SciMoms

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SciMoms are six women who describe themselves as coming 'together to work on science communication.' [1] The group formed out of the documentary Science Moms which had been inspired by the #Moms4GMOs open letter to celebrity mothers campaigning for GMO labeling in 2015.[2]

Corporate Ties

SciMoms founder and filmmaker Natalie Newell gives special thanks to Monsanto's Director of Millennial Engagement, Vance Crowe at the end of the Science Moms documentary. She has publicly stated that they are friends, along with others who work for the company.[3] In 2017 she attended an Independent Women's Forum event, Food and Fear: How to Find Good Information In a Culture of Alarmism presented by Washington University and Monsanto Company. Among the panelists were Julie Gunlock, Joni Kamiya and Steve Savage.[4] Newell was photographed with Monsanto’s online engagement director Janice Person during the event, and shared photographs of the Monsanto Delicious Dinner served to attendees like Julie Kelly and Cami Ryan on Twitter.[5][6]

Kavin Senapathy has provided an interview for Monsanto Europe's website where she said her job is to debunk myths.[7] Following revelations in the New York Times that Monsanto ghostwrote an article for Henry Miller,[8] Forbes removed several articles written by Miller and Senapathy.[9] Articles that Senapathy co-wrote with Miller were aggregated at the Hoover Institution, but the titles now lead to dead links.[10] In the past, Senapathy has been a guest speaker at an Independent Women's Forum event.[11]

Anastasia Bodnar is the Policy Director of Biology Fortified, Inc., a non-profit group that Monsanto has described in internal memos as a ‘partner’ to engage when dealing with the IARC carcinogenicity classification for glyphosate in March 2015. [12]

Layla Katiraee is listed as a contributing expert on the Ketchum PR operated website GMO Answers, paid for by the Council for Biotechnology Information’s member companies. [13] [14]

Jenny Splitter was a featured panelist at the Independent Women’s Forum Reasonable Moms[15] launch event. Attendees included Hank Campbell, President of American Council on Science and Health, and Stephan Neidenbach. [16] Splitter wrote of her experiences that led to her becoming a ‘Reasonable Mom’ on the Grounded Parents website[17] where she cites controversial figure Amy Tuteur who blogs as the Skeptical OB [18] as being influential in her views on parenting, and describes Julie Gunlock of IWF as being one of “some incredible, smart and interesting conservative women who embrace science and reject fear and alarmism ” that she has met. IWF once presented the the Mesa County, Colorado District 51 School Board with a petition containing hundreds signatures of people who wanted global warming instruction stopped as part of their Balanced Education For Everyone campaign.[19] Splitter's article on glyphosate and BPA published at Vice.com was called "insightful" by Steve Hentges, a member of the American Chemistry Council and Senior Director, Polycarbonate/BPA Global Group. [20]

Allison Bernstein known sometimes as Mommy PhD via her blog by the same name, has also been promoted by the IWF. On their BPA fact sheet, they list her as someone they recommend to find reliable information on the topic despite Bernstein not having any expertise in endocrinology.[21]

Related SourceWatch articles

Sources

  1. SciMoms, "About", SciMoms website, accessed May 2018.
  2. Independent Women's Forum, [1], IWF website, accessed May 2018.
  3. Science Moms Documentary: A Review,[2], Sick of it All website, accessed May 2018.
  4. Independent Women's Forum [3], IWF website, February 2017, accessed May 2018.
  5. Natalie Newell Twitter [4], Twitter website, February 2017, accessed May 2018.
  6. Natalie Newell Twitter [5], Twitter website, February 2017, accessed May 2018.
  7. Monsanto blog, Fighting the hydra of science myths: an interview with Kavin Senapathy website, accessed Sept 2017, [6]
  8. Danny Hakim, Monsanto Emails Raise Issue of Influencing Research on Roundup Weed Killer, New York Times, website, accessed Feb 2017, [7]
  9. Stacy Malkan, Why Forbes Deleted Some Kavin Senapathy Articles, US Right to Know, website, accessed September 2017, [8]
  10. Kavin Senapathy Author Page at Hoover Institution, website, accessed Sept 2017, [9]
  11. Eventbrite, Women Fighting the Culture of Alarmism: Come Meet the Science Defenders! Independent Women's Forum, Thursday, September 17, 2015 [10]
  12. Monsanto Relied on These “Partners” to Attack Top Cancer Scientists >USRTK, [11], USRTK website, accessed June 2018.
  13. 5 Astroturf Groups You Should Stop Sharing From[12], Sick of it All website, accessed June 2018.
  14. Independent Expert Layla Parker-Katiraee [13], GMO Answers website, accessed June 2018.
  15. ReasonableMoms >Independent Women’s Forum, [14], IWF website, accessed July 2018,
  16. ‘Reasonable' Rhetoric' Sick of it All,[15], Sick of it All website, accessed July 2018,
  17. How I Became a Reasonable Mom Grounded Parents,[16], Grounded Parents website, accessed July 2018,
  18. Fierce Views Of Anti-Homebirth Activist Questioned In Slate>WBUR,[17], WBUR website, accessed July 2018.
  19. Petitions target ‘political’ leanings of teachers >The Daily Sentinel, [18], GJ Sentinal website, accessed July 2018.
  20. BPA and glyphosate - a cautionary tale American Chemistry Matters a blog of the American Chemistry Council, [19], American Chemistry Council website, accessed February 2019.
  21. ‘Reasonable' Rhetoric >Sick of it All,[20], Sick of it All website, accessed February 2019,