White House climate official sanctioned by key science body

The NAS, the most prestigious science body in the U.S., said the decision, effective Aug. 8, stems from section 3 of its code of conduct. It states that members “shall avoid those detrimental research practices that are clear violations of the fundamental tenets of research.”

• • A NAS spokesperson confirmed that the decision is related to last year’s retraction of a paper in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS).
  • Before joining OSTP, Lubchenco edited a paper that was retracted from the journal PNAS in October 2021 because the data underlying the analysis was not the latest available, and because she has a personal relationship with one of the authors (her brother-in-law).
  • Lubchenco, while at the White House, has been spearheading work to develop scientific integrity policies across government agencies.