The National Science Foundation is terminating and suspending grants again, and at Grant Witness we need you to help to track them! 🧪 We can only identify research being suppressed by under-the-radar suspensions directly from researchers. Please report! grant-witness.us/posts/2026-0... #NSF

Scoop: NSF has been quietly blocking new funds and grants to four top universities: Duke, Harvard, Princeton, and Yale. Dozens of proposals from PIs at these universities—and their collaborators—have been stuck at the Office of Award Management awaiting finalization for months.

The US National Science Foundation (NSF) — a major funder of basic research — has restricted the flow of new research grants to a group of elite universities, Nature has learnt. go.nature.com/4ujNnkJ

You may recognize names like "Hantavirus" and "Ebola virus." But "Andes virus" & "Bundibugyo virus" may not ring a bell. I wrote about how recent outbreaks highlight virus diversity, and our difficulty putting names on it. Yet our survival depends getting names right. Gift link: nyti.ms/4dzRPqn

Why exploration and taxonomy matter: viral edition www.nytimes.com/2026/05/27/s...

Scientists are on the verge of identifying local trees that can fight off Dutch elm disease. www.bostonglobe.com/2026/05/25/s...

eDNA from five BC fjords fills biodiversity gaps and reveals where conservation‑priority fish actually use these deep habitats. A globally transferable approach to strengthen marine conservation planning. Full paper: tinyurl.com/4z966xcr @ubcoceans.bsky.social @hakai.org @consletters.bsky.social

Red trillium, very (and correctly) sure of its own handsomeness. Odell Park, Fredericton, New Brunswick.

Evolving nature-based solutions for urban resilience | Science: A wonderful collaboration across ecology, evolution, urban science, and urban design and planning www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

New scenarios needed to address climate crisis www.stockholmresilience.org/research/res... "Right now, many of our global scenarios are effectively asking how to fix the future without really changing the present”-Prof Laura Pereira

Aiding peace or conflict? The impact of USAID cuts on violence www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

Another piece up today! Here’s a first-of-its-kind study quantifying the impacts of insect pollinator loss on human health. 🧪🪲🌏

How can globally networked, interdisciplinary research address climate change, biodiversity loss and resource scarcity? dx.plos.org/10.1371/jour...

Breaking: Congress is pushing back on the Trump administration's termination of National Science Board members, with the House calling for their reinstatement and the Senate asking pointed questions about OMB's political interference. My reporting for @science.org:

In the remote Amazon, locals are saving a giant fish—and helping their villages www.science.org/content/arti...

Most people know Henry David Thoreau as the author of “Walden.” But his groundbreaking scientific work — especially his observations of nature and environmental change — is often overlooked.

NEW: Astronomy crashes into earthly politics. As Trump prepares to meet Xi, the US-China rivalry unfolds in the stars. Argentina quietly halts a radio telescope project with China after US pressure. US officials also pushed Chile on a similar telescope. Gift link: www.nytimes.com/2026/05/10/w...

🧪🔬🌍🧬🌎🔭🌏Contemporary global research cultures: results from a global survey about research conditions f1000research.com/articles/15-...

Ecotech: Ecosystem technology, Harnessing natural processes to address global challenges www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

My colleague @stephseifertphd.bsky.social just published new groundbreaking work on hantaviruses in the United States as part of our shut down @viralemergence.org project. Want to prevent hantavirus outbreaks here? Fund her work. wwwnc.cdc.gov/eid/article/...

OSCE’s Geneva conference on emerging technologies became more than a discussion about AI and quantum computing. It signaled a broader push by Switzerland and OSCE to bring scientific foresight and anticipatory governance into security diplomacy itself. www.thesciencediplomat.com/p/swiss-osce...

Really excited to finally see my new story for @biographic.bsky.social out in the world! www.biographic.com/nearly-half-...

More than a century after colonization nearly eradicated key fish populations around Vancouver, British Columbia, the Tsleil-Waututh Nation is looking to the past to restore the ecosystem. hakaimagazine.com/news/we-knew...

Last week the @biographic.bsky.social team learned that, owing to an ongoing deficit, the California Academy of Sciences will no longer provide us with financial support. We're reaching out to foundations that support environmental journalism. We've got plans, we just need some help!

After 15 years of reporting on infectious disease outbreaks, what continues to fascinate me about them is the challenge of making high-stakes decisions under uncertainty. The hantavirus outbreak on the MV Hondius is a perfect example My story in @science.org is here (and a thread to come): 🧪 #IDsky

I live in an extremely noisy urban area (university students making a ruckus, major road on one side and highway on another, airport and train tracks close enough to shake the house) and yet there are so many birds migrating right now I can hear their call notes above me, despite all that! 286 M!

Water scarcity, desertification and biodiversity loss were among the issues tackled at the Regional Ecological Summit.

Now accepting applications for our 2027 Simons Graduate Fellowships in Ecology and Evolution! These awards support students entering U.S.-based Ph.D. programs to conduct #ecology and #evolution research. Deadline is June 30, 2026: bit.ly/4umYKZd #science

The FY27 budget process begins in earnest as a House panel proposes spending levels for NSF, NASA, NIST, and Census above Trump's request but below current budgets. www.science.org/content/arti...

The Trump administration is downsizing US science by historic margins — but it's not just via funding or workforce cuts. Our new @nature.com analysis reveals the government has cut more than 100 scientific advisory panels across major agencies. w/ @alexwitze.bsky.social @dangaristo.bsky.social

www.sciencediplomacy.org/in-field/202... @lisapalmer.bsky.social @iiasa.ac.at

🐸🌍🧪 Great paper that revisits a site in the Colombian Andes & finds massive losses of amphibian biodiversity: Shifting baselines in amphibian conservation: Historic survey uncovers disease-driven collapse of a once mega-diverse community link.springer.com/article/10.1... #ForensicEcology 🐸

“They are among more than 1,500 biologists, chemists and other experts at the Environmental Protection Agency’s Office of Research and Development who have been laid off, reassigned or pressured to retire. Today, only 124 researchers remain,“ www.nytimes.com/2026/04/27/c...

www.sciencediplomacy.org/in-field/202... @lisapalmer.bsky.social @iiasa.ac.at

🐸🌍🧪 Great paper that revisits a site in the Colombian Andes & finds massive losses of amphibian biodiversity: Shifting baselines in amphibian conservation: Historic survey uncovers disease-driven collapse of a once mega-diverse community link.springer.com/article/10.1... #ForensicEcology 🐸

Could agentic AI topple grant-funding systems? New article in @nature.com by @profgeraintrees.bsky.social & me, with data from 12 funders showing a 57% increase in grant applications since 2022 (& the launch of LLMs) rdcu.be/ffApn @rorinstitute.bsky.social @magdalenaskipper.bsky.social

Big opportunities for researchers 🌍 We are investing nearly €400 million to help researchers share their work and collaborate with the best scientific teams across the EU. The 2026 Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions Postdoctoral Fellowships are now open. More: link.europa.eu/PNxpxw

Vernal pools page spread. From my new book PONDS: An Illustrated Guide. yalebooks.yale.edu/book/9780300... 🧪🌿🌎🪶🐡 #wildlife #scicomm #scientificillustration #visualscicomm #scicomm #ponds #Books #Nature #Naturewriting #naturebooks #naturebookchallenge #booksky #freshwater #wetlands #lakes

Here is @rhettayersbutler.bsky.social 's fine tribute rhettayersbutler.substack.com/p/peter-rave...

One of the more concerning details has to do with NSB being blocked from overseeing and advising NSF, particularly on budget details. cf. reporting in Science www.science.org/content/arti...