Stand Up for Science 2025

Stand Up for Science is a 501(c)(4) non-profit organization formed in February of 2025 as an endeavor to combat policy changes administered in Donald Trump's second term as president. Stand Up for Science organized the Bethesda Declaration, the EPA Letter of Dissent and the NASA Voyager Declaration.

Stand Up for Science was founded by Colette Delawalla in February of 2025. Amid the first 47 days of Donald Trump's second term, concerns emerged within scientific and medical communities regarding certain policy changes.

The policy changes of concern included: the termination of grants related to transgender research and diversity initiatives at the National Institutes of Health, the review of thousands of National Science Foundation grants containing keywords such as "women" and "diversity", the dismissal of hundreds of probationary employees at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the National Weather Service, a proposed indirect cost cap at the National Institute of Health, attempted closure of facilities housing the Alaska and Hawaii Volcano Observatories, as well as concerns about the withdrawal of the United States from several climate initiatives.

These changes immediately began to affect researchers and their ongoing work, as many were forced to prematurely end their studies. In the wake of mass cancellations of grants and studies, Colette Delawalla determined that an organized response was needed in order to combat the aforementioned policy changes.

Delawalla utilized her vast network to gather early-career scientists and graduate students that collectively expressed frustration at the lack of organized response to recent policies affecting scientific research. In the early stages, members drafted several key objectives beyond broadly opposing the Trump administration's specific policy decisions. These objectives included: the opposition of freezes on scientific grants and the dismissal of government scientists, the advocating for expanded funding for scientific research, calling for the reinstatement of diversity, equity, inclusion, accessibility initiatives within government-funded science, and ultimately, demanding an end to political interference in scientific processes.

On June 9th, 2025, federal employees at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) stood up for the health and safety of the American people and faithful stewardship of public resources by authoring and signing the Bethesda Declaration.

Stand up for Science partnered with the Environmental Protection Agency in order to draft and host the EPA's Declaration of Dissent. Published on June 30th, 2025, the letter publicly accuses Administrator Lee Zeldin’s administration of recklessly undermining the EPA mission in at least the following five ways: exchanging ethics for political favor, ignoring scientific consensus to benefit corporate polluters, reversing EPA's progress in America's most vulnerable communities and dismantling the Office of Research and Development.

On Monday, July 21st, 2025, on the 56th anniversary of the moon landing, NASA employees exercised their expression of Formal Dissent by authoring, signing, and submitting the Voyager Declaration to Interim Administrator Sean Duffy and members of Congress who oversee the management of NASA.