When science is sidelined, there is often an underlying story of the people who are hurt by these decisions and it is often children. Read more >
Jacob's Latest Posts
Photo: Wayne National Forest
This Beetle Lays its Eggs in Dead Mice Carcasses and then Covers Them With Mucus – But it’s Endangered and Important
September 5, 2018 1:37 PM EDT
The US Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) rushed a scientific assessment on the endangered American burying beetle (Nicrophorus americanus) in Nebraska, seemingly because the agency didn’t want to disrupt agribusiness. Two biologists that were working on the assessment, Wyatt Hoback and Douglas Leasure, told the Washington Post that the FWS pushed them to conduct their science on an extremely constrained timeline. The beetle has been a source of contention in federal government research since 2013. The species was listed as endangered after 1989 when scientific evidence showed that the beetle had disappeared from over 90% of its historic range in the US.
We Surveyed Thousands of Federal Scientists. Here are Some Potential Reasons Why the Response Rate Was Lower than Usual
August 14, 2018 2:49 PM EDT
In February and March of this year, the Union of Concerned Scientists, in partnership with Iowa State University’s Center for Survey Statistics and Methodology, sent a survey to over 63,000 federal career staff across 16 federal agencies, offices, and bureaus. Our goal was to give scientists a voice on the state of science under the Trump administration as we had during previous administrations. Read more >
The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly: The Results of Our 2018 Federal Scientists Survey
August 14, 2018 10:34 AM EDT
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 over the past year, and the results are in. Scientists and their work are being hampered by political interference, workforce reductions, censorship, and other issues, but the federal scientific workforce is resilient and continuing to stand up for the use of science in policy decisions. Read more >
The Forgotten Scientists: LGBQT in STEM
June 22, 2018 11:28 AM EDT
Last year, I wrote my very first blog post during pride month. In this piece, I discussed the lack of data on representation of lesbian, gay, bisexual, queer, and transgender (LGBQT) individuals in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). Without such data, it is impossible to know whether LGBQT individuals are as equally represented in STEM as their heterosexual colleagues. It’s been one year—do we know any more about LGBQT representation in STEM? Read more >