American scientists say their work is under attack and ask Canadians for help
CBC
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While fielding questions at the front of a packed conference room in Boston, Gretchen Goldman checks her phone.
She's waiting to find out if her husband will be fired in the latest round of layoffs of federal scientists under U.S. President Donald Trump.
A month ago, Goldman voluntarily left her own government job in D.C. as climate change research and technology director at the Department of Transportation.
She saw the writing on the wall.
Goldman is now the president of an advocacy group, the Union of Concerned Scientists, and can speak out while many of her former colleagues cannot over fear of losing their jobs.
"Science is under attack in the United States," she said in an interview after the panel. "I think we're seeing a lot of fear and people not feeling they can speak up."
American and international scientists from various fields across government, academic, industry and research institutions gathered in Boston for the three-day annual conference hosted by the American Association for the Advancement of Science.
Some of the scientists were guarded around media, afraid to say too much.
Others were still processing the breakneck speed of widespread layoffs, slashing of research-funding, data purges and new restrictions imposed on U.S. scientific institutions like the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the National Institutes of Health (NIH).
AAAS program organizers had to scramble for last-minute substitutions to replace federal scientists who dropped out because they'd suddenly been banned from travelling.
Many who attended said they expected changes after the election, but not so dramatic or sudden.
This story is part of CBC Health's Second Opinion, a weekly analysis of health and medical science news emailed to subscribers on Saturday mornings. If you haven't subscribed yet, you can do that by clicking here.
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