IU students question school accepting Koch foundation grant

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. (AP) – Some Indiana University students are questioning a $210,000 research grant a professor has accepted from a foundation tied to the conservative billionaire Koch brothers.

The dean of IU’s School of Public and Environmental Affairs says the grant to professor Doug Noonan continues funding of environmental policy research being done at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis.

Brett Wiley tells The (Bloomington) Herald-Times that he and fellow graduate students at the IU school are concerned about the grant coming from the Charles Koch Foundation. Billionaire industrialists Charles and David Koch are known for backing conservatives and libertarian causes.

Dean John Graham said sponsorship of research is only accepted without strings attached and that research results will get the same rigorous peer-review process.