This article is republished from SciLight, an independent science policy publication on Substack.
It cannot be easy to be a federal scientist right now. I know – I was a climate scientist at the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) when Donald J. Trump won the 2016 election. I shed quite a few tears after that election. It was tough to get through a single day of work. I knew that all my hard work and the work of my EPA colleagues would never see the light of day, I expected it would be trashed. It was. I also knew that any opportunities I had to move up in the agency were gone. They were.
So, I start this post with some words of support and encouragement for our federal workers. I know this is a tough time. Here at SciLight–and with our colleagues in the greater scientific community — we have your back. We will do what we can to support you. Please reach out and let us know what you need and how we can best help and support you. Kathy, Andy, and I have all been federal scientists, and we’ve continued to defend science through our work in the nonprofit sector. If we can’t help you, we have contacts and colleagues who can. So, seriously –reach out; we are there for you.
Also, please do what you need to do to take care of yourself, your family, and your loved ones. If that means leaving federal service or staying – no one is judging you for the extremely tough decisions you will likely have to make.
If history repeats itself, it’s going to be a rough four years. President-elect Trump’s campaign rhetoric and the roadmap detailed in Project 2025 (which we’ve reported on here, here, here, and here) certainly seem to suggest that federal agencies, federal scientists, and their work will once again be targets for political interference. Thousands of scientists left their agency posts under the prior Trump administration. You can read our report on the previous federal brain drain here.
While many federal scientists may decide to leave, many will decide to stay and continue working for the public good. For those who do stay, it is important that they understand their rights, protections, and means to defend themselves and their science for the public good. That is why we created the toolkit for federal scientists that we’re launching today. It provides information on policies, laws, and resources that agency staff can tap to help them defend science – and themselves.
The toolkit contains multiple different strategies that federal scientists can use to defend science, protect themselves, and/or find support. Our goal was to identify strategies to match different comfort levels and to offer tips, advice, and resources for action if and when needed. We truly hope you won’t need them, but we’re not holding our breath.
We close with heartfelt appreciation for the work of our federal scientists. Thank you for your energy, dedication, and passion and the work you do to protect public health, public safety and our natural resources and environment upon which we all depend.