A panel of university professors cleared Penn State U. professor Michael Mann Thursday of all wrongdoing in connection with his climate change research, ending Penn State’s investigation into his academic honesty.
Mann said he is “very pleased” with the 19-page report — the findings released by a panel of five professors who began their investigation March 4.
The committee investigated whether Mann deviated from Penn State’s research regulations in proposing, conducting or reporting his research activities. The panel determined that Mann complied within the lines of standard practice in all three areas.
The professors questioned Mann and looked through more than 376 files of illegally leaked e-mails related to Mann’s research. They also examined documents collected by the inquiry committee from Mann himself, among other sources.
The interviews were audiotaped and transcribed verbatim and will now be kept at the Office for Research Protections, according to the report.
William Easterling, dean of the College of Earth and Mineral Sciences and Mann’s supervisor, was interviewed during the investigation, as well as professors from Penn State, Columbia University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Senior scientist William Curry, of the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, was involved in the interview process.
Mann said he is relieved the investigation process is complete and is looking forward to resuming a normal life.
“I hope now that I and whoever else was involved in the investigation can return to what they are supposed to do — research, teaching and making Penn State a great university,” Mann said.
The panel declined comment and consisted of university professors Sarah Assmann, Welford Castleman, Mary Jane Irwin, Nina Jablonski and Fred Vondracek, as well as university research integrity officer Candice Yekel.
Thursday was the final deadline for the panel to release the report.
“The five expert scholars who served on the committee obviously pored over a lot of documentation and came to a unanimous decision,” university spokeswoman Lisa Powers said.
Mann said he has been confident for months that an “impartial and thorough investigation” would reveal that the allegations against him had no merit.
In February, Penn State officials cleared Mann of three other charges: falsifying or suppressing data; intending to delete or conceal e-mails and information; and misusing privileged or confidential information.
While Penn State has cleared Mann, lawmakers in Virginia continue to investigate research from Mann’s time at the University of Virginia. Mann was an assistant professor in the Department of Environmental Sciences from 1999 to 2005.