Louisiana researchers leave labs to rally for science at State Capitol
A crowd of Louisiana scientists gathered Friday at the State Capitol to protest the Trump administration's proposed research funding cuts.
The gathering of over 100 professors, students and other researchers was part of a nationwide 'Stand Up for Science' demonstration, with scientists from across the country walking out of their labs in defense of their profession.
In his first weeks in office, President Donald Trump and his administration have made drastic moves to upend how science is funded. The White House has paused funding for many scientific projects believed to be related to diversity, equity and inclusion and proposed slashing resources for administrative costs related to research funded by the National Institutes of Health.
'[The administration is] throwing the regular conduct of science into chaos, and so it's extraordinarily detrimental,' Ravi Rau, an LSU physics professor of more than 50 years, said in an interview.
The group, some of them clad in long white lab coats, held signs with slogans such as 'Science Makes America Great,' 'Defunding science is defunding the future' and 'Defunding U.S. science gives China the win.' They also sung out chants like 'no science, no future.'
Their protest came with a warning: Any loss of funding for American research would have catastrophic impacts for the United States' global standing and for local economies across the nation.
While the Trump administration's federal funding cuts are largely on pause amid ongoing litigation, universities are preparing for the possibility of major reductions in government research dollars. LSU could lose $12 million if the administration's proposed cut to indirect costs for National Institutes of Health grants are allowed to go into effect and would lose tens of millions more if other agencies followed suit.
Any major loss in federal research funding would ultimately impact the economy, as each dollar spent by universities on research has a ripple effect. One report found each dollar spent on NIH-funded research has an economic impact of $2.46 dollars.
Louisiana universities have active NIH grants worth about $300 million, creating an economic impact for the state of over half a billion dollars. Hundreds of millions of more grant dollars went to hospitals and other organizations in the state.
SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
Loss of federal grants also risks the pipeline that educates graduate students to take jobs in academia and in private industry. Many graduate students, both those seeking master's degrees and Ph.Ds, have their salaries and tuition covered by federal grants, as well as the research they conduct in pursuit of their degree.
'By threatening the sources of research funding, we're harming our own economy, and we're restricting our own workforce,' said Sam Bentley, a geology professor at LSU. 'Most people can agree, regardless of political bend, that sensible economic growth and having a highly trained, successful workforce is really important.'
Brandon Shuck, a professor of geophysics at LSU, warned that the loss of workforce development could impact the oil and gas industry in Louisiana, one of the state's legacy industries.
Offshore drilling involves complex technology, Shuck said, and requires highly-trained scientists like those educated in his department to prevent disasters like the Deepwater Horizon explosion that killed 11 rig workers.
The 2010 accident off the coast of Louisiana was the largest marine oil spill in world history, releasing approximately 134 million gallons of crude into the Gulf of Mexico.
'We learned a lot from that scientifically about why that happened and how we could prevent it,' Shuck said. 'So we need science in order to do these things. And I think if we don't have a steady pipeline of scientists in Louisiana, the state will suffer from that.'
Students at the rally expressed fears their futures are evaporating in the heat Trump is putting on universities.
'I am going to be competing against so many people for the few remaining jobs in a country that has demonstrated a complete lack of respect or regard for the dignity of scientists,' Hodges said.
'It seems that I am swimming upstream against the current, and they just dammed the river,' he added.
While critics have argued federal funding should not go to scientific research that does not have direct applications, the scientists gathered on the steps all agreed that there is no applied research without basic science.
Investing in that research now is necessary for the applied science of the future, Jonathan Snow, a geology professor at LSU, said in an interview at the rally. While the value of basic scientific research may not be readily apparent to the public, scientists are in agreement that this research is necessary for life saving discoveries and other scientific breakthroughs.
'Basic science basically won World War II,' Snow said. 'Basic science drove innovation in all kinds of war-making technologies, from radar to the atomic bomb.'
