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Dr. Jeffrey Meldrum - America's "Bigfoot Professor"

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The Shrike said:
To clarify, it is not (to my knowledge) illegal for Meldrum to make money from public lectures and appearances.
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I signed many, many conflict of interest forms over the years while running a private office with up to half a dozen people. I also did joint university and legislative projects, where the legislature "borrowed" both our University time and our private office time. Normally I just signed that Conflict of Interest form and turned it in to a Dean but for that legislative case it went up to a Chancellor to sign off on it. You want that kind of check in place, and I would think ISU has one.

So there is one very clear conflict of interest: using university resources as a platform to sell stuff. Whatever form he signs, if he does, has specific language he must adhere to.

Admittedly, it's small time. The HAARP facility - that manager was buying apartment complexes, millions of dollars in embezzlement and the University lost that local space gun zapper in part because of it.

You have football coaches sodomizing disadvantaged kids in the shower, major crimes and salacious activity in academics, so an Idaho professor pushing bigfoot is pretty low on the public outrage meter.
 
AlaskaBushPilot said:
Admittedly, it's small time. The HAARP facility - that manager was buying apartment complexes, millions of dollars in embezzlement and the University lost that local space gun zapper in part because of it.

You have football coaches sodomizing disadvantaged kids in the shower, major crimes and salacious activity in academics, so an Idaho professor pushing bigfoot is pretty low on the public outrage meter.
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IMHO acting as a paid fictional person in a movie should be reported as a conflict of interest when he tries in academic circles to make the case for Bigfoot. That seems obvious.
 
Drewbot said:
What is the actual document called that details the additional speaking arrangements that he would be submitting to the university?
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He should be listing all these engagements in his curriculum vitae. If not then he might be intentionally keeping them off the books.

It should be the case that he meets with an administrator (head of his department, who reports to the Dean) annually to discuss his annual performance and set priorities for the coming year. In my department we call this "appraisal and development". These talks should be there unless, again, he's specifically trying to hide them.
 
The Shrike said:
He should be listing all these engagements in his curriculum vitae. If not then he might be intentionally keeping them off the books.

It should be the case that he meets with an administrator (head of his department, who reports to the Dean) annually to discuss his annual performance and set priorities for the coming year. In my department we call this "appraisal and development". These talks should be there unless, again, he's specifically trying to hide them.
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All of them? Actually only a list of "SELECTED SEMINARS & ORAL PRESENTATIONS" appears in his C.V. and obviously many conferences are not listed.
For example: Big Sky Bigfoot Conference (Bitterroot River Inn, Hamilton, Montana, Sept. 22-23, 2017), Sasquatch Fest (Kelso & Longview, Washington, Cowlitz county convention center, Jan. 28 2017), Honobia Bigfoot Festival and Conference (Oklahoma, Oct. 6 and 7 2017), etc.
 
At my university receiving honoraria from academic lectures or public speaking is completely legit. The occasion is typically listed on one's public c.v. because being invited to speak is an honor. The honorarium and any reimbursements for expenses, in common with all income from non-university sources (such as consultant fees) must be included on a separate, non-public university form and must fall under specific rules as to what and how much is permitted. It also must be listed on a possible conflict of interest form; whether it is a conflict of interest or not depends on one's grant funding, university duties, etc.

In my discipline (and due to my low level of "fame") these honoraria are usually on the order of a few hundred dollars. Usually just enough enough to pay back some of the misc expenses that I don't want to bother to itemize to ask of the hosts:the gas costs for me to drive to my airport and back, coffee and a sandwich at the airports on my way there and back, etc. I might net $50 for two days of preparation, traveling, and staying in a hotel. But I enjoy talking to other scientists and of course enjoy talking about my own work.

For "rock star" scientists (Nobel Prize winners) honoraria may be in the low thousands dollar range. Quite a surprise that Meldrum not only earns this much but insists on it.
 
The Shrike said:
I guess that's FOIAble, but I'm not sure. If you want his CV, it might be easier to just ask him. "The one on the website looked a bit out of date. Do you have an updated version?"
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The publicly available CV's I've seen list invitations to speak and public presentations but do not list any financial information.
 
