DOI Scientists Prevented from Attending Conference

DOI Scientists Prevented from Attending Conference

On December 22, 2017, the Washington Post reported that the Department of the Interior (DOI), which oversees the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), had capped the number of scientists who could attend the annual meeting of the American Geophysical Union. Whereas 450 USGS scientists usually attend the meeting, DOI indicated that no more than 199 staffers from across the department could travel to the meeting, and expenditures could not exceed more than $399,000. As a result, only 178 USGS scientists were present, and 30 abstracts for posters or oral presentations had to be withdrawn, as the responsible scientists were unable to attend.

A spokeswoman for DOI said the decision to limit the number of employees saved hundreds of thousands of tax dollars. She said the larger number of employees who attended the meeting in past years were an example of the Obama Administration’s “addiction to spending.” According to USGS scientists, however, the shift was perceived as DOI “telling us we can’t do our jobs.”