US science is under threat ― now scientists are fighting back

"The courts temporarily halted some of the Trump administration’s orders, but a coherent message has broken through: federal support for science is in danger. Gradually, scientists began to stir, Varga says: “They’re realizing now that doing any one thing is better than doing nothing.”

That activism is taking many forms. On 3 March, the Union of Concerned Scientists and 48 scientific societies released a joint letter to Congress calling for legislators to protect taxpayer-funded research. “The actions of this administration have already caused significant harm to American science and are risking the health and safety of our communities”, they said.

US researchers in planetary science are talking about creating a new professional society to strengthen their voice in policy matters. Paul Byrne, a planetary scientist at Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri, says he has been thinking about such a society for several years. “But the recent attacks, because that’s what they are, on science in the US have catalysed the need for it,” he says. “The more organized the planetary-science community, the more effectively we can stand up and push back against these actions.” Byrne and others will lead a discussion at an upcoming planetary-science conference about whether to launch such a society.

Individual researchers also have a bounty of petitions to sign, including statements against censorship of science, indirect-cost reductions, and cuts to space science and biomedical research. And professional societies have circulated tip sheets to guide researchers who want to call their elected representatives...."