By Catherine O’Riordan, Executive Director of the Ecological Society of America
Earlier this week, I joined nearly 300 participants in Washington, D.C., for the Day of Action to Save NASA Science, organized by the Planetary Society and supported by 20 partner organizations. Representing the Ecological Society of America, Public Affairs staff and I met with congressional offices to discuss the critical role NASA science plays in advancing ecological research and understanding life on Earth.
ESA’s participation was driven by concern over the FY 2026 President’s budget request, which proposes unprecedented cuts to NASA’s Science Mission Directorate — nearly 47% overall, with Earth Science slashed by 53%. These cuts would severely impact programs that provide essential data for ecological research, like Landsat, which offers the longest continuous space-based record of Earth’s land in existence. Landsat data are foundational for monitoring land cover change, forest health, water use and ecosystem dynamics, among a myriad other uses beyond ecology. In the day’s Hill meetings, we drove home the message that the proposed restructuring of the next Landsat mission threatens to disrupt this critical resource.
We also took the opportunity to emphasize the importance of sustained funding for the National Science Foundation (NSF), whose mission complements NASA’s. Together, these agencies support fundamental research that informs policy, conservation efforts and our understanding of the planet’s biomes.
Despite the backdrop of the government shutdown, Hill day participants met with nearly 250 congressional offices, urging lawmakers to reject the proposed cuts. The good news is that the introduced appropriations bills from both the House and Senate largely do that, maintaining steady overall funding for NASA (though the House bill proposes a devastating 23% cut to NSF).
ESA is proud to stand alongside the Planetary Society and our fellow partner organizations in support of science. NASA and NSF are engines of discovery, enabling the data, tools and breakthroughs that help us understand our planet and shape its future. We remain committed to advocating for robust federal support of ecological and Earth science research.
