ESA Policy Brief

The Ecological Society of America’s Public Affairs Office, in partnership with ESA’s Governing Board, are closely monitoring the status of federal policy that impacts the ecological science community.

Stay up to date on recent developments with our curated list of policy news headlines and resources for ecologists. And see a running list of ESA’s public statements, correspondence with lawmakers and other public policy positions.

Here are some actions we’ve taken recently:

• June 2: ESA issued an action alert urging members to contact their senators to advocate for FY26 science funding.
• June 3: The Coalition for National Science Funding (of which ESA is a member) issued a statement calling on Congress to reject the massive cuts to NSF proposed in the President’s Budget Request for Fiscal Year 2026.
• June 6: ESA joined 18 other scientific societies in submitting a joint response to a White House Office of Personnel Management (OPM) proposed rule change that would strip tens of thousands of federal workers of traditional civil service protections. Read the comments.
• ESA’s Public Affairs staff are meeting with congressional offices to advocate for federal support for science, reminding lawmakers of the critical research being conducted by government and federally-funded scientists, and its benefits to constituents.
• Recipients of the 2025 Graduate Student Policy Award are sharing their perspectives on science policy and the importance of engaging with decisionmakers — read their posts on our blog.