Trump May Pick Sam Clovis, Former Business Professor As USDA Chief Scientist

President Trump may soon appoint a ‘chief scientist’ to head the United States Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) research division. However, chances are that he might appoint a man to the position who might not have the credentials to be called a scientist, according to a report.

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Jezebel reported Saturday, Trump is expected to appoint Sam Clovis, a former business and public policy professor at Iowa’s Morning Side College to head the USDA research vision as undersecretary. The fact that Clovis doesn’t have a science education, a career even vaguely related to discipline or even some field experience to count for something, might not deter trump from appointing him the government organization, which studies matters such as food distribution, nutrition and most importantly, climate change.

The appointment might be even in violation of the 2008 Farm Bill, which states that the chief scientist should be chosen from “among distinguished scientists with specialized or significant experience in agricultural research, education, and economics.”

However, Clovis comes from a public policy background. He attended the National Security Program at Georgetown University and graduated in political science from the United States Air Force Academy. He also holds an MBA from Golden Gate University and a Ph.D. in Public Administration from the University of Alabama. He served as the commander of the 70th Fighter Squadron of the United States Air Force after which he switched to lecturing on security and public administration matters. Even in his position as a tenured professor at Morning Side College, he has not published any academic work in the past 10 years.

He is also an ardent Trump supporter, a campaign advisor and was allegedly responsible for the appointment of Carter Page, Trump’s foreign policy advisor who is currently embroiled in the Russian election interface scandal.

He already has a position at USDA — he serves as the organization’s senior White House advisor. Clovis is also a vicious climate change denier. He is reported to have said in an interview in 2014, that global warming is “simply a mechanism for transferring from one group of people to another.”

He also said, when asked about climate change that Trump needed “more science to make decisions.”

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According to Obama’s appointment to same position Catherine Woteki, the appointment is expected to be counterintuitive. In comparison to Clovis, she actually holds a Ph.D. in nutrition. She told ProPublica Friday: "This position is the chief scientist of the Department of Agriculture. It should be a person who evaluates the scientific body of evidence and moves appropriately from there. Access to safe food and clean air and water is absolutely fundamental to personal security. Food systems are widely recognized by the national security community as being part of critical infrastructure."

Before serving at the position, she was the dean of school or agriculture at Iowa State University and also served as the global director of scientific affairs for Mars Inc. Under her leadership, USDA established ‘climate hubs’ to provide localized solutions to climate change.