Before joining The Lemelson Foundation to lead its new Climate Action Initiative, Senior Program Officer Joel Clement was a forest ecologist, an official at the U.S. Department of the Interior, and in 2017, a whistleblower.
He recently spoke to NPR about his experiences in the federal government helping communities in Alaska prepare for the effects of climate change, and the well-documented political interference during the Trump administration that led him to resign and draw attention to the issue of scientific censorship. The piece examines efforts to better protect scientists from political interference and retaliation, and continued potential threats to scientific integrity.
Joel shares his perspective on the critical importance of government scientists’ retaining independence and provides advice for the next generation considering a career in scientific policy: “Go into this work…this is incredibly important, and it’s an all-hands-on-deck time.
Read or listen to the full piece here — and learn more about The Lemelson Foundation’s Climate Action Initiative here.