Jacob Carter

Research scientist

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Jacob Carter is a research scientist for the Center for Science and Democracy at the Union of Concerned Scientists. In this role, Dr. Carter investigates how science is used in the policy-making process, focusing on issues of scientific integrity across the federal government. See Jacob's full bio.

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Publio Gonzalez, a biologist with the Gorgas Institute, holds a bat June 6, 2018, in Meteti, Panama. Gonzalez and U.S. military doctors were participating in an Emerging Infectious Diseases Training Event, in which they received informational lectures from Panamanian infectious disease experts and field studies of possible virus-carrying wildlife and insects.  Dustin Mullen/US Air Force

Trump Administration Axes Coronavirus Research

April 30, 2020 2:29 PM EDT

News broke yesterday that the Trump administration is defunding a research program studying bat-human virus transmission, a probable cause of the current pandemic. The Ecohealth Alliance, which develops science-based solutions to prevent pandemics and promote conservation, was receiving the funding to conduct this research from the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The NIH normally only cuts research funding when they find that an award recipient has violated some form of research integrity (i.e., plagiarized, falsified results). Read more >

Photo: U.S. Air Force photo by Senior Airman Dustin Mullen/Released)
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Bureau of Land Management

Trump Administration Considers Hunting in Wildlife Refuges a Celebration of COVID-19 “Success”

April 13, 2020 3:35 PM EDT

At a time when COVID-19 cases are topping a million globally and thousands of Americans have died from the pandemic, the Trump Administration is planning a celebration—of sorts. Read more >

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The Trump administration rolled back worker safety measures in May 2019, putting more lives and our environment at risk of another catastrophe like the Deepwater Horizon disaster, pictured here.  Photo: Wikimedia

Trump Administration Ignores Worker Safety in Pursuit of Offshore Oil Profits

February 28, 2020 8:03 AM EDT

A coordinated strategy between political appointees at the Interior Department has rolled back safety standards for offshore oil rig workers and increased the risk of another catastrophe like Deepwater Horizon.  Read more >

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Are Your Children Vaping? On Vaping and a Need for Science-Based Policy

February 13, 2020 1:45 PM EDT

Teens and young adults across the country are dying from vaping. Yet, the Trump administration has chosen not to take the appropriate steps to fix this pandemic. Read more >

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What Should the Next President do to Restore Science to Decisionmaking?

January 29, 2020 10:00 AM EDT

Today, we’re releasing a new report, Presidential Recommendations for 2020: A Blueprint for Defending Science and Protecting the Public. In this report, we outline a suite of recommendations that the next president can take to protect the health and safety of the public through restoring science to government decisionmaking processes. The report focuses on strengthening three major principles underlying science-based decisionmaking: independence, transparency, and free speech.

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David Everett Strickler/Unsplash
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