I’m writing to you from a place of deep concern and heartbreak about what’s happening in my country. As you watch American politics from afar, I want to share with you the raw reality many of us are experiencing in this moment of crisis.
Throughout the presidential election, I desperately told myself “there’s no way this country will elect him back into office.” I desperately wanted to believe we had learned our lessons.
When Trump was first elected, I was an undergraduate student without a child, passionate but with less at stake. Now, I’m a 27-year-old biomedical scientist raising a 2-year-old son, trying to process my rage at what’s happening while figuring out how to protect his future.
I’m watching people who have no business making decisions about our lives – people with a fraction of the education and experience needed to understand the ramifications of their actions – reshape our country in frightening ways.
A dream under threat
Since I was 7 or 8 years old, my dream has been to work in medicine and science. Initially drawn to oncology because of the experience of a relative, I discovered in college my fascination with life at the microscopic and molecular level. Since then I’ve dedicated my entire being to understanding the specific, tiny mechanisms that make our massive biological systems function. The laboratory has always been my sanctuary—a place where evidence matters, where truth isn’t subjective, and where our collective work advances human health and understanding. Science isn’t just my career; it’s the foundation of modern society’s progress. That’s why what’s happening now cuts so deeply.
My concerns aren’t hypothetical. In just the first months of 2025, the scientific community had already experienced severe disruption, with the Trump administration acting fast to attack science with various funding and policy tactics. The National Institutes of Health has dramatically cut research funding, terminating or freezing over 2,000 grants worth billions in unspent funds. The administration also attempted to slash indirect cost reimbursements to universities to just 15%—down from negotiated rates averaging 28-50%—which would have cut billions from university budgets before being blocked by federal courts. This policy change has “rattled academia more” than any other recent development, threatening the foundation of scientific advancement in America. Thousands of employees at agencies like the NIH, CDC, NSF, and EPA have received termination notices as part of efforts to reshape the federal workforce.
I’m terrified by the precedent being set by this administration. The blatant rejection of science and fact feels like an assault on everything everyone before me, alongside me, and I, have dedicated our lives to. This administration’s approach to “evidence-based” policy is dismantling decades of progress before our eyes.
Our country seems split between those who recognize the emergence of authoritarian power and those who deny reality, believing every falsehood they’re told. I have family members in the latter group. They seem unable to think critically or form independent opinions, instead regurgitating talking points while flagrantly denying contradictory evidence.
Driving scientists away
The consequences are already visible. A recent Nature poll found that of 1,200 scientists working in the United States who responded, 75% were “considering leaving the country.” European countries are actively launching programs to recruit American scientists, recognizing the opportunity in our crisis—France’s Aix-Marseille University alone received nearly 300 applications for its ‘Safe Place for Science’ program within weeks, while Spain, the Netherlands, and others have launched multimillion-dollar recruitment initiatives. Universities across the U.S. are rescinding PhD admissions offers due to funding uncertainties, potentially creating what critics warn could be “a lost generation of scientists.” This isn’t just about individual careers—it represents a potential collapse of America’s scientific leadership.
This systematic dismantling of America’s scientific enterprise isn’t just about budget cuts—it’s about controlling what knowledge is permitted. Organizations like NOAA have had their climate data removed from public websites, with the entire Climate.gov staff fired and over 2,000 datasets disappearing from data.gov, creating what many describe as an unprecedented assault on evidence-based governance. Recently NIH targeted DEI and LGBTQ+ health research, an action which was ruled by a federal judge to be ‘racial discrimination’ where the ideology was ‘so palpable (this ruling was subsequently overturned in a 5-4 ruling in the Supreme Court). When research can be terminated for ideological reasons in this way, we’ve crossed into dangerous territory that threatens the foundation of our democratic society.
Heartbroken
As a parent, I feel profound guilt for bringing a child into this world.
As a scientist, I’m heartbroken by the setbacks to academia, integrity, and scientific advancement.
Life doesn’t have to be this hard, this painful, this cold and bitter. It doesn’t have to be this cruel and unforgiving. Yet here we are, drawing disturbing parallels to the very dictators this country once proudly stood against.
Will fight
I cannot and will not forgive those enabling this path forward. I cannot respect the cowardice of those unwilling to admit their mistake, those failing to set aside pride when others’ lives depend on it. The excuses ring hollow – “this isn’t what I voted for” – when this is precisely what was campaigned on.
As a mother, I will fight with everything I have for my child’s future.
As a scientist, I will stand for research and evidence-based policy.
As a woman, I will defend our rights with every fibre of my being.
And as a scientist and a mother, I refuse to remain silent as truth itself becomes a political battleground. I stand with the thousands of researchers across the globe who are fighting to preserve America’s scientific leadership, organizing protests, filing lawsuits, and making their voices heard. Scientific inquiry cannot thrive under authoritarianism, and I will not allow my child to inherit a world where evidence and facts are subservient to ideology.
History never remembers authoritarians kindly, and I refuse to be found on the wrong side of history. We have discovered that rock bottom does in fact have a basement and the Trump administration seems hell bent on making a home out of it. The world needs to understand what’s happening here, to bear witness, and to support those fighting to preserve democracy and human dignity in America.
With urgent concern and determination,
Jo March*
A Mother, Scientist, and Citizen of the US in the state of East Flororado
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* An assumed name
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