From The Opinion Pages

In a powerful opinion piece on The Opinion Pages, Dr. Rebecca Vega Thurber, Director of the Marine Science Institute and Professor of Ecology, Evolution, and Marine Biology at UC Santa Barbara, delivers a compelling warning about the dismantling of the National Science Foundation (NSF) under the Trump Administration.

She opens by highlighting a recent gene-editing breakthrough that saved the life of a child—an achievement built on decades of NSF-funded foundational research in microbiology, genetics, and data science. She emphasizes that such medical and technological advances are possible only because of the NSF’s long-standing commitment to basic science.

Dr. Vega Thurber expresses deep concern over the administration’s decisions to lay off hundreds of NSF employees, freeze new grant funding, cancel nearly $800 million in awarded grants, and propose a 57% budget cut. She argues that these moves will paralyze the NSF’s ability to support the kind of basic research that drives innovation in science and medicine.

She also stresses that the NSF’s impact extends beyond laboratory discoveries—it supports education, infrastructure, public science literacy, and workforce development. Its broad scope has helped make the U.S. a global leader in innovation, from developing the internet to exploring the cosmos.

By undermining the NSF’s core mission and peer-review process, Dr. Vega Thurber warns, the U.S. risks falling behind globally in science, medicine, and technology. She calls for a renewed commitment to the foundational research that has long fueled American progress and global leadership.

The Opinion Pages was created as a non-partisan op-ed platform designed to showcase thoughtful voices from across the political spectrum, including both the Left and the Right. Its target audience includes key thought leaders, lawmakers, and other influential figures shaping public policy. While its primary focus is political commentary, the platform also features pieces on culture, entertainment, sports, and a range of other topics.

The goal of The Opinion Pages is to encourage readers to thoughtfully engage with diverse perspectives and foster a more informed, open-minded public dialogue.