Cornell University doctoral student Isako Di Tomassi was taken aback by comments on local social media after thousands of federal workers, including her Ph.D. adviser — a U.S. Department of Agriculture scientist — were fired in February. Some posters on the neighborhood networking platform Nextdoor seemed pleased, with one writing that a lot of “stupid research has been stopped.” She saw it differently. “We were actually in the middle of working on an apparent outbreak of a devastating crop disease,” Di Tomassi says of her work with her adviser. It suddenly hit her: “These are taxpayers here who have no idea what cool, awesome work is being done” in their backyard.
Since then, Di Tomassi has been part of a multipronged grassroots effort to encourage scientists around the country to submit op-eds to local newspapers showcasing federally funded research and why they should care that President Donald Trump’s administration is slashing support for science. So far, more than 80 op-eds have appeared in local newspapers in more than 30 states, discussing research on Alzheimer’s disease, drought-tolerant trees, addiction treatments and more.
