The first quarter of 2021 began with a violent insurrection at the U.S. Capitol and ended with both the Biden administration and Congress having taken important steps to safeguard scientific integrity and speed COVID-19 vaccinations. Read more >
UCS's Latest Posts
Protect the Arctic Refuge youth rally in front of the Yukon legislative assembly. Katarzyna Nowak
Indigenous and Western Scientists and Knowledge Holders Partnering for the Public Good
Katarzyna Nowak, lecturer at University of Alberta / Yukon University; Jared Gonet, PhD student at University of Alberta / Yukon University.
April 7, 2021 3:25 PM EDT
We are two conservationists: a First Nations Yukoner and Canadian, and a first generation immigrant-settler with dual Poland-U.S. nationality. Our paths crossed through mutual interest in Indigenous-led stewardship, Two-Eyed Seeing, and holistic approaches like One Health. We are proponents of two-eyed seeing which means, “To see from one eye with the strengths of Indigenous ways of knowing, and to see from the other eye with the strengths of Western ways of knowing, and to use both of these eyes together”. With two-eyed seeing, it becomes easier to see, for example that the health of people, wildlife and our shared environments is so intertwined as to be one (“One Health”).
We think that an exciting paradigm shift is underway that could transform how we engage with governments and other institutions for the public good. Read more >
Melody Tan
The Science Policy Community’s Responsibility to Address Anti-Asian Xenophobia
Christopher Tonnu Jackson, Ph.D. candidate in Chemistry at University of California, Berkeley, and Melody Tan, Ph.D. candidate in Bioengineering, Rice University
March 24, 2021 3:58 PM EDT
As early-career Asian American scientists pursuing science policy professions, we have witnessed the weaponization of scientific research against people who share our heritage as our communities in the United States face the consequences of this rhetoric.
Censorship of Federal Environmental Agency Websites Under Trump: What We Learned and How to Protect Public Information Moving Forward
Gretchen Gehrke, Marcy Beck, Eric Nost, Shannan Lenke Stoll
March 18, 2021 3:57 PM EDT
A review of thousands of web pages from federal agencies, including the EPA, NASA, and NOAA, found that the use of the term “climate change” decreased almost 40 percent between 2016 and 2020. Establishing better web governance policies is a central piece of regaining and retaining the public’s trust and restoring faith in the scientific integrity of federal agencies. Read more >
Eleanor Fort/UCS
Why Scientists Shouldn’t Heed Calls to “Stay in Our Lane”
Ben Santer, John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Fellow
March 15, 2021 11:23 AM EDT
It’s hard to lose a long-term friendship. That happened to me last year. My friendship did not survive my unwillingness to “stay in my lane”. Read more >