- Author: Carole Hom
Scientists generally exercise caution about becoming enmeshed in policy discussions. However, it would behoove scientists from all disciplines to become educated about the implications of the Budget Control Act of 2011, which will take effect in January 2013 unless Congress passes legislation to counteract it.
The Budget Control Act of 2011 -- through a process called sequestration -- stipulates across-the-board cuts in all federal agencies. NSF, NIH, EPA, the Department of Education, NOAA all fall under its axe.
Meredith Niles, a UC Davis graduate student in Ecology and trainee in the Responding to Rapid Environmental Change IGERT, has written clearly and eloquently about this in her blog. It's good reading for all scientists -- and for anyone concerned about scientific research, higher education, transportation systems, and other public goods supported by federal dollars.