The U.S. Dept. of Energy will announce a new interagency program to bring "distinguished scientists" from academia to Washington for up to two years to provide the agency with critical scientific input on both technical and policy issues. Steve Chalk, Acting Assistant Deputy Secretary for Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency at DOE, briefly mentioned the program to us this morning at the opening session of the DOE Geothermal Peer Review in DC and said it should be announced publicly within a few weeks.
This seems to be an outgrowth of the DOE's growing use of 'distinguished' outside consultants, reviewers, and advisors.