ABSTRACT
In science, experts are usually those who have achieved a high level of competence and experience in their own field. Expertise is typically disciplinary and often sub-disciplinary; but it can also be found outside disciplinary boundaries. Whether there can be interdisciplinary expertise is a matter of debate, but there can be expertise in communicating between disciplines. Then there are environmental organizations, public speakers, journalists, science commentators, conspiracy theorists, and a number of other parties claiming expertise on ocean and water pollution. Experts have experience in their field of expertise, and are competent in applying their knowledge and experience to new problems. Expertise is a social concept, and measuring expertise is more like measuring a country’s wealth, or an individual’s happiness: a measuring process that must be constantly updated and corrected.
