They call my name. I walk to the stage and sit at the mic. I feel the eyes of the government decision-makers in front of me and the audience watching below. I start to speak. I’m interrupted by a baby crying. My baby. He’s four weeks old and strapped to my chest. I look down and frantically try to put a pacifier in his mouth. I lose my place in my notes. An awkward pause. The audience hears only my baby crying as I struggle find the words I scribbled down in a notebook earlier. I finally find them, press on to the end of my testimony, and step off the stage. Read more >

Fighting for Facts and Family: What Will We Tell Our Kids?
October 19, 2018 2:18 PM EDT
Dr. Frances Oldham Kelsey’s Legacy for Science and Democracy
August 31, 2015 10:37 AM EDT
On August 7, 2015, Dr. Frances Oldham Kelsey passed away at the age of 101. Dr. Kelsey—a true hero of science and democracy—championed science-based policies that protected public health and safety throughout her life. Most famously, her actions preventing the FDA approval of thalidomide—a drug that causes birth defects—stopped what could have been a devastating tragedy for Americans. As my colleague Celia Wexler wrote, “The lesson of thalidomide is that regulations matter.” Read more >
Why We Need an Executive Order on Political Spending: An Open Letter to President Obama
June 30, 2015 10:40 AM EDT
Dear President Obama,
You’ve had a great week. With the Affordable Care Act upheld and nationwide marriage equality now the law, you must feel like celebrating. But wait! Why not carry this momentum and take another step that would increase the equality and well-being of Americans? I’m talking about an executive order asking government contractors to disclose their political spending. Read more >
Three Ways Citizens United Helped Undermine Science Policy Debates
January 16, 2015 3:54 PM EDT
Five years ago next week the Supreme Court issued a decision that would soon have major impacts on our political system. In Citizens United v. FEC, the court ruled that spending limits violated free speech, opening the floodgates to vastly increased political spending by corporate interests. Read more >
Bleeding for Science and Democracy: Thinking about Climate Change in the Emergency room
April 22, 2013 11:00 AM EDT
While on my way to a climate change conference at the University of Notre Dame earlier this month I managed to slam my hand in my car door. So my first evening in South Bend was spent in the Memorial Hospital Emergency Room with ample time to think about my presentation on climate science and the personal attacks on climate scientists that have become all too frequent, and how to respond to those attacks using resources such as the UCS manual “Science in the Age of Scrutiny”. Read more >