Grifo, F epa

===<div>http://www2.epa.gov/sites/production/files/2015-01/documents/fgrifo_jan14bio_0.pdf</div><div>
</div><div>Dr. Francesca Grifo is the EPA’s Scientific Integrity Official. Her research

interests and areas of expertise include Scientific Integrity in Federal

Decision Making, Conservation of Biological Diversity, STEM Education

and Environmental Policy.

Prior to her appointment at EPA, Dr. Grifo was Senior Scientist, Science

Policy Fellow, and Director of the Scientific Integrity Program for the

Union of Concerned Scientists. Previously she served as the Director of

the Science Teachers Environmental Education Program and Graduate

Policy Workshop at Columbia University, and as the Director of the Center

for Biodiversity and Conservation at the American Museum of Natural

History. Her government experience includes work as a Program Manager

of the International Cooperative Biodiversity Groups (ICBG) for the National Institutes of Health as

well as service as an American Association for the Advancement of Science, Science and Diplomacy

Fellow (AAAS) for USAID’s Office of Research.

Dr. Grifo has held adjunct and other professorial appointments at American University, Georgetown

University, Columbia University, and Bard College. She has taught at both the graduate and

undergraduate levels including courses such as: Environmental Science; Introductory Biology;

Conservation Biology; Biodiversity and Human Health; and Case Studies in Conservation Biology in

the Hudson Valley.

She has organized symposia and given talks at various scientific society meetings and has been

widely quoted in the press in outlets such as The Washington Post and The New York Times as well as

Rachel Maddow, several NPR programs and many others.

Dr. Grifo is a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and was awarded

the Distinguished Service in Science Policy Award from the Washington Academy of Sciences. Dr.

