Greg Whiting, associate professor at the University of Colorado Boulder, explains technologies that monitor soil and plant health. Photo Credit: Linnea Farnsworth.
By Katherine Stockton-Juárez
The National Science Foundation – the nation’s premier supporter of advancements in science and engineering – celebrated its 75th anniversary on May 10.
Members of the Coalition for National Science Funding (CNSF), including AAU, celebrated this momentous occasion on Capitol Hill through a range of activities, including a showcase of innovative NSF-funded research.
The showcase featured researchers from across the country and was hosted by Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD); it also featured opening remarks by National Science Board member Sudarsanam Babu.
The showcase allowed staff from various Senate and House offices to speak directly with researchers working on a variety of projects in bioengineering, oceanography, quantum technology, artificial intelligence, and other fields funded by the NSF.
For example, researchers from the University of Colorado, Boulder talked to attendees about how NSF funding has allowed them to work with local farmers to develop technologies to monitor soil and plant health. A researcher from the University of California, Irvine talked to Hill staffers about how a small NSF grant led to the creation of two startups and numerous jobs.
CNSF members also engaged members of Congress in more than 75 meetings and held a reception to celebrate the agency’s many successes.
During their meetings with members of Congress, CNSF members shared stories about their NSF-funded research as well as how their work has been affected by recent NSF grant cancellations. (In the past few weeks, the NSF has canceled approximately 1,450 grants, tallying more than $1 billion.)
CNSF members encouraged lawmakers to back strong funding for the NSF in the FY26 appropriations process and emphasized that the United States is at risk of losing all that it has gained through NSF-funded research during the last 75 years due to budget cuts and downsizing.
The CNSF-sponsored congressional reception was hosted by Rep. Jay Obernolte (R-CA) and featured remarks from Rep. Bill Foster (D-IL) and National Science Board member and recipient of the NSF Career Award Aaron Dominguez. The speakers shared their concerns about the proposed budget cuts to NSF and spoke about the importance of science funding for national intelligence, security, and competitiveness. The “most important thing you can do right now is bring students to your representatives,” and to show members of Congress “the real impact of these funding cuts,” said Rep. Foster.
Katherine Stockton-Juárez is government relations and public policy assistant at AAU.