LITTLE
ROCK: Famed scientist Richard Leakey warned that the worldwide credit crisis
will be "just devastating" to scientific research in coming years, as endowment
interest income drops and companies cut
donations.
Leakey, who once
served on a government economic team in his native Kenya, said much of the
support for science comes from wealthy philanthropists, foundations and
companies.
All those groups
likely will be affected by lowered interest rates and the squeeze of credit not
being available to fund their operations, he said. "With the investment
portfolios being hit as hard as they've been hit in the last few weeks,
particularly the last few days, I would have thought there would be a very
dramatic reduction in available funds for research in all sorts of countries,"
Leakey told reporters. "Unless they bring it under control, I think it's going
to spread. I think it's extremely worrying for
science."
Leakey became famous
after making a number of fossil discoveries in East Africa. His team unearthed
the bones of the most complete skeleton of a prehistoric human ever found in the
desolate, far northern reaches of Kenya in 1984. The effect of the credit crisis
on science likely will begin to be felt as organisations begin planning their
budgets for 2009, Leakey said. The palaeontologist said donations will be
"hugely hit," affecting what research and exploration can be done next year and
into the future.