Grifo received her A.B. in Biology from Smith College and her Ph.D. in Botany from Cornell Universit</div><div></div><div>UCS’s Francesca Grifo, who has advocated for strong scientific integrity standards within government since 2005, started today as the EPA’s scientific integrity officer. She is charged with implementing the <a title="EPA Scientific Integrity Policy" href="http://www.epa.gov/research/htm/scientific-integrity.htm" target="blank" style="line-height: 21px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; outline: 0px;">EPA’s scientific integrity policy</a>. It’s a big win for the agency, and will hopefully spark a renewed commitment to scientific integrity within the federal government.</div>Few others outside the EPA have a more intimate knowledge of scientific integrity at the agency. Dr. Grifo co-authored a 2008 report on <a title="Interference at the EPA" href="http://www.ucsusa.org/scientific_integrity/abuses_of_science/interference-at-the-epa.html" target="blank" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; outline: 0px;">political interference in science at the EPA</a>and a 2007 report on <a title="Atmosphere of Pressure" href="http://www.ucsusa.org/scientific_integrity/abuses_of_science/atmosphere-of-pressure.html" target="blank" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; outline: 0px;">pressures on government climate scientists</a>. She testified before Congress on <a title="Written testimony, September 18, 2008" href="http://www.ucsusa.org/assets/documents/scientific_integrity/Grifo-Testimony-Sep18.pdf" target="blank" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; outline: 0px;">scientific integrity at the EPA</a>, the agency’s <a title="Written testimony, May 20, 2008" href="http://www.ucsusa.org/assets/documents/scientific_integrity/written-testimony-for-5-20-08-hogr-hearing.pdf" target="blank" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; outline: 0px;">flawed 2008 ozone pollution standards</a>, <a title="Written testimony, May 7, 2008" href="http://www.ucsusa.org/assets/documents/scientific_integrity/written-testimony-for-5-7-08-epw-hearing.pdf" target="blank" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; outline: 0px;">science and environmental regulatory decisions</a>, and the <a title="Written testimony, March 13, 2013" href="http://science.house.gov/sites/republicans.science.house.gov/files/documents/hearings/031308_grifo.pdf" target="blank" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; outline: 0px;">partial shutdown of the EPA’s library system</a>.
Ensuring a Culture of Scientific IntegrityMore recently, Dr. Grifo commented on the<a title="A Case Study in Scientific Integrity: The Science Behind Greenhouse Gas Emission Standards" href="http://blog.ucsusa.org/a-case-study-in-scientific-integrity-the-science-behind-greenhouse-gas-emission-standards" target="blank" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; outline: 0px;">scientific soundness of the EPA’s endangerment finding </a>that allowed it to move forward in regulating global warming emissions, and testified before Congress regarding <a title="Written testimony, March 20, 2013" href="http://docs.house.gov/meetings/SY/SY18/20130320/100512/HHRG-113-SY18-Wstate-GrifoF-20130320.pdf" target="blank" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; outline: 0px;">the role of the EPA’s Science Advisory Board</a>. She led analysis of the EPA’s scientific integrity policy, providing<a href="http://www.ucsusa.org/assets/documents/scientific_integrity/UCS-Comments-EPA-SI-Policy-Compilation.pdf" target="blank" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; outline: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">comments </a>and <a href="http://www.ucsusa.org/assets/documents/scientific_integrity/UCS-Annotated-EPA-SI-Policy.pdf" target="blank" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; outline: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">line-by-line analysis </a>that improved it from the <a href="http://www.ucsusa.org/assets/documents/scientific_integrity/EPA-Scientific-Integrity-Policy-Draft.pdf" target="blank" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; outline: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">draft </a>to the <a href="http://www.epa.gov/osa/pdfs/epa_scientific_integrity_policy_20120115.pdf" target="blank" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; outline: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">final</a>. Throughout the years, she has spoken with scores of EPA scientists regarding their thoughts of how the agency could better use science in decision-making.The EPA’s work comes under enormous scrutiny, and the agency is subject to numerous allegations of political interference in science (some <a title="So Who Influenced the President’s Ozone Decision?" href="http://blog.ucsusa.org/so-who-influenced-the-presidents-ozone-decision" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; outline: 0px;">valid</a>, some <a title=" The House Science Committee and the EPA Fighting Over Data: Is That the Same as Secret Science? " href="http://blog.ucsusa.org/the-house-science-committee-and-the-epa-fighting-over-data-is-that-the-same-as-secret-sscience-233" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; outline: 0px;">not so much</a>). This is understandable, as the agency has enormous responsibility for implementing some of our country’s most contentious environmental laws.This level of scrutiny makes it all the more important for the EPA to invest significant resources in allowing its scientists to fully communicate their research results and allowing the public to understand the scientific basis of its decisions. While strong improvements have been made on paper, we recognize that the agency is challenged in fully realizing those improvements (witness <a title="Will New EPA Head Open Agency to News Media?" href="http://www.sej.org/new-epa-head-must-ensure-transparency-reversing-block-reporters-access" target="blank" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; outline: 0px;">continued complaints from journalists </a>that they have trouble connecting with EPA experts).We have long known that strengthening scientific integrity in government would not come with a single proclamation or new policy. Fully implementing strong scientific integrity standards in a way that will persist through various presidential administrations requires both leadership from agency officials and institutional changes that insulate science from political interference. Agencies must invest in employee training and public engagement that make a scientific integrity policy a living document, and makes transparency and accountability part of agency culture.Over the past two years, I joined Dr. Grifo in multiple meetings with EPA staff to discuss the development and implementation of the EPA scientific integrity policy. The agency’s draft policy had some weaknesses, but staff were willing to seek public comment. After receiving thousands of comments, the agency significantly improved its policy (detailed<a title="Final EPA Scientific Integrity Policy Benefited Greatly from Public Input — and Now the Really Hard Work Begins" href="http://blog.ucsusa.org/final-epa-scientific-integrity-policy-benefited-greatly-from-public-input-and-now-the-really-hard-work-begins" target="_blank" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; outline: 0px;">here </a>in a blog post by Dr. Grifo), and now has an important tool for ensuring a strong culture of scientific integrity within the agency.Now, Dr. Grifo will lead the effort to fully implement these changes. On Thursday, the EPA released a scientific integrity training module that guides staff through the EPA’s policy—one more milestone in the road toward full scientific integrity reform.....===hit
http://www.forbes.com/sites/henrymiller/2013/12/04/epas-new-overseer-of-scientific-integrity-the-blind-leading-the-blind/
Ifou needed to hire a person to head the financial integrity division of the Securities and Exchange Commission, how about someone who had held that position in Bernie Madoff’s investment firm?  In effect, that’s what EPA has done by choosing Francesca Grifo as its “scientific integrity official.”<p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 1em 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 1.4em; vertical-align: baseline; -webkit-margin-before: 0px; -webkit-margin-after: 0px; -webkit-padding-start: 0px;">Grifo previously oversaw the scientific integrity program at the Union of Concerned Scientists – an oxymoron if there ever was one.  UCS is well known for exploiting every opportunity to distort science to further its radical, anti-technology agendas.  In particular, the organization’s “experts” have been consistent, irresponsible and mendacious critics of genetic engineering and nuclear power, among other technologies; and they have been advocates for the kinds of shifts to “renewable energy” that would send energy costs to consumers and companies into the stratosphere.<p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 1em 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 1.4em; vertical-align: baseline; -webkit-margin-before: 0px; -webkit-margin-after: 0px; -webkit-padding-start: 0px;">
<p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 1em 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 1.4em; vertical-align: baseline; -webkit-margin-before: 0px; -webkit-margin-after: 0px; -webkit-padding-start: 0px;">UCS’ <a href="http://www.ucsusa.org/food_and_agriculture/" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; border-image-source: initial; border-image-slice: initial; border-image-width: initial; border-image-outset: initial; border-image-repeat: initial; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; text-decoration: none; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent;">view of genetic engineering</a> applied to agriculture is especially indefensible and hypocritical: “Genetic engineering in agriculture has failed to deliver on many of its promised benefits, and has produced some serious unintended consequences.”  The facts argue otherwise.  Because of its advantages – higher yields, less spraying of chemical pesticides, and greater food security and an improved bottom line for farmers — genetic engineering  has been hugely successful and the most rapidly adopted agricultural technology in history.  The major factor preventing the realization of even more of the “promised benefits” is the overregulation and nuisance lawsuits promoted by UCS and similar groups!  UCS’s carping about lackluster progress is reminiscent of the story about the man who kills his parents and then begs the court for mercy because he’s an orphan.<div id="article-0-inread" article-ad-inbody="inread" class="inread ng-isolate-scope inread-active" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 21px; vertical-align: baseline; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" /><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 1em 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 1.4em; vertical-align: baseline; -webkit-margin-before: 0px; -webkit-margin-after: 0px; -webkit-padding-start: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Serious unintended consequences of genetic engineering?  Please.  Even after the cultivation of more than 3 billion acres of genetically engineered crops (by more than 17 million farmers in 28 countries) worldwide and the consumption of more than 3 trillion servings of food that contains genetically engineered ingredients by inhabitants of North America alone, there has not been a single ecosystem disrupted or a single confirmed tummy ache or zit.<p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 1em 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 1.4em; vertical-align: baseline; -webkit-margin-before: 0px; -webkit-margin-after: 0px; -webkit-padding-start: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Grifo’s appointment is especially inopportune at an agency in desperate need of an overhaul of its integrity, scientific and otherwise.  Its waste, fraud, and abuse in scientific and regulatory programs are legendary.... see miller