Almost 1400 members participated in the survey. Respondents to the survey were geographically distributed across the US and spread across career stages, as well as spread across academia, the federal government, non-profits, and industry. www.firsthandaccounts.org/impacts/2025...
Participating societies include @asn-amnat.bsky.social ,@sse-evolution.bsky.social , @systbiol.bsky.social @official-bweems.bsky.social , #WOCEEB , American #Genetics Society , @thewildlifesociety.bsky.social ,@amornith.bsky.social ,Western Society of Naturalists #WSN ,@scbnorthamerica.bsky.social
Participating societies also include @entsocamerica.bsky.social , American Society of #Ichthyologists and #Herpetologists ,@cerfscience.bsky.social ,and @ecologicalsociety.bsky.social ,
Respondents reported restrictions on free speech and travel, chilling effects on free speech and travel, censorship of scientific terms, concerns about the ability of the government to comply with legal mandates, reports of biased or removed information from federal sources, removal of climate.gov
and concerns about the future of long-standing federal programs such as the Bird Banding Lab, a 100-year federal program www.usgs.gov/labs/bird-ba... that "runs all federal bird permits and maintains the data for all birds banded (captured, measured, marked, and released) in the United States".
83% of respondents said that federal policies since Jan 20, 2025 had "extremely negative impact" or "irreparable harm" on their field of science
Most respondents reported that US federal training programs were important to their development as scientists, with 71% reporting it was "very important" or "extremely important". Respondents from different career stages were concerned about an early career bottleneck...
...Participants reported that federal cuts and uncertainty caused a severe narrowing of the job market, cancellations of undergraduate training programs, cuts to graduate admission programs by universities, rescinded offers, and cuts to merit-based fellowship programs.
There reports of declines in government efficiency and loss of institutional knowledge in the federal workforce, such as delayed funding decisions, delays in collaborative research, and increased waste associated with the cancellation of projects that were in progress.
Open-ended responses were along a continuum from positive impacts to irreparable harm. Respondents who thought the harm was irreparable cited disruptions to time-sensitive data collection or trainings, and harm to constituents caused by loss of institutional knowledge in the federal government.
The survey delivers the first systematic evaluation of how policy changes have disrupted scientific work that supports American interests and serves the public good. Read the full technical report at: www.firsthandaccounts.org/impacts/2025...