WIKIMEDIA, MICHAEL VADONIn mid-November, pollster John Zogby sought to reassure nervous researchers. “The important thing is that you should not assume that you’re screwed,” he said at a Research!America briefing on the state of health, science, and research under Trump. “You must go on and understand that medical health care research is vital, and that folks do understand it, and that there probably are a million other places that can be cut.”
But since the November election that saw the real estate magnate and former reality TV star claim the presidency, scientists have been coming out in droves to voice their concern that the new administration could spell shrunken federal research budgets, reneged climate change accords, or worse. Many of the expressions of concern have been coming in the form of open letters. As of today (December 6) there are at least four such letters circulating online.
One open letter, from the Union of Concerned Scientists, bears the signatures of more than 2,300 researchers, including 22 Nobel Laureates. “From disease outbreaks to climate change to national security to technology innovation, people benefit when our nation’s policies are informed by science unfettered by inappropriate political or corporate influence,” ...
