I have always intended this blog to serve as a place to chat about fun or interesting things related to my interests in Coleoptera, evolution, coding, and academia. That being said I am deeply concerned by the discrimination and rejection of science and logic that is being normalized by our government. Several high profile scientists have recently set up a mechanism to ensure that any scientists employed by the federal government have a way to disseminate scientific finding they are forbidden from sharing through normal channels. I'm not 100% sure how much of a problem this is and how much of this is typical of transition in parties. That being said better safe than sorry. So below is the full text of their announcement:
Governmental scientists employed at a subset of agencies have been forbidden from presenting their findings to the public. We have drafted the following response for distribution, and encourage other scientists to post it to their websites, when feasible.
Graham Coop
Professor of Evolution and Ecology
UC Davis
Michael B. Eisen
Professor of Molecular and Cell Biology
UC Berkeley
Molly Przeworski
Professor of Biological Sciences
Columbia University
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In Defense of Science
We are deeply concerned by the Trump administration’s move to gag scientists working at various governmental agencies. The US government employs scientists working on medicine, public health, agriculture, energy, space, clean water and air, weather, the climate and many other important areas. Their job is to produce data to inform decisions by policymakers, businesses and individuals. We are all best served by allowing these scientists to discuss their findings openly and without the intrusion of politics. Any attack on their ability to do so is an attack on our ability to make informed decisions as individuals, as communities and as a nation.
If you are a government scientist who is blocked from discussing their work, we will share it on your behalf, publicly or with the appropriate recipients. You can email us at USScienceFacts@gmail.com.
If you use this address please use PGP encryption using this PGP public key: http://pgp.mit.edu/pks/lookup?op=get&search=0x52C7139DE0A3D350
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