A first-of-its-kind advisory panel has started panning for the gold standard in science at the U.S. Geological Survey.
In inaugural meetings Monday and Tuesday, the newly formed USGS Federal Advisory Committee for Science Quality and Integrity began its assessment of the agency whose research needs to be, but has not always been, beyond reproach.
“Federal advisory committees are an important mechanism to ensure the credibility and quality of USGS science,” Craig Robinson, director of the Geological Survey’s Office of Science Quality and Integrity, said in a statement.
The panel was chartered by Interior Secretary Deb Haaland last year, several months before the Interior Office of Inspector General issued a critical report saying that “USGS lacks sufficient internal controls in laboratories to prevent losses associated with breaches of scientific integrity and misconduct.”
