Since the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, US science leaders and others have expressed frustration with the lack of an informed and coherent federal response, a sentiment that echoes objections to the handling of other pressing issues, such as climate change. Writing in BioScience, an assemblage of the past presidents of the American Institute of Biological Sciences (AIBS) have issued an appeal for the reinvigoration of sound policy and governance through the careful consideration of sound science. In this episode BioScience Talks, we're joined by AIBS President Charles Fenster, Director of the Oak Lake Field Station, which is affiliated with South Dakota State University in Brookings, South Dakota. He discusses the article with us, and the conversation is followed by a presentation of the article by the past presidents, themselves.  (Enter the contest described by emailing your guess to bioscience@aibs.org) Read this article in BioScience. Subscribe on iTunes. Subscribe on Stitcher. Catch up with us on Twitter.