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The Department of Government Efficiency recently terminated a National Science Foundation (NSF) research grant I was awarded as a professor of science education at the University of ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥. The four-year grant would have funded the development of a community-based, justice-oriented science curriculum for grades 3-8 focused on stormwater flooding in New Orleans, a city where residents wrestle with frequent water-related problems caused by sinking infrastructure and the impacts of increasingly frequent and intense hurricanes.

My project was not the only science education research grant that was canceled. According to a Hechinger Report published May 12, over 750 science, mathematics, engineering, and technology (STEM) education research grants, totaling $773,165,249, have been terminated since April 18, 2025. This amounts to over half of all STEM education research grants and three-quarters of NSF’s total STEM education research budget. Overwhelmingly, the terminated grants focused on broadening participation in STEM education to provide equitable access for women, minorities, veterans, and persons with disabilities.

When it established the NSF in 1950, Congress mandated that the NSF fund science (and now STEM) education research to ensure the development of a diverse science workforce and a science-literate public. To meet this goal, the NSF has a long history of funding science education research to produce innovative, evidence-based science curricula; develop pedagogies that engage students and teachers in authentic science practices; and build assessment tools that measure student science learning. This research sets the foundation for improved science teaching and learning in preK-16 schools and informal education settings such as science museums.

Science education research is not flashy. It doesn’t send space probes to bring back dust from asteroids. It doesn’t develop new cancer treatments. It doesn’t build climate adaptation solutions. But it does make all that possible.

Importantly, science education research is critical to preparing the next generation of scientists, such as the scientists at the University of ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥: the people who build giant telescopes to peer into the farthest reaches of the universe, discover how tectonic plates move around the Earth, monitor changing ecosystems and track biodiversity, and figure out how to live sustainably on the planet. Behind every innovative scientist is a science teacher, and behind every effective science teacher is a science education researcher.

However, science education research is about more than creating scientists to advance U.S. global science leadership. Science education research is essential to ensure that all Americans understand basic science concepts and how science works so that they can use science to make informed decisions about their lives, from choosing what food to buy to interpreting weather forecasts to making medical decisions.

Importantly, in a democracy like the United States, science education research is also necessary to maintain a public voice in decisions about where and how science-research dollars are spent. For example, for decades, science ignored the physiology of heart disease in women, believing that it was a condition that affected only men. It wasn’t until public pressure called for more research on heart disease in women that funds were made available to conduct such research, resulting in early detection and treatment options that have saved countless women’s lives.

A more local example of the impact of public participation in democratic science is the toxic chemical spills at the ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥ International Airport that contaminated the groundwater, affecting thousands of city residents who rely on private and municipal wells for their household water supply. A diverse, science-literate citizenry brought the issue to light and demanded investment in science research that has helped clean up the local aquifer.

Science education research builds a strong scientific workforce and creates a science-literate public capable of using science to make personal decisions and participate in civic processes that affect our everyday lives, such as ensuring a safe food and water supply, accessing medical advances, and protecting the environment. Defunding science education research will not lead to government efficiency but will obstruct access to science knowledge and ultimately undermine democratic participation in science. In a time of climate change, pandemics, and misinformation, now, more than ever, we need well-funded science education research.