American leadership, domestic prosperity, health, and national security hinge on scientific and technological expertise and innovation.
Today, they are all under threat.
Our Mission
The acts of firing scientists and engineers, freezing federal offices, and erasing key programs diminish the science and technology prowess of the United States.
Our mission is to capture voices, stories, and data that show how terminating federal science and technology workers and programs has resounding impacts at local, state, national, and global levels.
When we lose our scientists and engineers, America loses.
If current actions to fire science and technology workers, erase government data, and eliminate agencies and offices continue, the U.S. will:
Devastate national systems that took decades to build—including health, telecommunications, energy, and many others
Risk the health and prosperity of communities around the country
Destroy pipelines of expertise that empower new generations of Americans to push the frontiers of innovation
Cede global leadership to strategic competitors like China
We seek to assess the health of the U.S. science & technology ecosystem by tracking the impacts of the Administration’s actions.
Who are we?
IMPACTS is a group of alumni of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) Science and Technology Policy Fellowship and the USAID Science for Development Fellowship.
We are scientists and engineers placed in the federal government to provide expertise. Many former fellows continue to serve our nation.
We are passionate about how science and technology (S&T) can impact American lives and inform U.S. policies at home and abroad.
Why track impacts on science & technology specifically?
The U.S. science and engineering ecosystem is the nation’s innovation engine, driving economic growth for Americans. Our scientific and engineering enterprise strengthens national defense and attracts talent from around the world. Federal investment in these fields has been essential for foundational research, lifesaving medical advances, the growth of new technologies, a robust workforce, and widespread benefits of science and technology.
Federal spending on science and engineering directly benefits private companies, educational institutions, and the STEM workforce in every state. Our global S&T leadership is already under attack, particularly in areas critical to national security such as Artificial Intelligence (AI), semiconductors, quantum computing, and biotechnology.
The health, wellness, and prosperity of every American depends on the daily work of federal employees in science and technology programs—from food inspectors and storm forecasters, to experts who detect crop blights, disease outbreaks, and toxic materials. Scientists and engineers are vital in every government agency. Eliminating these crucial experts and S&T programming will have cascading effects.
Our Goals
Our goal is to measure the impacts of the current Administration’s actions on the science & technology ecosystem and the American public, through personal stories and quantitative data.
As an organization, IMPACTS aims to:
1. Collect impact stories from federal employees, contractors, and the general public
2. Capture and quantify the effects of current administration actions
3. Communicate these impact stories and data as broadly as possible
How can I help?
You can help us tell the story of what happens when federal science, engineering, and technology initiatives disappear.
Share any information you have through our IMPACTS Survey—whether it’s a personal experience, relevant data, or an article about an impact.
Help spread the word! Reach out to friends and colleagues and ask them to contribute.
an impact story
The $6.9 billion citrus industry in Florida has faced the growing challenges of crop disease, hurricanes, and increasing production costs.
Recent firings of USDA citrus inspectors and NOAA weather experts who predict and track destructive storms threaten this vital agricultural sector and put 32,000 American jobs at risk.
Our Crops, Our Livelihoods
USDA: U.S. Department of Agriculture
NOAA: National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration
an impact story
Our Health is on the Line
Recent terminations of CDC workers thinned the ranks of outbreak response teams, just as measles spreads to over nine states, H5 bird flu spills over to humans and more than 20 mammalian species, and the U.S. battles one of the worst flu seasons in decades.
CDC: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention