“When President Biden last month issued a memo meant to fortify scientific integrity, science groups and environmentalists rejoiced over the beginning of a new era: Government scientists would no longer be punished for doing their jobs. But one Seattle-based microbiologist was not satisfied.
Evi Emmenegger remains on administrative leave from the U.S. Geological Survey a year after her boss tried to terminate her for “unacceptable” performance, citing problems with the quality of her research and a failure to meet expectations for statistical analysis of her data, and stating that her work had not improved after significant guidance and feedback. Generally, as her attorney Jeff Ruch of Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility put it, “scientists are not whistleblowers, but a lot of times, scientists get in trouble because their work is inconvenient.””