'None of those were commercial products for before the war … they were all developed out of academic scientific enterprise,' he added.
Beyond the economic impact, protesters raised concerns about how attacks on academia impact the fabric of American society.
Rau, the physics professor, said universities have played a key role throughout history in preserving knowledge necessary for Western Civilization's existence.
Without research and the preservation and dissemination of knowledge, society cannot thrive and may struggle to survive, Rau said.
'They're certainly risking our society,' he said of the Trump administration. 'They're certainly risking our country and its stature within the society.'
SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


The Hill
12 minutes ago
- The Hill
Van Hollen: ‘A big lie' that UN aid for Gaza has been ‘systematically' stolen by Hamas
Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) said Sunday there is no truth to claims that United Nations aid for Palestinians in Gaza has been 'systematically' stolen by Hamas. 'This is a big lie, the claim that when the U.N. organizations were delivering food to Palestinians, civilians, that it was being systematically diverted to Hamas,' Van Hollen told CBS News's Margaret Brennan on 'Face the Nation.' 'I want to say loudly and clearly, this is a big lie,' the Maryland senator added. On Sunday, Trump said Hamas is stealing food that was meant for people in Gaza, saying to reporters on multiple occasions that goods are being stolen as he was pressed on the hunger crisis in the region. Trump, alongside President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen in Turnberry, Scotland, was questioned about his response to the images of starving children in Gaza. 'When I see the children and when I see, especially over the last couple of weeks people are stealing the food, they're stealing the money, they're stealing the money for the food. They're stealing weapons, they're stealing everything,' the president said. 'It's a mess, that whole place is a mess. The Gaza Strip, you know it was given many years ago so they could have peace. That didn't work out too well,' Trump continued. House Speaker Mike Johnson echoed Trump on Sunday's 'Meet the Press' on NBC News. 'This is important to note: Israel, since this war began, has supplied over 94,000 truckloads full of food. It's enough food to feed 2 million people for two years trying to get that into Gaza. But Hamas has stolen the food, a huge amount,' Johnson said. He also criticized 'the system,' calling it 'broken,' adding that beginning tomorrow, the Israeli military will open 'new channels of distribution to get it [food] to those people who are desperately in need.' Former President Obama said on Sunday that 'aid must be permitted to reach people in Gaza.' 'There is no justification for keeping food and water away from civilian families,' the former president added in a post on the social platform X on Sunday.

Boston Globe
12 minutes ago
- Boston Globe
'Relieved': Educators await Trump administration to release $6 billion in frozen funding
Advertisement The Trump administration announced the funding freeze on June 30, a day before the money was supposed to be sent to school districts in both New England and across the nation. It was another move toward the White House's goal to dismantle the Education Department, as President Trump argues that classrooms are teaching left-wing ideology. In Massachusetts, the freeze translated into $108 million withheld, leaving many districts scrambling to ensure they could still provide services during the summer months and the upcoming fall semester, with some cancelling summer programs entirely. In addition to training educators Advertisement Ray Hart, executive director of the Council of the Great City Schools, a nationwide association of urban districts that includes Boston, said in a statement they're 'relieved' about the administration releasing the funds 'for the benefit of schoolchildren throughout our nation.' In Rhode Island, education commissioner Angélica Infante-Green said, 'On behalf of Rhode Island's students, families, and teachers,' it is 'relieved to hear that the congressionally approved education funding is set to be released.' The Education Department 'will begin dispersing funds to states next week,' said Madi Biedermann, a spokesperson for the department, in a statement Friday. Biedermann said the Office of Management and Budget completed its review of the grants and directed the Education Department to release the funding. The move comes after the District of Columbia and 24 states, including Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Maine, 'It is impossible for states to effectively budget for an upcoming school year ... when the president takes the football away from us, like Lucy in a Charlie Brown cartoon,' said Peter Neronha, Rhode Island Attorney General, at a press conference announcing the lawsuit earlier this month. Related : A coalition of school districts and teachers' unions, including the Rhode Island Federation of Teachers and Health Professionals, Susan Collins, a Republican senator from Maine, and Ed Markey, a Democratic senator from Massachusetts, were among the politicians who criticized the freeze and demanded the administration release the money. Advertisement 'Every day that goes by without this education funding hurts our students, educators, and communities,' said Pedro Martinez, Commissioner of the Massachusetts Department for Elementary and Secondary Education, in a statement Thursday. 