Happy Thanksgiving!

A message on all we still have to be grateful for

The amazing Christie Wilcox was nice enough to hand me the keys to our newsletter ScienceAdviser for a day. Here’s my Thanksgiving message to our readers.

Still a lot to be grateful for

As we hit the holiday season of one of the most tumultuous years in the history of American science, it would be easy to feel like there’s little to be grateful for. It’s true that science has lost much in the U.S. Crucial research that addresses differences in human outcomes based on demographics has been summarily stopped . Programs that sought to give access to the scientific enterprise to those who have been systematically excluded have been eliminated. New barriers to the ability to bring talent from around the world and a generally corrosive rhetoric towards science threaten to lose a generation of scientific talent. These are all real losses that must be acknowledged and mourned—with the hope that one day they can be recovered.

But there is still much to be grateful for. Over the course of the year, I have been invited to speak at campuses all over the country with a plea to “help cheer us up.” I don’t think of myself as an optimist, but I came to realize that the political situation has made it difficult for information to flow freely, and I can help by giving as much straight talk as possible about what is going on. (Anyone who knows me knows that straight talk is the only thing on the menu.) In the course of these travels, I have been comforted and inspired to see the great research and teaching that is still going on everywhere.

The political discourse—and its coverage in mainstream news outlets—has focused on a handful of mostly elite institutions; a general reader could easily conclude that American science is at a standstill. But getting out into the country tells a very different story. At the great public universities that do most of the research and teaching in the United States—and the private universities that are less in the news—the work forges ahead. And this is because dedicated faculty, staff, and students are keeping calm and carrying on in spite of the noise. These scientists and educators join a long tradition of people who continued to seek the truth even when external forces tried to stop them. It is inspirational to see these folks continue to probe the wonders of nature and create a scientific workforce that will sustain us.

I’m also inspired by the people of the United States who continue to support science. It’s easy to say, based on the political rhetoric, that all support for science has been lost, but surveys show that overall confidence in scientists to act in the best interest of the country remains high. And while the president’s proposed budget had draconian cuts to the science agencies, Congress is attempting to restore those cuts in a bipartisan way. That would only happen if the support from their constituents was strong.

Mary Woolley, the outgoing president of Research!America, has great advice for scientists who struggle with answering a member of the general public that asks about what they do. She says we just need four words: “I work for you.” This is a reminder that ultimately, all of us who work in the scientific enterprise in the U.S. do so thanks to the support of taxpayers. If we can flip the script and make it clear that we’re serving them, support can be strengthened.

Despite all the challenges, it’s an honor and a privilege to do science under the employment of the American people. As we correctly mourn our losses and acknowledge the pain, we should also remain grateful to those who are soldiering on and those whose support makes it possible.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Holden Thorp, Editor-in-Chief, Science