THE RESEARCHER

From The Ecologist
Travel, Truth, and Rebellion: One Scientist’s Journey to Walk the Talk
By Nick Breeze



Travel, Truth, and Rebellion: One Scientist’s Journey to Walk the Talk Last November, I participated in a panel discussion following the screening of The Researcher at the Films For Future Festival in Zurich, Switzerland. Gianluca Grimalda’s documentary follows his research trip to Papua New Guinea, using low-carbon travel methods such as buses, boats, and hitchhiking. His refusal to fly back at his employer’s request led to his dismissal from the Kiel Institute for the World Economy.

Jack Kerouac Meets Whicker’s World
The Researcher takes the viewer on the road with Grimalda as he traverses complex geopolitical borders en route to PNG, encountering a cast of characters who reveal how closed off much of the world remains. Shot by Grimalda himself on his smartphone, with direction from Paolo Casalis, the film is engaging and easy to watch. Moments of border tensions are balanced with humour from unexpected encounters. The film succeeds in drawing the audience into an Alan Whicker- esque journey, demystifying foreign landscapes and cultures while fostering camaraderie with those he meets.

Disaster Strikes
While conducting research in PNG, Grimalda is instructed by his employer to fly back to Europe. He refuses and is subsequently fired. He then embarks on a long, alternative route home, extending the adventure with further twists and turns. Although widely reported in the mainstream media, the film offers a broader perspective—one that evokes nostalgia for exploration and the unknown. Grimalda also highlights an important truth: the people he meets are not distant strangers but welcoming, hospitable individuals, eager to help a lone traveller. That aspect of humanity left the deepest impression on me. None of this changed the outcome—he was still sacked, and his return to Europe became a low-budget, overland odyssey. Though he has since won compensation from the Kiel Institute through the courts, the question remains: is that closure?

Aligning Values with Actions
Grimalda’s experience underscores the need to align values with actions. He is now calling for a global scientists' strike, stating: “It would be the first time that scientists go on strike to protest the fact that writing reports is meaningless if these reports are ignored.”

The Actions of Experts Matter
Grimalda’s stance reminded me of research conducted by Professor Kevin Anderson et al. in 2021, which found that expert actions influence how the public perceives risk and their own behaviour.
The study suggested that if more researchers lived in line with their findings—adopting low-carbon lifestyles and calling out high-consumption habits, particularly among elites—policy and societal behaviour would be more likely to align with the targets of the Paris Agreement. On the perception of academics using activism to highlight their research, Grimalda argues: “Most scientists think that if they took this kind of radical action, they would lose their credibility. But on the other hand, studies say exactly the opposite—that people believe more in scientists who, so to speak, walk the talk.”
Grimalda is no stranger to protest and has been arrested for non-violent civil disobedience in efforts to raise awareness about the worsening climate emergency. When I interviewed him for the podcast, he explained: “I wanted to put not just my articles, but my body in front of this catastrophic future that we and future generations are going to face.”

Where to Watch & Listen
The Researcher documentary is now available for paid download on platforms including YouTube and iTunes.
You can also listen to my full interview with Grimalda on YouTube and all major podcast channels.