Chemist addresses scientific challenges under an 'inconvenient administration'

As the Trump Administration moves forward to repress or remove environmental regulations and cut funding to federal research centers, scientists are considering how to sustain work on issues such as air and water quality, wildlife and climate change and do research that needs to get done.

“An apparent lack of concern for scientific evidence” poses a challenge to environmental management, writes environmental chemist Staci Simonich in a recent editorial in the journal Environmental Science & Technology Letters, published by the American Chemical Society. However, she adds that environmental scientists have strong allies in "forward-thinking countries, U.S. states, cities, companies, and consumers that are setting policy, designing products, and making purchases with climate change and the environment in mind."

Staci Simonich checking out sample in lab

Environmental chemist Staci Simonich

Simonich was recently appointed associate dean for academic and student affairs in the College of Science. She is also a professor with joint appointments in the College's Department of Chemistry and the College of Agricultural Sciences’ Department of Environmental and Molecular Toxicology.

“As with prior administrations, we must speak up for the importance of federally funded research, which sustains not only important knowledge development but also technological solutions to environmental problems and grows our next generation of STEM workforce,” writes Simonich, who is also an associate editor of the journal.