Trump fires independent board overseeing National Science Foundation

The Trump administration has fired members of an independent board that oversees the National Science Foundation (NSF). Members of the National Science Board received an email on Friday sent from the Presidential Personnel Office “on behalf of President Donald J Trump” stating that their position was “terminated, effective immediately”. “I wasn’t entirely surprised, to be honest,” dismissed board member Keivan Stassun said. Stassun, who works at Vanderbilt University, added that the decision was “enormously disappointing”. The National Science Board was created in 1950 to advise the president and Congress on science and engineering policy, approve major funding awards and guide NSF’s future. It is typically made up of 25 members appointed by the president who serve staggered, six-year terms. The fired scientists hail from academia and industry and specialise in areas including astronomy, maths, chemistry and aerospace engineering. Every member of the current 22-person board was let go, according to terminated member Yolanda Gil. The board had planned to meet in person next week and was finalising a report on the state of US science, Gil said. “I think this is one more indication of the sweeping changes that the administration has in mind for the NSF,” said Gil, who works at the Information Sciences Institute of the University of Southern California. …