General, rejecting the
scientific consensus on climate change
There is a strong scientific consensus that the Earth is warming and that this warming is mainly caused by human activities. This consensus is supported by various studies of scientists' opinions and by position statements of scientific org ...
. Quirk's opinion editorials and analyses on topics of
energy
In physics, energy (from Ancient Greek: ἐνέργεια, ''enérgeia'', “activity”) is the quantitative property that is transferred to a body or to a physical system, recognizable in the performance of work and in the form of heat a ...
, energy policy and climate change have been frequently referred to and quoted by
Andrew Bolt
Andrew Bolt (born 26 September 1959) is an Australian right-wing social and political commentator. He has worked at the News Corp-owned newspaper company The Herald and Weekly Times (HWT) for many years, for both '' The Herald'' and its success ...
and republished and promoted by bloggers
Joanne Nova
Joanne Nova is an Australian writer, blogger, and speaker. Born Joanne Codling, she adopted the stage name "Nova" in 1998 when she was preparing to host a children's television program. She is prominent for promoting climate change denial.
E ...
and
Jennifer Marohasy
Jennifer Marohasy (born 1963) is an Australian biologist, columnist and blogger. She was a senior fellow at the free-market think tank the Institute of Public Affairs between 2004 and 2009 and director of the Australian Environment Foundation u ...
and think tanks including the
Institute for Private Enterprise.
In 2014 Quirk described the
carbon bubble
The carbon bubble is a hypothesized bubble in the valuation of companies dependent on fossil-fuel-based energy production, resulting from future decreases in value of fossil fuel reserves as they become unusable in order to meet carbon budget ...
as a "white elephant" and claims that while in the atmosphere is increasing, atmospheric temperatures are remaining "dynamically stable." As of 2015, Quirk continues to express his views via opinion editorials, occasional interviews and speaking engagements. In 2015, Quirk spoke to the
Australian Institute of International Affairs
The Australian Institute of International Affairs (AIIA) is an Australian research institute and think tank which focuses on International relations. It publishes the ''Australian Journal of International Affairs''. It is one of the oldest act ...
on the topic of technological innovation in Australia. In a 2015 study about bias in climate science, Quirk and co-authors concluded: "Because of the above bias errors the hypothesis of dangerous global warming caused by human activity has not been substantiated by evidential science."
[Chambers, J., Miller, A., Morgan, R., Officer, B., Rayner, M., Sellars-Jones, G., & Quirk, T. (2015), "Psychology Behavioural Economics and Climate Change", ''Energy & Environment'', 26(8), pages 1353-1358.]
Education
Quirk trained as a nuclear physicist at the
University of Melbourne
The University of Melbourne is a public research university located in Melbourne, Australia. Founded in 1853, it is Australia's second oldest university and the oldest in Victoria. Its main campus is located in Parkville, an inner suburb nor ...
, has attended the
Harvard Business School
Harvard Business School (HBS) is the graduate business school of Harvard University, a private research university in Boston, Massachusetts. It is consistently ranked among the top business schools in the world and offers a large full-time MBA p ...
and has been a Fellow of three Oxford Colleges.
Publications
*Chambers, J., Miller, A., Morgan, R., Officer, B., Rayner, M., Sellars-Jones, G., & Quirk, T. (2015), "Psychology Behavioural Economics and Climate Change", ''Energy & Environment'', 26(8), pages 1353–1358.
*
*Chambers, J., Miller, A., Morgan, R., Officer, B., Rayner, M., Sellars-Jones, G., & Quirk, T. (2013). "A Review of the Scientific Evidence Underlying the Imposition of a Carbon Tax or ETS in Australia", ''Energy & Environment'', 24(6), 1013–1026.
*
*Quirk, T. (2010). "Twentieth Century Sources of Methane in the Atmosphere", ''Energy & Environment'', 21(3), 251–266.
*Quirk, T. (2009). "The Australian Temperature Anomaly, 1910 - 2000", ''Energy & Environment'', 20(1/2), 97–100.
*Quirk, T. (2009). "Sources and Sinks of Carbon Dioxide", ''Energy & Environment'', 20(1/2), 105–121.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Quirk, Tom
Living people
University of Melbourne alumni
Australian physicists
People associated with CERN
Year of birth missing (living people)
20th-century births