‘We’re still resilient … We can continue to make significant contributions’

Recent reductions in federal funding are significantly impacting climate research. According to Harvard environmental scientists, these losses will obstruct progress, though they won’t halt it.

The Trump administration has canceled millions in research grants, closed essential climate monitoring initiatives, and made substantial budget cuts to federal agencies that back environmental science. Experts caution that these reductions could weaken America’s capacity to tackle the escalating climate crisis.

“We’re caught in the crossfire,” remarked Peter Huybers, head of the Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences (EPS). However, he added, “We’re still resilient. We still have exceptional individuals here. There is much to accomplish, and we can continue to make significant contributions.”

Initially, environmental research remained relatively unharmed by the first wave of federal funding cuts, which struck Harvard in early April, prompting the University to file a lawsuit, asserting that the government’s actions infringe upon federal laws and the University’s First Amendment rights.

Subsequently, several EPS researchers discovered on May 15 that their grants, many funded by the National Science Foundation, had been targeted under a new series of cuts.

Elsie Sunderland, the Fred Kavli Professor of Environmental Chemistry and Professor of Earth and Planetary Sciences, lost a grant amounting to $578,882 aimed at investigating permafrost thaw in Arctic ecosystems and its impact on the global mercury cycle. Amid the funding stoppages, she expressed uncertainty about the future.

“We aren’t clear on the landscape and what future funding avenues will resemble. Much of the world is pausing to determine our direction, and how long we must prepare ourselves,” she stated.

David Johnston, whose laboratory examines the connection between microorganisms and the evolution of Earth’s surface, saw a grant from the NSF officially canceled, funds withheld from NASA, and one of his students stripped of an NSF Graduate Fellowship.

“Our entire team’s work, including research staff, students, etc., will nearly halt. The future of our ability to conduct scientific inquiries and make groundbreaking discoveries is highly uncertain,” Johnston, who is also a professor of Earth and planetary sciences and co-director of graduate students, remarked.

Mary Rice, director of the Harvard Chan School of Public Health’s Center for Climate, Health, and the Global Environment (C-CHANGE), investigates potential solutions to the health ramifications of climate change and fossil fuel emissions.

She lost a significant National Institutes of Health-funded Center grant that she co-leads to tackle heat risks in at-risk communities globally, including a project aimed at providing cooling units to elderly residents in Boston who are vulnerable to heat stress.

Additionally, she lost $500,000 in NIH funding allocated for the final year of a randomized controlled trial assessing the influence of clean air filters in homes of individuals with severe lung conditions. Rice remains resolved to find a way to continue her work.

Halting the trial prematurely would be “a disservice, not only to the individuals who dedicated their time and effort to participate in the study, but also a disservice to the American public and the taxpayers who funded the research, as well as the numerous individuals with COPD who could have benefited from the results,” she argued.

However, it’s not merely the loss of grant funding that concerns researchers in climate science; they are equally worried about the depletion of federal data and federally administered analytical tools that are vital for climate researchers.

“The principal missions and a significant portion of the essential work of these agencies are being dismantled,” asserted Sunderland, mentioning the Environmental Protection Agency, the U.S. Geological Survey, and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. “This impacts all collaborators, the data infrastructure, and the entirety of the work they perform. It’s chaotic.”

Rice expressed her alarm regarding the Trump administration’s decision to terminate EJScreen, an EPA-based mapping tool that aided researchers in monitoring areas of the country where at-risk populations faced heightened exposure to pollution.

Graduate student Alex Berry was pioneering innovative methods to assess food security via satellite imagery in southern Madagascar, where drought has left about 1.6 million individuals reliant on food assistance. Her research involved juxtaposing satellite images of farmland with direct reports from the ground. However, the on-ground data collection was facilitated by Catholic Relief Services, funded by the now largely dismantled USAID.

“We’re no longer receiving that real-time data,” Berry stated. “The Madagascar initiative has been entirely halted.” Plans to broaden the project to Ethiopia and Madagascar have been curtailed and may not move forward at all.

Global surface temperatures in 2024 were 2.3 degrees Fahrenheit higher than the 20th-century average, surpassing the previous record established in 2023. It’s an unparalleled heat wave; in some regions, it is consistently pushing the upper limits of human tolerance.

Huybers, head of EPS, who studies how climate change influences agricultural productivity worldwide, mentioned that his department is adapting to preserve crucial work. He has gathered as much data on global food insecurity as possible from USAID and is continuing some of their initiatives.

“We are compiling a global database of agricultural yields at the subnational level and plan to release a publicly accessible version shortly,” he affirmed.

Regardless of the numerous challenges, EPS researchers assert their dedication to their mission.

“I believe it is our duty at this moment to document the damage being inflicted, both on the environment locally and globally, as well as on public health,” Sunderland asserted. “I do not feel disheartened about this. I believe we have an obligation to voice our concerns and continue our work.”