Daily News Archive

Bush Wins, EPA Research Director Resigns
(Beyond Pesticides, November 5, 2004) One day after the nation learned that President Bush would be serving another term, Dr. Paul Gilman, EPA's Assistant Administrator for the Office of Research and Development and the Agency's Science Advisor, announced that he is leaving the agency.

Given the Bush Administration’s poor environmental record, many in the environmental community speculate that this may be the first of such resignations. Among other issues, the administration has been widely criticized for its position on the Montreal Protocol - the international ozone layer treaty, climate change, energy policy and pesticide regulation.

According to Greenwire, Dr. Gilman, who has recently defended the agency’s work, took effort to praise his staff for the soundness of its work, noting increased peer review of agency science and a better balance of members on scientific advisory panels. "You have taken several significant steps to strengthen the use of your high-quality science in agency decision-making," he said in the staff e-mail.

In recent statements, Gilman has included among his staff's greatest accomplishments the confirmation of links between human health and exposure to fine particulate matter (PM). Through more sophisticated measurement and air modeling tools, Gilman said EPA has been able to achieve even greater certainty about where and how individuals are exposed to PM.

Dr. Gilman said, "Those who conduct research, perform science and develop technology at EPA are members of a high-performance, world-class team. It has been my great privilege to serve them and all Americans over the past three years. Together we have advanced ways in which to better protect human health and the environment."

Prior to Dr. Gilman's confirmation in April 2002, he served as the director for policy planning for Celebra Genomics, a bio- information and drug discovery company known for having decoded the human genome. He also has served as the executive director of the life sciences and agriculture divisions of the National Research Council of the National Academy of Sciences and as associate director of the Office of Management and Budget's Division of Natural Resources, Energy and Science.

An acting assistant administrator will be named before the end of November.