Thomas takes issue with proposal to cut climate research at NASA, Press Herald reports
A story in the Portland Press Herald quotes Andrew Thomas, a University of Maine oceanography professor, on what researchers would lose, if President-elect Donald Trump follows through on a plan to eliminate or scale back climate change research at NASA. In interviews last week, the paper reports, Trump’s space policy adviser said NASA, under the incoming administration, would prioritize deep-space exploration over space-based observations of Earth. UMaine’s School of Marine Sciences, where Thomas teaches, currently receives more than one-sixth of its research funds from NASA and is using NASA data at its Satellite Oceanography Data Lab to monitor both melting ice in the Gulf of Alaska and marine algae production in the California Current. “If we lose these data sets and capabilities, that will be a major loss to us being able to monitor and track changes here in Maine and in other areas that impact us,” Thomas told the Press Herald. The Christian Science Monitor and Mainebiz cited the Press Herald article and included Thomas’ remarks in an article on the same topic.