Bigfoot research makes professor a campus outcast

POCATELLO, Idaho (AP) -- Jeffrey Meldrum holds a Ph.D. in anatomical sciences and is a tenured professor of anatomy at Idaho State University.

He is also one of the world's foremost authorities on Bigfoot, the mythical ape-man of the Northwest woods. And Meldrum firmly believes the lumbering, shaggy brute exists.

That makes him an outcast -- a solitary, Sasquatch-like figure himself -- on the 12,700-student campus, where many scientists are embarrassed by what they call Meldrum's "pseudo-academic" pursuits and have called on the university to review his work with an eye toward revoking his tenure. One physics professor, D.P. Wells, wonders whether Meldrum plans to research Santa Claus, too.

...Still, Meldrum has a distinguished supporter in Jane Goodall, the world-famous authority on African chimpanzees. Her blurb on the jacket of Meldrum's new book, "Sasquatch: Legend Meets Science," lauds him for bringing "a much-needed level of scientific analysis" to the Bigfoot debate.

"As a scientist, she's very curious and she keeps an open mind," said Goodall spokeswoman Nona Gandelman. "She's fascinated by it."
[continued]

I can't help but wonder what the response would be if someone in the anatomical sciences tried to dictate what physicists should or should not study.

He tests hair samples and uses physics to produce charts that purport to show how Bigfoot would walk.

From the CNN report:
I think this is why the physicists have gotten involved.
uses physics to produce charts that purport to show how Bigfoot would walk.

Meldrum said it was a decade ago in Walla Walla, Washington, that he first discovered flat 15-inch footprints in the woods. He said he thought initially that they were a hoax, but noticed locked joints and a narrow arch -- traits he came to believe could only belong to Bigfoot.

"That's what set the hook," Meldrum said. "I resolved at this point, this was a question I'd get to the bottom of."

When not in the lab, he loads his Chevy Suburban with tents and forensic gear and heads for the woods of Washington state and Northern California, where he has collected what he says are footprints, hair and feces from the ape-man. He tests hair samples and uses physics to produce charts that purport to show how Bigfoot would walk.

Meldrum wonders aloud how much longer he will be on the faculty. But he said he also dreams of one day bringing back a bone or a tooth or some skin, and silencing the "stuffy academics."

"Is the theory of exploration dead?" he asked. "I'm not out to proselytize that Bigfoot exists. I place legend under scrutiny and my conclusion is, absolutely, Bigfoot exists."

That is actually fairly common. Scientists are not bound to live without opinions.

Don't you think that many string theorists personally believe in string theory? In fact the same can be said for nearly any discipline and unproven theory. Apparently he has seen enough to convince him that bigfoot is real. It may even come down to an interpretation of evidence. The distiction is that the belief of one scientist is not scientific proof. As long as he doesn't cross that line, he has committed no sin beyond holding an unpopular opinion.

The real point of contention is whether he should be allowed to study this.

"Do I cringe when I see the Discovery Channel and I see Idaho State University, Jeff Meldrum? Yes, I do," Hackworth said. "He believes he's taken up the cause of people who have been shut out by the scientific community. He's lionized there. He's worshipped. He walks on water. It's embarrassing."

John Kijinski, dean of arts and sciences, said there have been "grumblings" about Meldrum's tenure, but no formal request for a review.

"He's a bona fide scientist," Kijinski said. "I think he helps this university. He provides a form of open discussion and dissenting viewpoints that may not be popular with the scientific community, but that's what academics (is) all about.

...What happened was that when we were anticipating the release of the book, which was only to be that a serious professor writes a book about a topic that is not often taken so seriously and yet treats it in a very scientific fashion and has the endorsements of the likes of Jane Goodall and George Schaller.

Unfortunately the AP reporter they sent out thought there was a different story to be told (laughs). He barked up a different tree and found a couple of skeptics on campus who had in the past said negative things about my research and my preoccupation with the subject. He created a controversy and quite frankly misrepresented. My tenure has never been questioned or placed in jeopardy, nor have I ever talked with the reporter about how long I might be at ISU. Never happened.

BUT YOUR TENURESHIP AT IDAHO STATE UNIVERSITY IS IN PLACE AND IS NOT THREATENED?

Absolutely. ”[continued with a discussion of his work]