December 20, 2012 — UMASS has set a dangerous precedent by ousting Brian Rothschild because they see his politics as obstacles to the school gaining grant dollars from the likes of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and nonprofit groups.
On the surface, it makes sense for the University of Massachusetts to seek outside funding through grants for its Massachusetts Fisheries Institute program, founded by renowned marine scientist Brian Rothschild and run out of UMass Dartmouth.
The institute, after all, has come to be seen as a significant research partner for the state Department of Marine Fisheries and the New England commercial fishing industry, with its work and Rothschild’s own efforts looming as one of the few sources of fisheries data that’s seen as credible by virtually all sides.
But in ousting Rothschild from his director’s post, UMass Dartmouth Academic Affairs Dean Marcie Williams and Chancellor Divina Grossman have sent a dangerous message. That’s the notion that Rothschild and his politics are seen as obstacles to the school’s gaining grant dollars from the likes of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and nonprofit groups that have had excessive input into the federal policies that condemned New England’s fishery to the “economic disaster” it has become.
It’s no accident that Gov. Deval Patrick went to Rothschild’s marine institute for the data to make the case for the federal Commerce Department’s economic disaster declaration; it’s also no accident that Rothschild was U.S. Sen. John Kerry’s recommended candidate to head NOAA when President Obama first took office — or Congressman Barney Frank’s recommendation to lead NOAA’s Division of Marine Fisheries.
Read the full story in the Gloucester Times