Trump’s administration slashed $3.2 billion from climate research budgets in February 2021 and dismissed 1,200 federal climate staff.
Aparna Shrivastava, a former senior climate official under the Biden team, told scientists the sudden layoffs felt like a punch in a closed fist, leaving many research projects abandoned.
At a July 2024 workshop hosted by the Aspen Global Change Institute, 35 experts drafted a rescue plan that evolved into Climate Reserve, a nonprofit that raised $15 million from private donors and foundations.
The network matches stranded experts with NGOs, universities, and environmental groups, relocating 24 fellows and reviving tools such as EJScreen, the online pollution‑mapping platform that now operates independently.
Climate Reserve’s reach extends beyond the U.S.; projects now map sea‑level rise on Panama’s islands and track greenhouse‑gas emissions in five African countries, though some initiatives remain confidential to shield participants from future federal scrutiny.
The nonprofit plans to secure an additional $10 million in grants by December and is lobbying for a federal climate research bill to prevent similar cuts.