In 2012, Strømme began working as a program officer for the NSF, on leave from SRI International. Her position was as a "rotator" on a year-long contract, assigned to assess a backlog of grant applications. She has discussed her sudden termination following alleged misconduct in relation to conflict of interest rules, though she maintains that she was unaware of having mishandled any grant applications and was never informed of the specifics of her dismissal. Strømme returned to SRI International after this occurred, but her public statements led to requests that the NSF provide more protection and clearer guidelines for rotators, including the ability to review and respond to allegations of misconduct.
