We’ve heard a lot in the news about the closed state parks and monuments, but there hasn’t been much talk aimed at the general public about how science is being affected by the abrupt end of government business. The goal of this post is to collect shutdown information that might be of interest to Biofortified readers – in other words, shutdown news related to science, agriculture, and food.
I’ve spoken with quite a few friends about how their science has been affected by the shutdown but few have spoken out about the details. We want to hear from you… any government scientists, or any scientists or anyone else affected by the closure of all these great science agencies. We understand if you must stay anonymous, but still wish to hear your story.
Some quick background… Federal employees, unless they are deemed “essential”, would be breaking the law if they volunteered to work during the shutdown. This is based on a law called the Antideficiency Act. The GAO (Government Accounting Office) states that federal employees are prohibited from “accepting voluntary services for the United States, or employing personal services not authorized by law, except in cases of emergency involving the safety of human life or the protection of property”. Doctors taking care of patients at the NIH research hospital are essential. Technicians caring for research animals (in some cases) are essential. The majority of government scientists are not essential, therefore can not work during a shutdown – if they did, they would be breaking the law.
I’ll keep updating this page as I see more links posted on Twitter and Facebook, share in the comments if you see one that I’ve missed.
- September 30
- A guide to the government shutdown at USDA by Jerry Hagstrom of AgWeek
- Latest Shutdown Information for NIH- and NSF-Funded Researchers by Jim Austin on Science Careers (has been updated)
- Shutdown-tagged articles on Science (articles added almost daily)
- October 1
- Scientists! Please discuss how the government shutdown will affect you and your work here on Reddit
- US government shuts down: Research disrupted as lawmakers spar over funding by Lauren Morello on Nature News
- NASA interns evicted as shutdown takes effect by by Eric Van Susteren and Andrea Gemmet on Mountain View Voice
- What’s Affected by a Government Shutdown? on USA.gov (includes a lot of science-related closures)
- The government shutdown of science – a screenshot gallery by Jonathan Eisen on The Tree of Life
- FDA Food Safety Inspections Suspended During Government Shutdown by Joe Satran on Huffington Post
- The Shutdown and Education: Your Cheat Sheet by Alyson Klein on Education Week
- October 2
- Federal Shutdown for Conservation and Ag Science? by Gwen Pearson on Wired
- CDC Director: ‘Microbes Didn’t Shut Down’ by Betsy McKay on Wall Street Journal
- NIH trials turn away new patients as shutdown obstructs work of scientists, researchers by Joel Achenbach on Washington Post
- NIH shutdown effects multiply: Businesses and academic researchers among those affected by ongoing US government shutdown by Erika Check Hayden on Nature News
- Federal government shutdown: The data casualties by Drew DeSilver on FactTank
- Dark Days for Medical Research: Between the sequester and the shutdown, repeated hits to research funding may have serious consequences for scientific advancement by Mark Micheli on The Atlantic
- October 3
- How the Shutdown Is Devastating Biomedical Scientists and Killing Their Research by Brandon Keim on Wired (includes discussion of animals being euthanized because research has stopped)
- Shutdown stopping flow of weather information as dangerous storms threaten nation by Jason Samenow on Washington Post
- October 4
- Cosmic Tragedy: Shutdown Kills Radio Observatories by Ian O’Neill on Discovery News
- Astronomer: Shutdown Could Waste a Year’s Worth of Work by David Malakoff on Science Insider
- Shutdown Static Blinds U.S. Radio Telescopes by David Malakoff on Science Insider
- October 5
- U.S. Government Researchers Barred from Scientific Conferences: Government researchers are barred from their own labs during the shutdown, and they cannot travel to conferences by Sara Reardon and Nature News Blog on Scientific American
- Schoolhouse Block: Science Students and the Government Shutdown by Katie Fleeman on PLoS The Student Blog
- October 7
- When Pig Farmers Fly Blind: The shutdown is blocking the data our economy needs to run smoothly by Matthew Yglesias on Slate
- Livestock Market Adrift Without USDA Data by Kelsey Gee on WSJ
- There’s a Major Foodborne Illness Outbreak and the Government’s Shut Down by Maryn McKenna on Wired
- Government Shutdown: Chilling Effects on Antarctic Research by Becky Oskin on Live Science
- Student projects interrupted by US shutdown by Alexandra Witze on Nature News
