Of possible interest [warning] for UK?
From: Maps-L: Map Librarians, etc. [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Zellmer, Linda
Sent: 14 November 2017 18:41
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Fwd: [USGS Coalition] USGS science center in Virginia to close
Hello,
Sorry for the duplication. I thought others might want to see this. Linda Zellmer
--
Linda Zellmer
Government Information & Data Services Librarian
Liaison to Natural Sciences & Agriculture
415 Malpass Library
Macomb, IL 61455
[log in to unmask]
Phone: 309-298-2723
Fax: 309-298-2791
---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Julie Palakovich Carr <[log in to unmask]>
Date: Tue, Nov 14, 2017 at 12:29 PM
Subject: [USGS Coalition] USGS science center in Virginia to close
To: USGS COALITION Listserve <[log in to unmask]>
From E&E News:
Scott Streater and Rob Hotakainen, E&E News reporters
Published: Tuesday, November 14, 2017
A U.S. Geological Survey science center in Reston, Va., that receives a major sum of its annual funding from the agency's climate program is closing down, in large part due to Trump administration cuts in climate research funding.
The Eastern Geographic Science Center is a small research center based in the USGS headquarters in Reston that, according to Interior Department spokeswoman Heather Swift, "has been undergoing a number of cost-savings measures over the past several years."
"While the office will technically close in order to save on administrative overhead expenses, the work done by scientists will continue at USGS," Swift said in an emailed statement.
The Eastern Geographic Science Center is not a climate research lab and is not associated with USGS's regional climate centers across the country. Rather, the center focuses on evaluating the impacts of "landscape change" east of the Mississippi River, according to A.B. Wade, a USGS spokeswoman in Reston.
But the move, first reported by Politico, is sure to raise concerns among critics who have voiced displeasure over the Trump administration's efforts to cut programs and efforts related to climate change.
USGS is working to "reassign" the center's 25 scientists and employees to other "vacancies" within USGS that match their qualifications, Wade said.
Some of the employees at the center are also anticipated to retire, she said.
In a brief letter sent last week to a member of the American Federation of Government Employees union from Yansi Hernandez, a USGS human resources specialist, Hernandez explained that a 71 percent funding decrease in President Trump's fiscal 2018 budget necessitates the center's closing.
"After reducing the Salary and Benefits (S&B) by eliminating contractors, students, and term employees where feasible, the FY18 estimated salary and benefits shortfall will be greater than $1.2M with limited operating funds to cover fixed or variable other expenses and a rent and Operations and Maintenance budget shortfall," she wrote. "The Center has no capacity to absorb the S&B shortfall. Future appropriated budgets are not anticipated to improve."
Wade said the center has not closed yet. Hernandez's Nov. 8 letter only states that the center will close sometime during the fiscal 2018 budget year that began Oct. 1.
The researchers at the center examine such topics as geography, remote sensing, geology, biology and computer science to better understand land issues, according to the agency's website.
--
Julie Palakovich Carr
Public Policy Manager
American Institute of Biological Sciences
1201 New York Avenue, NW
This message is confidential and should only be read by its intended recipients.
If you have received it in error, please notify the sender and delete all copies.
--
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "USGS Coalition" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [log in to unmask].
To post to this group, send email to [log in to unmask].
For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.