Under Trump, America risks the brain erosion
My grandfather, Samuel Sharp, was a great man. He was born a Jew in Poland, which is – with a huge stroke – in Geneva the day that the Nazis invaded, emptied of their grip.
He arrived in America in 1941, one of about 200,000 European refugees looking for safety and opportunity. After serving in the American army, he joined the Strategic Services Office, the SEOs of the CIA, where he met my grandmother. Together, they devoted themselves to winning allies in World War II.
After the war, he continued his commitment to his adopted mother for decades of teaching international relations at the American University, where he formed generations. After his death, the university established the Samuel Sharp memorial award for creative work in international relations. The award, which is still awarded to this day, is still evidence of its permanent influence.
I have never met my grandfather, since his death before my birth. But his legacy fueled my own aspirations to practice a profession in the academic circles, which eventually prompted me to North Western University, where I was a professor of civil and environmental engineering since 2016.
At the age of adulthood during the race for the human genome sequence. When the transformational force of the human genome project witnessed, it was attracted to molecular biology. My research now focuses on the complex world of microbes, exploring all of the threats posed by daily chemicals and the ability of revolutionary medicines and new technologies.
I traveled a temple of the chances of America. I won a Bachelor and PhD. At that time, I had incredible opportunities to explore the world-first as a coach funded by the National Science Foundation in Japan and then as the Volibright researcher in France. However, the United States has always felt the most natural habitat in my career. After all, America was a world leader in science and innovation.
But this leadership is now threatened with the threat of the political decisions taken here at home.
This month, the federal government began to block money from the northern Western researchers. This attack is not an isolated, but the latest in a series of attacks that force me to question my long faith in America’s steadfast commitment to scientific progress and innovative leadership.
After joining Northwestern faculty, he was honored with the NSF Job Award, a very prominent recognition of the leadership capabilities in scientific research. But in February, the program officer who led my request, Karl Rockeen, was launched from NSF – along with thousands of other government employees. Soon after the shooting, Rockeen offered this warning to Newsweek, “There is nothing to ensure that the United States will continue to drive in scientific innovation, and without innovation, talents and resources will flow naturally anywhere.” This statement now feels frightening.
The China’s first initiative in the Trump administration in international scientific exchange, which created a perception that the United States is no longer a welcome place for foreign researchers. These and other procedures contributed to an external flow of researchers from the United States, which resulted in criticizing the door to a decisive pipeline of talents that are needed.
Now, the Trump administration’s second approach is similar to the opening of a myth of extinguishing policies that harm American science. The past three months have been characterized by a crisis. The proposed budget discounts raises the specter of future financing financing significantly, and long -term research projects and countless professions of scientists. Even before freezing the scholarships and current contracts at the University of Colombia on March 7, many institutions, including mines, began to reduce acceptance. We are now forced to cancel some limited offers that we can present to potential students.
The impact on our universities is deep. Graduated students study opportunities abroad – or even completely give up scientific functions. Those who are still pursuing their certificates are a hedge of bets, as they scramble to fulfill their remaining requirements in the event of suddenly canceling their projects or for international students, in the face of the constant threat of deportation.
Severe aggressive measures against prestigious students, universities and Americans who are defending them show alarm bells through the scientific community and anyone who will notice. In fact, those who have means – not only academics – explore citizenship elsewhere, a blatant indication of the decline in confidence in America’s stability and future.
My grandfather, Sam, understood the dangers of political turmoil. I was told that he has a strange ability to identify these types of dark transformations in the world. After all, it was a person formed by them.
Was it possible for America to undermine its intellectual engine, which would alienate the same talent, which historically pushed its success? Where will you find Samz today – those who are looking for a shelter and an opportunity to contribute their mind – foothold?
Without a fixed financing and a welcome environment full of potential collaborators, there is a harsh space here for me and many immigrants and grandchildren of immigrants who worked hard to reach this country. We all poured our energy and thinking about building this nation. If we have to leave, the loss will be invaluable – the contraction of intellectual capital, the scientific leadership and the innovative spirit that has long identified America.
Erica Hartmann is a professor of participation of civil and environmental engineering at Northwestern University, where microbial societies are studying within the built environment.
