Doctor Says Egyptian Protests May Slow Research

A University of Louisville faculty member has returned from a research trip to Egypt, and he says similar trips may be hard to organize for months.Dr. Steven Myers left Egypt on Sunday, days after the anti-government protests started. Myers says the demonstrations began as peaceful attempts to change the government, but as government forces and pro-government demonstrators faced off, the situation turned dangerous. Now, Myers says he can't imagine the government stabilizing anytime soon, and that will make it difficult for researchers to return to the country."I think there'll be a period of time where it'll be impossible to do anything from a research perspective," he says. "I think that'll go on until the government get stabilized, whether that's short-term or whether it takes a year to get stabilized."Myers was conducting environmental research in Egypt. He says he still has colleagues in the country, and the groundwork for continued research remains, so a return depends mostly on government stability.