- Federal Government Shutdown Starts to Crimp Trade: Importers, Exporters Can’t Get Approval to Ship Computer Gear, Lumber, Steel by Betsy Morris, Don Clark, and Mike Esterl on WSJ (USDA’s APHIS lumber inspectors are not considered essential)
- NASA gets Web host offer during shutdown — from Russian pirates by Chris Matyszczyk on CNET
- What the U.S. Government Has to Do With Your Popcorn Shrimp: The shutdown again offers a window into the workings of dry government agencies: inspection of America’s seafood imports may be delayed. by Gwynn Guilford on The Atlantic
- October 8
- Shutdown Forces Antarctic Research Into ‘Caretaker Status’ by Nell Greenfieldboyce on NPR
- Tales of the Shutdown: Fruit Fly Shipments on Hold by Jocelyn Kaiser on Science Insider
- U.S. Will Suspend Antarctic Program, Major Construction Projects if Shutdown Lingers by Jeffrey Mervis on Science Insider
- NASA missions struggle to cope with shutdown: Mars rovers keep going, but other spacecraft are grounded for now by Alexandra Witze on Nature News
- Nobel Prize Winner Furloughed Due To Government Shutdown by Amanda Terkel on Huffington Post
- Shutdown Saws Into Wood Industry by Bill Esler on Woodworking Network
- Government Shutdown is Bugging Entomologists by Entomology Today editors on Entomology Today
- October 9
- Closed question: The US shutdown is damaging science, and Congress must be called to account. by Nature editors on Nature
- Craft Brewers Bemoan Shutdown As Seasonal Beer Production Stalls By Carrie Antlfinger and Todd Richmond on Huffington Post
- Risk to Food Safety Seen in Furloughs by Ron Nixon on New York Times
- Thanks to Government Shutdown, It’s About to Get Really Lonely in Antarctica by Jason Bittel on Slate
And here are the government websites that are affected (ht 99trumpets for starting a list).
- Closed
- USDA (the entire department)
- NSF (including Research.gov and FastLane)
- NOAA (although parts are still open)
- NASA (including the following satellite data collection systems that are used by many scientists: Reverb, ECHO, LANCE, GIBS, URS, Worldview, and the Earthdata Collaboration Environment)
- USGS (except for basic earthquake/natural-hazard info related to protecting human lives and property)
- Open (with disclaimer that it will not be updated during the shutdown)
- NIH (including PubMed and GenBank)
- EPA
- Office of Naval Research (but certain programs are closed)
- Grants.gov (rumor is grant submissions will be saved, but not processed)
- National Marine Fisheries Service (part of NOAA)
- National Weather Service (part of NOAA, will be updated because it relates to protecting human lives and property)
I’d like to share a little about my own work and how it could be affecting scientists all over the US. Of course, these are my own opinions and are not the opinions of my employer! Indeed, how could they be, since my employer is closed in the shutdown and it would be against the law (the Anti Deficiency Act to be specific) for my employer to be making any opinions at this time. If any other govies comment here we will assume that the case is the same for them – we all speak for ourselves only.
My day job is as a regulator of biotech crops. Field trials, interstate shipments, and international imports of biotech seeds have to be approved by my office. This includes any plantings or shipments planned by scientists from both universities and corporations, from companies big and small. Now, some may read this and say that they don’t care about any economic impacts, that they are glad Monsanto can’t plan any more shipments or trials at this time. But there’s more than just Roundup Ready soybeans or Bt corn at stake. Many scientists work on biotech crops with goals other than profit in mind. Their research may be designed to figure out some basic biology of plants, things that will help us better understand how plants work, which could help us breed stronger plants in the future. There’s also many projects with humanitarian causes in mind, including development of crops that have higher nutrition, that can resist stresses like salt and drought, or that require fewer inputs. None of this research (probably) would have had massive results today if not for the shutdown. But if the research is slowed, then not only this step will be delayed but the next step and the next.
One good thing about being furloughed is that I have time to work on Biofortified! You should see quite a few guest posts going up soon and perhaps I’ll have to write some of my own as well. What are you doing with your furlough time? Consider writing a Guest post!
This isn’t my work, but my colleague is having this program likely to be derailed:
Nice, huh? A program to help the disabled access appropriate educational strategies. Probably vaporized and all that time and money wasted, while services go undeveloped.
Oh that’s really terrible.
Thanks for sharing that link – I hadn’t seen that excellent post at Open Helix about the shutdown and its effects on science.