UW-Madison researcher loses Fulbright award for climate change project

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Four days before Rick Lindroth planned to leave Madison and fly to Argentina, he received an email saying his Fulbright award had been rescinded. “That was a head spinner,” said Lindroth, a professor emeritus in the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s entomology department. Lindroth spent more than a year finalizing paperwork and securing approvals for his Fulbright Specialist Program award. Part of the larger Fulbright Program, the federal State Department established the specialist program in 2001. The competitive, short-term award pairs U.S. academics with institutions to share their expertise abroad.



Lindroth specializes in chemical ecology — how plant chemistry influences ecosystems — and the ecological consequences of climate change. As his trip approached, Lindroth said, “I was getting a little nervous hearing about all these awards and grants that were suspended” under the Trump administration. Lindroth said he checked with the Fulbright Program a few weeks ago and his project appeared to still be on track. So, he booked his flights and lodging.

Lindroth was set to travel to Argentina March 1 and spend three weeks working in a lab at the University of Buenos Aires. He expected to help researchers set up experiments and studies examining the effects of climate change on plants in the Buenos Aires area. Instead, Lindroth received an email from a program administrator Feb. 25 saying his project was canceled “due to a change in United States’ government priorities.” While he didn’t receive additional explanation, Lindroth said he thinks his project was canceled because the term “climate change” was in the title: “Integrating Chemical Ecology and Climate Change Research.”

Since President Donald Trump took office in January, the federal government has withdrawn from global programs and agreements aiming to address climate change. Federal agencies have removed references to “climate change” from websites or replaced the term with “climate resilience,” The Washington Post reported.

https://captimes.com/news/education/uw-madison-researcher-loses-fulbright-award-for-climate-change-project/article_af4b862e-fde3-11ef-8e7b-a3065955c21b.html

The damage Trump is doing is incalculable.

[tonkatoy8888]

1. I had no idea

Not that I ever gave it much thought even though my wife was a Fulbright scholarship recipient, but I always assumed the awards were administered by a foundation associated with the Fulbright family.

Learn something new every day.

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2. Funding is appropriated by Congress

The Fulbright Program is administered by cooperating organizations such as the Institute of International Education and operates in over 160 countries around the world. The Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs of the U.S. Department of State sponsors the Fulbright Program and receives funding from the United States Congress via annual appropriation bills. Additional direct and in-kind support comes from partner governments, foundations, corporations, and host institutions both in and outside the U.S. In 49 countries, a bi-national Fulbright Commission administers and oversees the Fulbright Program. In countries that have an active program but no Fulbright Commission, the Public Affairs Section of the U.S. embassy oversees the Fulbright Program. More than 370,000 people have participated in the program since it began; 62 Fulbright alumni have won Nobel Prizes; 88 have won Pulitzer Prizes.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fulbright_Program

Its probably illegal for them to cancel it, but it would take a long time in the courts to establish that. Trump hates these incredibly smart people who get Fulbright scholarships because they never vote for him.