SAVE SCIENCE FUNDING

(Ed. note: This column is part of the McClintock Letters, a collection of letters by scientists in honor of Barbara McClintock, the first American woman to win an unshared Nobel Prize in the sciences for her discoveries in genetics that revolutionized plant breeding and gene therapy.)

Igrew up in Romulus on Cayuga Lake and spent the entirety of my summers on the water. I have fond memories of swimming, fishing, sailing, and wondering what aquatic life dwelt in different parts of the lake. I remember the joy of swimming with bare feet, bewilderment over the speed that zebra mussels invaded the lake, and frustration at having to wear shoes in the water or suffer razor-thin cuts. I thought the lake ecosystem was stable, but zebra mussels taught me otherwise.

These experiences led me to a career in the marine and environmental sciences. Today, I am a professor at a major U.S. research university, where I teach and run a laboratory that studies how the genetics of plants and animals determine how they grow in different environments. My group’s research is used to improve food production and restoration by more informatively matching the genetics of species to the locations where they are grown. My path to becoming a researcher would not have been possible without hard work and federal programs that trained aspiring young scientists. My first job was washing dishes at a winery in Romulus, but I was always on the lookout for bigger challenges. Training programs from the National Science Foundation (NSF) opened new opportunities for me. As an undergraduate I was selected for NSF summer research internships, which helped me to discover an interest in experimentation and mathematical modeling. As a graduate

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student I was awarded a highly competitive NSF fellowship for an independent research project, which allowed me to get advanced training in genetics, scientific diving, statistics, and objectivity.

The federal government is the major source of funds for training the next generation of scientists in our country. But now we are seeing unprecedented cuts to science that are severely impacting the science workforce.

This year, many NSF undergraduate research internships were canceled and NSF graduate fellowships were cut by 50%.

We’re also seeing the firing of federal scientists, the cancellation of research grants, deletion or archival of public data, a severe narrowing of funding opportunities — from 37 fields of science down to five — and the dissolution of entire programs such as the USGS Ecosystems program. These federal actions are causing irreparable damage to U.S. science, the economy, and our global leadership.

Discovery-driven science fuels innovation and the economic impact of these federal actions will be severe. A review of National Science Foundation awards in the Finger Lakes Region since 2010 reveals over $36 million in funding for diverse initiatives that include technology and academic-industry partnerships (battery supply chain, biomanufacturing, microelectronics), environmental health (microplastics in the lakes, agricultural remote sensing, predicting winter storms, lake food webs), and workforce development (machinist training, community research, teaching in rural areas, community college undergraduate research). With federal funding from the U.S.

Department of Agriculture, the former Agricultural Experiment Station (now called Cornell AgriTech) in Geneva provides food security by maintaining thousands of varieties of many fruits and vegetables.

These investments pay off — the Federal Reserve estimated that since 1950, for every taxpayer dollar invested in research the return on investment is between $1.50 and $3 (150% to 300% return). Unfortunately, the presidential budget requests that Congress make enormous cuts to agencies that fund or conduct science — up to 57% for the National Science Foundation.

Investment in science for the Finger Lakes is more important now than ever, as the region is poised to experience another major ecosystem change as the invasive spotted lanternfly — a destroyer of grapevines — makes its way northward. We need training programs that inspire young people to develop solutions by being objective and rigorous.

Public support is needed to secure continued investment in discoveries that fuel innovation and the economy. You can help by signing the Citizens for Science Pledge (tiny.cc/sciencepledge) and by asking Rep.

Claudia Tenney to stop voting for legislation that cuts funding for science. The Finger Lakes can’t afford decades to rebuild a scientific workforce.

Katie Lotterhos grew up in the Finger Lakes area and became interested in science at Romulus Central School and Waterloo High School. She is now an associate professor of Marine and Environmental Science at a U.S. research university and on the Executive Board of the American Society of Naturalists, the oldest scientific society dedicated to the study of ecology and evolution.