Science

Polar Bear Scientist Cleared; Interior Dept. Still Under Openness Cloud

Five years after wildlife biologist Charles Monnett's 2006 observations of dead polar bears, believed to have drowned because of disappearing Arctic ice, Interior started an investigation of Monnett's science. The findings — partially published September 28, 2012 — were confused and contained no findings of scientific misconduct.

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Gulf Ecologist Nancy Rabelais Wins MacArthur "Genius" Award

Nancy Rabalais, a marine ecologist dedicated to studying the "dead zones" in the Gulf of Mexico and elsewhere, has won one of this year's MacArthur "genius" grants. Rabelais directs the Louisiana Universities Marine Consortium in Chauvin, La., and, since the mid-1980s, she has conducted the major monitoring program collecting basic data on seasonal oxygen levels and nutrients in Gulf waters.

Source: Mother Jones, 10/03/2012

"Carson's 'Silent Spring' Spurred Environmental Movement"

"Rachel Carson wasn't someone you'd expect to spark a movement. She was a quiet, petite woman who grew up poor, lived most of her life with her mother and relished solitary walks along the beach, watching birds and fish. Yet 50 years ago Thursday, this marine biologist published Silent Spring, widely credited with spurring the modern environmental movement."

Source: USA TODAY, 09/28/2012

"News Corp Misleads Audience on Climate Change"

"Brace yourself for some shocking news: a new study on Friday found that the two major publications of Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation greatly mislead their audiences about climate change. The Union of Concerned Scientists combed six months of Fox News broadcasting and a year's worth of Wall Street Journal editorial pages for mentions of the science of 'climate change' and 'global warming,' then compared each claim to 'mainstream scientific understanding' of the topic at hand." They found 93% of the statements on Fox News were misleading and 81% of the statements on the Wall St. Journal's opionion pages were misleading.

Source: Mother Jones, 09/24/2012

"How 'Silent Spring' Ignited the Environmental Movement"

"On June 4, 1963, less than a year after the controversial environmental classic 'Silent Spring' was published, its author, Rachel Carson, testified before a Senate subcommittee on pesticides. She was 56 and dying of breast cancer. She told almost no one. She'd already survived a radical mastectomy. Her pelvis was so riddled with fractures that it was nearly impossible for her to walk to her seat at the wooden table before the Congressional panel. To hide her baldness, she wore a dark brown wig."

Source: NY Times Magazine, 09/24/2012
September 19, 2012 to September 25, 2012

Lewis M. Branscomb Science and Democracy Forum-Sept 19th, 25th

Join the Union of Concerned Scientists (USC) Center for Science and Democracy for a forum on barriers to citizen access to governmental scientific information. Attend the symposium via webcast or in person at the Newseum (limited seating) from 8:30 to Noon EDT. The session is free but requires registration.

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