'We are still recovering from pandemic learning loss, and these federal funds are directly related to improving student academic achievement.' In early July, Governor Maura Healey said in a statement that districts would be forced to lay off staff, delay or cancel programs, and disrupt learning. 'Our schools were promised this funding, and the Trump Administration needs to deliver it,' Healey said. In a survey by the School Superintendents Association, about three-quarters said they would cut academic programs, and half said they would lay off teachers if funding was not restored. In a statement, the executive director of the association, David Schuler, said he was 'pleased' with the news of the funding being released. Some programs saw an immediate, negative impact following the freeze, including the The program, which has operated in Massachusetts since 1966, aims to address the toll on children's education caused by the frequent moves, as students transfer between different school districts or miss school altogether to work alongside their parents. In Springfield, 9-year-old Ery Perez Gutierrez last summer focused on sharpening his academic skills at Advertisement Ery is among hundreds of children in Massachusetts spending the summer at home because of the funding freeze. President Trump had proposed cutting the Migrant Education Program altogether in the next Last year, the grant served 438 students for summer programs statewide, said Emily Hoffman, director of the program in Massachusetts. The loss of the program at Boland Elementary is 'heartbreaking' and a 'huge step backwards,' as students are going without much-needed services, said Lisa Bakowski, the school's principal, who oversaw the program for the past three summers. Bakowski said the children enrolled in the program are among the most vulnerable in the community. Their parents work in the fields all day and often don't speak English. 'It sickens me that it's become a political issue when it really should never have been,' Bakowski said. 'It's about the betterment of humanity and being able to work to assist and provide for pockets of our community that need it.' Related : Other programs targeted in the freeze weren't immediately impacted. The largest grant frozen, known as Advertisement In previous years, Boston Public Schools used the funding to provide additional support for the district's recruitment efforts and educator preparation, including through an intensive 12-month program that prepares aspiring teachers to enter the classroom at no cost to them. Following the freeze announcement, BPS 'identified temporary one-time funding to maintain these efforts, which will continue in Fiscal Year 2026 despite the funding freeze with the hopes that the funding will eventually be available,' a spokesperson said in a statement Thursday. Massachusetts districts received $27 million in fiscal year 2025 for teacher training, with BPS receiving about Marcela Rodrigues can be reached at

Politico
30 minutes ago
- Politico
Ohio State president says he feels 'no pressure' after White House complaints
Carter's comments come shortly after the Trump administration announced the school — of which Vice President JD Vance is an alum — is one of 60 universities it has deemed may have antisemitic practices and policies on campus. Still, Carter said he is 'not feeling a lot of pressure.' 'We know how we acted during the time of the protests. We never had an encampment here at Ohio State,' he said, adding that some students did try to occupy tents in campus but were dispersed. 'I'm confident that as this plays out forward, that we're going to be just fine,' he said. Carter also appeared to agree with Vance's assertions that higher education has started to build a 'reputation' of being 'controlled by left wing foundations.' 'There was this conversation about the potential indoctrination of students, or that institutions were leaning very liberal,' Carter said. 'We as administrators of higher education maybe ought to listen to the American public and say, maybe we haven't always gotten it right. So I'm here to say, here at the Ohio State University, we have paid attention to that.' The Trump administration has been embroiled in battles with universities over hiring and admissions practices for several months. mixed in with complaints about general 'wokeness.' Most notably, the administration threatened to withhold federal funding from Ivy League schools including Harvard and Columbia.