US federal budget cuts limit scientific conference attendance

New York Times : After a federal review concluded that the $800 000 spent by one of its agencies to hold its annual regional meeting was excessive and wasteful, the Obama administration has imposed new guidelines on the amount of money that can be spent on such events. The budget cuts have provoked objections from members of several science and technology organizations, who claim that they limit the ability of the scientific community to share research and collaborate. They can also have far-reaching effects. As an example, a follow-up letter to the editor notes that such cuts can affect US troops abroad because fewer Department of Defense scientists are going to be able to attend the upcoming meeting of the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene (ASTMH). According to the letter writer, Karen Goraleski, executive director of the ASTMH, “The participation of these highly trained professionals in scientific meetings like ours is not a travel perk. They play a unique role in efforts to tackle diseases like malaria.”