After eight years of watching politics and ideology being put before science, researchers say they welcome the words, actions and funding from President Barack Obama.

Obama's order this week to remove limits on embryonic stem-cell research is representative of a philosophical shift that many scientists and advocacy groups say is a move from scientific restrictions toward "scientific integrity."

Obama also has signed into law an economic-stimulus package that infuses billions of dollars into science, health and environmental research, as well as facilities and equipment.

He has appointed respected scientists to his cabinet and federal agencies and has reiterated his promise to make decisions based on scientific evidence.

"Coming from a bunch of science geeks, this is great to see," said Katy Delaney, spokeswoman for Battelle, the Columbus-based research and development giant.

Battelle had huge revenue gains under the Bush administration, but officials at the research organization say they are pleased to see science and science education being made a national priority.

A number of groups, including environmentalists, advocates for reproductive rights and even biochemists quietly working in their labs, are applauding the changes.

The Union of Concerned Scientists documented 92 instances in which scientific findings and input were rejected or ignored in federal policy decisions under President George W. Bush.

"We surveyed thousands of scientists across nine federal agencies," said Francesca Grifo, the group's director of scientific integrity. "They've all reported abuses, suppression and censorship."

Outside of government, Lisa Perks, chief executive of Planned Parenthood of Central Ohio, was among those who said they were frustrated by Bush administration policy, particularly the delayed approval of emergency contraception and the emphasis on abstinence education.

"The country is in a health-care crisis and policies need to be evidence-based and medically accurate, both from the health-care perspective and from the sex-ed perspective," she said. "It is encouraging for us to see this shift away from ideology."

Dr. Stanton Gerson, director of the Center for Stem Cell and Regenerative Medicine in Cleveland, anticipates several waves of progress in the stem-cell arena.

But he also cautioned that clinical therapies are likely 20 years off.

"Hopefully, we've opened up the tap of all those great minds and great scientists. We don't know where it's going to lead us."

The National Institutes of Health and National Science Foundation, which fund research grants at labs and universities across the country, received more than $13 billion in the stimulus bill.

"We've been very concerned about losing our scientific standing worldwide," said Joan Herber, professor of evolution, ecology and organismal biology at Ohio State University and president-elect of the Association for Women in Science.

"China and India's spending has been far exceeding ours. We have a chance to play catch-up and maybe pull ahead."

The stem-cell decision was only one about-face the Obama administration has taken on Bush-era decisions.

The U.S. Department of the Interior is reconsidering rules that let federal agencies bypass required scientific studies of threats to endangered species posed by plans to build bridges, highways and other public projects.

Officials at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency will reconsider mercury-pollution restrictions that environmental groups said actually would help create "hot zones" for mercury fallout from Ohio power plants.

"It posed grave concerns for us," said Trent Dougherty, staff attorney for the Ohio Environmental Council. "It really showed how political science overtook sound science."

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