by Yinmeng Liu
WASHINGTON — Investigators seeking to work in subzero temperatures at the U.S. Antarctica Research Centers might have to go through background checks if a proposal for a stronger security protocol is approved at the National Science Foundation.
The science foundation is concerned about the safety of grantees and other workers at isolated Antarctic outposts, some of which are virtually unreachable in extreme weather conditions.
“One thing we have stumbled across is that most groups in the program undergo background checks, but grantees do not,” said Susanne LaFratta, section head for polar environment, safety and health at the division of polar programs in NSF’s geosciences directorate. “We are researching this as a possible future requirement for grantees who would deploy to our stations in the Antarctica. It’s at a very premature stage. We cannot predict the outcome at this point.”
In an effort to boost security at U.S. Antarctica Research Center, LaFratta proposed a potential uniform background check at the Geosciences Advisory Committee meeting in Arlington, Virginia last week. She said no meetings have been arranged yet to further discuss the proposal.
“Our priority is the safety and security of everyone who’s deployed at our stations,” LaFratta said during the conference. “We operate in very remote areas that are often difficult to get to, and get out of at times. We think it may put us in better position to be confident that we are protecting the people in our program.”
The NSF’s division of polar programs provides funding for the U.S. Antarctic Program, which operates three research centers in Antarctica: McMurdo Station, Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station and Palmer Station.
Every year, NSF funds approximately 50 new standard or continuing research grants in the U.S. Antarctic Program. The grants last one to five years. Though LaFratta says she doesn’t know when or if the background check proposal will be approved, she already has some supporters in academia.
Santiago de La Peña, a research scientist at Ohio State University‘s Byrd Polar and Climate Research Center, said he favors a standard procedure for background checks.
“NSF already requires physical examination and medical care. I don’t think just filling out for security clearance can be much more of an effort from a researcher’s point of view,” De La Peña said in a phone interview.
De La Peña, who is originally from Mexico, said he went through a background check before becoming an employee at Ohio State in Columbus. But he doesn’t recall going through security clearance during brief stints at the South Pole in 2005, 2006 and 2007. At the time, he was a graduate student completing work for a NSF grant.
“In my experiences, there have been few issues in the base, like petty crimes, like robbery or fights or something” De La Peña said.
James Farquhar, a geology professor at the University Maryland in College Park, said he would not object to wider security checks.
“But I would want to know what types of information they were seeking, and why,” he wrote in an email.
Those kinds of details are not clear at this point.
LaFratta said this is the first time the NSF’s division of polar programs has considered whether background checks for grantees are needed, a procedure already in place for federal employees and contract workers deploying with the NSF-managed U.S. Antarctic Program.
Universities in the U.S. may also have their own standards for screening their employees. “We are dealing with grantees that come from literally hundreds of universities,” LaFratta said. LaFratta said the criteria for background checks have not been decided yet.
“We are looking forward to discussions with the grantee community to hear about what types of screenings are currently in place,” she said.