Foul play suspected as polar bear scientist probed

Supporters of a US government climate scientist suspended under mysterious circumstances have linked his downfall to efforts by the Obama administration to open up the Arctic to offshore oil drilling.

Charles Monnett, who helped bring to global prominence the plight of polar bears in the face of climate change, was in charge of a $50m research budget as a biologist at the US Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement in Alaska.

He was relieved of his duties on July 18 pending an investigation into "integrity issues", according to the Associated Press. His supporters suggest the probe is a thinly-veiled attempt to discredit his work and open up the way for offshore oil drilling in the Arctic - a highly controversial subject, given last year's disastrous Gulf of Mexico oil spill.

Monnett's most famous scientific study was published in 2006 after he observed polar bears that had apparently drowned while swimming in the ocean. He and co-author Jeffrey Gleason tackled the question of whether climate change and a reduction in Arctic ice coverage might lead to more polar bears drowning in future.

In the resulting paper, which was published in Polar Biology, Monnett wrote: "Drowning deaths of polar bears may increase in future if the observed trend of regression of pack ice and/or longer open water periods continues."

It is this study, which was cited by government officials in 2008 when the polar bear was listed as a threatened species, that is said to be the subject of the current investigation.

Jeff Ruch, the director of a group called Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility, has filed a detailed, and at times very cutting, complaint on behalf of Monnett, charging that officials have "actively persecuted Dr Monnett, acted on hearsay and rumours, gratuitously tarnished his reputation and substantially disrupted important scientific research".

Ruch contends that the investigation into Monnett's scientific studies will be carried out by investigators who have no scientific training (the complaint, here, contains an entertaining transcript of Monnett establishing the scientific credentials – or lack thereof - of his inquisitors) and has demanded that Monnett be reinstated and the charges against him specified.

The coincidence of Monnett's suspension and the US government's renewed interest in offshore oil drilling in the Arctic has not escaped Ruch, who told the Guardian: "You have to wonder: this is the guy in charge of all the science in the Arctic and he is being suspended just now as an arm of the interior department is getting ready to make its decision on offshore drilling in the Arctic seas." ·