The United States’ climate science community faced a dramatic upheaval after President
Donald Trump began his second term, with his administration cutting billions of dollars in research funding and firing thousands of federal employees across agencies including the Environmental Protection Agency and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
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administration → face → Agency
For climate scientists and officials who suddenly found themselves without jobs or funding, the changes came as a major shock.
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changes → find → shock
But amid the uncertainty, a group of former government officials and climate experts began working on an unusual solution: creating a new network to keep climate research alive outside the federal government.
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group → begin → government
People were “in shock,” said Aparna Shrivastava, a former senior climate official in the Biden administration.
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Shrivastava → say → administration
As she spoke privately with dozens of climate experts who had lost their jobs or funding, many were still determined to continue studying a rapidly warming planet and finding ways to address its consequences.
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many → speak → consequences
Yet the sudden cuts had left them with few options.
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cuts → leave → options
The question they kept returning to was simple: “What could we possibly do to address this?” Shrivastava said.
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Shrivastava → keep → this
(This story was originally published by Grist.)More than 30 experts come together to find a solution
The conversations eventually moved beyond private chats.
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conversations → publish → chats
At a workshop convened by the Aspen Global Change Institute in Colorado last July, more than 30 climate experts began discussing ways to support colleagues who had been laid off and prevent important research from disappearing.
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who → convene → research
That effort eventually became the Climate Reserve, an initiative backed by tens of millions of dollars and led by Shrivastava.
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effort → become → Shrivastava
The organization is now making its work public as it seeks to expand its network and provide new opportunities for climate experts affected by the federal cuts.
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it → make → cuts
Climate Reserve operates as a network designed to identify climate research and other critical work that has been left in limbo and find institutions where it can continue without federal support.
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it → operate → support
Sometimes, that means helping a climate researcher move into a position at an environmental nonprofit or university.
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researcher → mean → nonprofit
In other cases, it means finding a new home for projects that were removed from government budgets.
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that → mean → budgets
Climate Reserve has already funded more than two dozen positions
Climate Reserve created new roles for climate experts affected by Trump administration funding cuts.
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Reserve → fund → cuts
So far, Climate Reserve has funded more than two dozen positions for climate experts, known as fellows.
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Reserve → fund → fellows
They are now working at organizations across the country, including the Environmental Protection Network and the University of Minnesota.
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They → work → Minnesota
The group has also helped revive projects that were affected by federal funding cuts.
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that → help → cuts
One example is EJScreen, an online mapping tool that identifies communities across the United States experiencing some of the worst pollution.
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that → identify → pollution
The now-independent tool is being kept up to date with support from the network.
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tool → keep → network
The Climate Reserve’s work extends beyond the US as well.
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work → extend → US
Its projects include mapping sea-level rise on islands in Panama and measuring greenhouse gas emissions across five African countries.
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projects → include → countries
However, not all of its work is being made public.
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all → make → work
Organizers have maintained some secrecy around certain fellows and projects, partly out of concern that people who still rely on federal funding or hope to apply for it in the future could find themselves in the crosshairs of the Trump administration.
‘So many people are still out of work’
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people → maintain → work
As the initiative has grown, its organizers have become more willing to publicly discuss their efforts in the hope of attracting additional funding.
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organizers → grow → funding
The scale of the job losses remains apparent in unexpected places.
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scale → remain → places
Shrivastava recalled that even a Lyft driver who took her to the airport in Washington, D.C., while she was traveling to meet potential funders turned out to be a laid-off climate and energy expert.
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she → recall → funders
The Climate Reserve name itself reflects the group's emergency-response philosophy.
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name → reflect → philosophy
Brittany Janis, executive director of the nonprofit Open Environmental Data Project and one of the participants in the initiative's early discussions, said the name was meant to evoke both a nature reserve and the Army Reserve.
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name → say → reserve
It is “the emergency group that you can call up to bring people together,” Janis said.
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Janis → call → people
Her organization has partnered with Climate Reserve to hire a former senior adviser for environmental justice programs in the Biden administration to maintain the independent EJScreen tool.
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organization → partner → tool
Former federal workers get a ‘parachute’
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workers → get → parachute
For Climate Reserve, the goal is not simply to provide jobs.
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goal → provide → jobs
Organizers also want to prevent the loss of specialized knowledge built up by scientists and government officials over years of public service.
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Organizers → want → service
Janis described the positions as a kind of “parachute” that allows former federal workers to land in organizations where their experience can continue to be used.
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experience → describe → organizations
“How can we be really thoughtful about parachuting people to the right places so we aren’t losing all that institutional knowledge and that really critical basis for climate action in the U.S.?” she said.
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she → parachute → U.S.
The group is also trying to encourage collaboration rather than competition among climate organizations that are now operating with fewer resources.
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that → try → resources
Ben Poulter, who leads an emissions-monitoring program at climate solutions nonprofit Spark, said the founders recognized early on that the funding cuts could further divide the climate research community.
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cuts → lead → community
“We realized early on that the changes that were happening could fragment the community even further as resources became scarcer,” Poulter said.
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Poulter → realize → community
“The whole point of Climate Reserve is that we’re all in the same boat and we need to work together.”
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we → ’re → boat
…and 26 more, not listed.
The Aporia