Drewbot said:
This one is dated 2017, it seems pretty complete, except for the 'selected' speaking engagements.
https://www.isu.edu/media/libraries...ineering/biology/documents/cvs/Meldrum_CV.pdf
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He charges an entertainers prices (and not just a wedding singer’s) for supposedly academic lectures, and gets it, from people who don’t have a lot of money individually and don’t have the education, the smarts or the belief system to understand that its balderdash. To some it is unethical but we are a nation of used car salesmen, as Hunter Thompson would say, and look who is in the White House. His adherents love that ANYONE can make money off Bigfoot.

Short of not declaring his fees to the IRS, I think his only problems are jealous faculty (not a small problem) and the issue of COI when he branches out into pure entertainment like movies.

Even then you have to understand: dudes...it’s Idaho Freakin State. It’s Pocatello. And it’s the Land of Magic Underpants Garment District Moroni.
 
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I've quickly listed some conferences or public speaking that Meldrum made in 2017. I have found nine of them but there may be more. Only three of them are in his CV (available on the net): the one in the public school, the one in the Indianapolis art gallery and the one in the National Oregon/California Trail Center. All the conferences he gave in bigfoot festivals/conventions (the six others) are ignored. Maybe good enough for the money but not for the CV?

- Omaha Nation Public School. Macy, NE. Jan. 6 2017
- Sasquatch Fest, Kelso & Longview, Washington Jan. 28 2017
- Tube Factory Artspace, Indianapolis, IN. Feb. 25 2017
- National Oregon/California Trail Center. Montpelier, Idaho. Apr. 14 & 15 2017
- Ohio Bigfoot Conference, Salt Fork State Park Lodge, Lore City, Ohio May 20 2017
- International Bigfoot Conference, Three Rivers Convention Center, Kennewick, WA. Sept. 1,2 & 3 2017
- Big Sky Bigfoot Conference,Bitterroot River Inn, Hamilton, Montana Sept. 22-23, 2017
- Honobia Bigfoot Festival and Conference, Honobia, OK. Oct. 6 and 7 2017
- Sasquatch Summit 2017, Quinault Beach Resort and Casino, Ocean Shores, Washington, Nov. 17,18 & 19 2017
 
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Dozens of Pocatellians flock to hear Don and Cliffie.
Meldrum believes proof of Bigfoot’s existence to be inevitable, especially considering the new developments being made in Bigfoot research.

According to Meldrum, the emergence of eDNA, or environmental DNA, which is collected from a variety of environmental samples rather than an organism itself, could be the key to finding concrete DNA from sasquatches, which has thus far eluded Bigfoot hunters around the country.]

Additionally, Meldrum said drone technology could increase the chances of a sasquatch being caught on camera.

“The bottom line, everyone has to keep in mind, of course though, is that these animals are extremely rare, extremely far ranging and elusive,” Meldrum said, “which makes it very difficult to locate, let alone to observe and learn about them.”
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Castro said:
Maybe good enough for the money but not for the CV?
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So maybe a cool $20k just in speaking engagements then? Not too shabby. Definitely enough of a boost to motivate one to keep that gravy train flowing.

I mean, if he ever says there is no bigfoot then he's not only giving up that cash but he also might be opening himself up to paying some of that money back.
 
I expect that some of his trips he has ISU pay for on grounds that they are research, even if it is just to knock boots with have a beer with compile important ethnographic data from “witnesses”, be bamboozled fooled humiliated guided by Todd Standing, or listen to Gimlin tell the same old PGF lies exaggerations tales pucky story for the 27th time.

I would suggest that if you want info on what he is up to, the grants/Research offices are the place to start your FOIAs. Of course, I could be completely mistaken.
 
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Meanwhile real scientists continue to do real science: New Hummingbird Species Discovered in Ecuador.
A new species of hummingbird, called the blue-throated hillstar (Oreotrochilus cyanolaemus), has been discovered in the southwestern Andes of Ecuador by an international team of ornithologists...After the first expedition, the team returned in May to capture several specimens and confirm the finding...The new species is found only along bush-lined creeks in an area of about 114 km2...The scientists estimate there are no more than 750 individuals...
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