An Open Letter to Federal Scientists in the Age of Trump
Dear Colleagues, I am writing to tell you that I have great respect for scientists working for our federal (and state, local and tribal) government, and I believe we need you now more than ever before....
View ArticleThank a Government Scientist Today. Their Work—and Our Health and Safety—Is...
Today President Trump signed an executive order mandating that for any new rule issued from an agency, two would have to be revoked. Such a proposal is absurd, illogical, and threatening to our public...
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Congress is Trying to Protect Federal Scientists Because President Trump Isn’t
UPDATE, March 2, 2017: A House version of this bill has been introduced, led by Representatives Paul Tonko, Niki Tsongas, Alan Lowenthal, and Eddie Bernice Johnson. The bill has 77 co-sponsors in...
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Giving Thanks to Climate Researchers of the Federal Agencies
Most of my science career I worked for the Department of Energy as a climate modeler and numerical expert at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory. Since my retirement in 2010 I have written a text on...
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Federal Scientists! Make a Note for the Record. We All Need to Know of Your...
To say that federal employees are working in a challenging environment is probably a gross understatement. I’ve heard reports of employees not being allowed to take notes in meetings or told not to use...
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The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly: The Results of Our 2018 Federal Scientists...
Photo: Virginia State Parks/CC BY 2.0 (Flickr)In February and March of this year, the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS) conducted a survey of federal scientists to ask about the state of science...
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Is Scientific Integrity Safe at the USDA?
U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Agricultural Research Service (ARS) plant physiologist Franck Dayan observes wild-type and herbicide-resistant biotypes of Palmer Amaranth (pigweed) as Mississippi...
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The EPA Can’t Stop Polluters When the Trump Administration Cuts Enforcement...
The primary task of the US Environmental Protection Agency is to protect public health and the environment. To do so, the agency must ensure that everyone, whether in the private sector or in...
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Censoring a Senior Analyst at the State Department for Telling the Truth is a...
Image: C-SPANThink of it. You are an accomplished scientist in academia and decide to serve your country by going into public service. You do your job, advising the State Department, the...
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Introducing Federal Scientist (now under the Trump administration) Barbie™!
Original work by Laurel RaymondFor 60 years, Barbie has inspired children of all ages to grow up and become whatever they want to be: an astronaut, a journalist, or even a mechanic! Now there’s a...
View ArticleTowards Open Access to Government Science: The Obama Administration Takes...
This week, the National Research Council is holding public comment meetings on increasing public access to federally funded research—both access to the data and publications. We encouraged the UCS...
View ArticleNew Threats To Whistleblowers
Do you believe that an employee working at a Defense Department commissary holds a position “sensitive” to our national security? If you answered, “No,” think again. Recently a federal judge held that...
View ArticleWant to Talk to a Scientist in Canada? Don't Look to the Federal Government
If you want to talk to a scientist in Canada who works for the government, you might be in for a long wait. That’s the takeaway from a new report that grades the communications policies of 12 Canadian...
View ArticleWhy Does UCS Survey Government Scientists?
Today, thousands of scientists who work for federal agencies will get emails from the Union of Concerned Scientists asking them to take an online survey. The surveys will go out to employees who deal...
View ArticleFreedom to Tweet? Government Scientists and the Right to Engage on Social Media
Social media has done great things for science. We’ve seen it educate, advocate, and communicate on scientific issues around the world and at an unimaginable speed. Social media has allowed open...
View ArticleCensorship of Government Scientists Spreads to the United Kingdom
British scientists are pushing back strongly against a move by the UK government to control how government scientists communicate their research with the public. This is a very troubling development...
View ArticleThe FDA Released a Long-Awaited Social Media Policy—and It's Impressive
Earlier this year, I looked at the social media policies of 17 federal agencies and departments with science in their missions. All but one of those agencies had a social media policy in place. So we...
View ArticleScience After Trump: What We Learned and How the Biden Administration Can...
I have studied science used and misused by US presidents for a decade, but the Trump era kicked that work to a new level. In less than four years, we have logged more than 160 attacks on science (and...
View ArticleHow to Apply for a Federal Job: A Toolkit for Scientists
Learn how to navigate the application process for federal science jobs with a new toolkit for early- and mid-career scientists.
View ArticleCalling All Scientists: The Federal Government is Hiring
Whether you’ve earned a bachelor’s degree or a PhD, federal science needs you—and we at the Union of Concerned Scientists can help you get there.
View ArticleBiden USDA Must Do More to Rebuild a Diverse Science Workforce
USDA must rebuild scientific workforce to address farming, public health, and climate challenges.
View ArticleNew UCS Survey Asks Federal Scientists: How are You Faring in the Biden...
Starting next week, the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS) will distribute an online survey to tens of thousands of federal scientists across seven agencies. The purpose of this survey is to assess...
View ArticleTop Three Findings from the Latest UCS Survey of Federal Scientists
The Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS) recently conducted a survey of federal scientists to ask about the state of science, and the results are in. This is our tenth version of the survey since 2004...
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Post-Trump Brain Drain Largely Restored at Key Federal Agencies But More Work...
One of the first analyses UCS undertook in 2021 was an effort to understand how many federal scientists had left without being replaced during the Trump administration. While not all agencies were...
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