Kate Marvel, a climate scientist who spent over a decade at NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies, resigned last month amid restrictions on sharing research findings. She cited the Trump administration’s actions against climate science in her letter. Marvel told Grist that scientists face self-censorship and an exodus of talent from federal roles.
Marvel announced her departure in a letter stating, “I anticipated that our work would be questioned, but only because its implications were politically inconvenient. I never expected that science itself would come under attack.” She left to speak freely about her research on Earth’s changing climate, frustrated by rules barring NASA scientists from discussing findings with the press. Her role focused on studying planetary changes, which she said became impossible under the constraints. Officials at the institute had been evicted from their Columbia University campus home, disrupting collaboration. More than 10,000 science professionals with doctoral degrees have exited the federal workforce since President Trump’s inauguration in January 2025. The administration dissolved the U.S. Global Change Research Program, dismissed nearly 400 authors of the next National Climate Assessment, and repealed the legal basis for federal greenhouse gas regulations. The United States also withdrew from the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, the Paris Agreement, and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Marvel described colleagues resorting to verbal gymnastics, avoiding terms like the “C-word” in grant proposals, with phrases such as “multi-decadal Earth system predictability” surging in use. Researchers self-censor amid unclear guidance, working in isolation post-eviction. Her own grant on solar radiation management effects failed, raising concerns about private actors filling the gap without public oversight. Focusing on carbon-cycle feedbacks, Marvel explained how the biosphere currently absorbs half of human CO2 emissions, but warming forests and oceans may weaken this. She urged early-career scientists to find paths forward, whether staying or leaving, and predicted a backlash: “You’ve pissed off a big mass of nerds,” fueling efforts to rebuild stronger institutions.
