Trump Science Cuts Roil University Labs, Targeting Bird Feeder Research, Ai Literacy Work And More

Ashley Dayer's dream of winning a National Science Foundation grant to pursue discoveries in bird conservation started when she was an early-career professor with an infant in her arms and a shoestring laboratory budget.

Competition is intense for NSF grants, a key source of funding for science research at U.S. universities. It took three failed applications and years of preliminary research before the agency awarded her one.

Then came a Monday email informing Dayer that President Donald Trump's administration was cutting off funding, apparently because the project investigating the role of bird feeders touched on themes of diversity, equity and inclusion.

"I was shocked and saddened," said Dayer, a professor at Virginia Tech's department of fish and wildlife conservation. "We were just at the peak of being able to get our findings together and do all of our analysis. There's a lot of feelings of grief."

Hundreds of other university researchers had their National Science Foundation funding abruptly canceled Friday to comply with Trump's directives to end support of research on diversity, equity and inclusion, as well as the study of misinformation. It's the latest front in Trump's anti-DEI campaign that has also gone after university administrations, medical research and the private sector.