The e-mail reply was polite but firm. “No. I will not be available for an interview,” wrote a researcher from the University of California at Los Angeles, when asked about the effects of recent animal-rights protests there.
That scientist was downright chatty compared with most of the other investigators around the country contacted by The Chronicle. Most simply refused to answer phone calls or e-mail messages, while a few recruited university public-relations officials to explain why scientists were clamming up.
In the past few months, animal-rights groups have stepped up their demonstrations against academic researchers who use animals, spawning a new wave of concern among scientists. In February, extremists caused a fire at the home of a researcher from the University of California at Los Angeles, and protesters struck the husband of a scientist from the University of California at Santa Cruz.