Aspiring students from across the nation in the STEM sciences were to make presentations that would be heard by officials from federal agencies and private companies. Exhibitors from governments, universities around the globe and private employers were set to talk with students about the range of opportunities in the job market. Recruiters were set to have their radars on full blast, in search of talent.
Then, the federal government shut down, putting an immediate halt to funding that supports the SACNAS conferences and others in a variety of ways.
Thirty-eight exhibitors from federal agencies and 27 conference speakers, supported by federal funds, were forced to cancel their participation in the conference, SACNAS reported. More than a dozen Native American students—including undergraduates, post-baccalaureates, and postdoctoral fellows—scheduled to “present their research, share their experiences, and serve as mentors at the conference” were also forced to scratch their plans, SACNAS said, noting that the federal funds that would have helped the students to participate have been frozen.
NIH Administrator Clif Poodry, Ph.D., was unable to speak as the gathering’s keynote luncheon speaker because the government shutdown put him out of work.
“The inability of government representatives to share their critical Information with our students is a great loss, as is the inability of government-affiliated students to attend and benefit from this conference,” said members of the SACNAS board of directors in a statement at the start of the conference.
“SACNAS students will not learn about opportunities to carry out research in our national laboratories, at the National Institutes of Health, at the National Science Foundation, and elsewhere,” continued the educators. “They will not hear about essential fellowships for their education and jobs to serve our country.”
