On January 3, 2021, the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS) reported that 9 scientists left the Department of the Interior's Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) between 2016 and 2020. That reflects a 2.1 percent decline in BOEM's total scientific workforce.
According to UCS, in the last quarter of the Obama administration, BOEM employed 450 staff scientists. That number declined during the Trump administration. In 2019, BOEM had a scientific staff of just 403, but the number increased slightly in 2020. Between 2016 and 20219, 10 geologists and 7 oceanographers left BOEM, a 10 percent and 29 percent loss of each specialization, respectively.
UCS attributed the staff losses to low morale and a growing concern among federal scientists that the Trump administration was attempting to stifle research and discussion.