This program originally aired 6-19-17.
Proposed budget cuts by the Trump administration have scientists at the Ames Laboratory on the campus of Iowa State University concerned. The smallest of the national laboratories receives 90 percent of its funding from the Department of Energy. The director of the Ames Lab, Adam Schwartz, says President Trump’s proposed budget would harm scientific research.
"If the President's budget is passed, there would be dramatic reductions in staff, not only at the Ames Laboratory, but all of the national laboratories," he says.
The Ames Lab focuses on research into new materials and is celebrating it's 70th birthday this year.
During this hour of River to River, host Ben Kieffer talks with Schwartz. Vitalij Pecharsky, distinguished professor of materials science and engineering, and Iver Anderson, senior metallurist at the Ames Laboratory, also join the conversation to talk about new research into caloric cooling and metal 3-D printing.
