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Mary Beth Leigh

@marybethleigh.bsky.social

26 followers 28 following 0 posts

Art-science producer, environmental microbiologist, professor (University of Alaska Fairbanks), dancer, cellist, Okie.

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Reposted by Mary Beth Leigh

Nigel Goldenfeld @nigelgoldenfeld.bsky.social · 09/06/2025

🧪 #NIH You may have seen this morning that employees at NIH wrote an open letter to the Director (cheekily called the Bethesda Declaration). You can read it and sign a supporting letter here. www.standupforscience.net/bethesda-dec... Please consider signing and forwarding on.

standupforscience.net

Bethesda Declaration — STAND UP FOR SCIENCE

Support NIH Staff Now!

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Reposted by Mary Beth Leigh

Dan Garisto @dangaristo.bsky.social · 04/05/2025

In light of the skinny budget (55.8% reduction), 6 past NSF directors and 7 NSB chairs have sent the House Committee on Appropriations a letter advising doubling the NSF budget. "We face a fork in the road. Do we want to win or concede the race for new knowledge and a competitive STEM workforce?"

Key paragraph of letter:
We believe these challenges can be met, but not with the draconian budget plan and staffing reductions just released
by OMB. Such a budget would thwart scientific progress, decimate the research workforce, and take a decade or
more to recover. Achieving the President’s vision requires a major enhancement of the NSF budget, ideally a doubling
of the FY25 level over the next few years and sufficient staff to execute this vision. In the current political climate, we
know this is a bold request. We make it, nonetheless, to say -- if we truly wish to realize this vision, we must commit to
a historic investment in fundamental research and education in a manner that leaves no doubt about the United
States’ intentions with our international competitors.
We face a fork in the road. Do we want to win or concede the race for new knowledge and a competitive STEM workforce?
For 75 years winning that race has been the foundation of American prosperity and national security. Adopting the proposed
cuts would fast-track China’s plans for technological dominance. As Senator Todd Young said in his March 25th Washington
Post op-ed, “…Our policymakers should lock arms with the science-and-technology dreamers and doers across the country
— from Silicon Valley to the Silicon Prairie — and recognize that basic research isn’t a federal handout to help sustain
academia. Instead, it is a vital ingredient in our innovation future, economic and geopolitical competitiveness, and national
security.”

signatures of past NSF directors and NSB chairs

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