Alison Sheets
@alisonsheets.bsky.social
Mother
Weekend warrior
Biomechanics Researcher @Nike
Engineer who made simulations turned experimental scientist
All views my own and not my employers
Weekend warrior
Biomechanics Researcher @Nike
Engineer who made simulations turned experimental scientist
All views my own and not my employers
Reposted by Alison Sheets
I wanted to show support for these brave public servants and to allow others, including the scientific community, to join me. In partnership with @standupforscience.bsky.social, we have a way for you to do that... www.standupforscience.net/bethesda-dec...
Bethesda Declaration — STAND UP FOR SCIENCE
Support NIH Staff Now!
www.standupforscience.net
June 9, 2025 at 12:01 PM
I wanted to show support for these brave public servants and to allow others, including the scientific community, to join me. In partnership with @standupforscience.bsky.social, we have a way for you to do that... www.standupforscience.net/bethesda-dec...
Reposted by Alison Sheets
“Scientific knowledge is, fortunately, a public good, and as such, its benefits transcend international boundaries. But relinquishing its prominence in creating the future is nothing short of devastating for the United States.”
June 6, 2025 at 6:56 PM
“Scientific knowledge is, fortunately, a public good, and as such, its benefits transcend international boundaries. But relinquishing its prominence in creating the future is nothing short of devastating for the United States.”
Reposted by Alison Sheets
“Our calculations suggest that the proposed budgetary cuts to the NIH will create a social cost that is 16 times greater than the savings that the administration is attempting to achieve.”
ITS 👏🏼 BAD 👏🏼 FOR 👏🏼 BUSINESS 👏🏼
ITS 👏🏼 BAD 👏🏼 FOR 👏🏼 BUSINESS 👏🏼
Viewpoint in JAMA details the consequences of the proposed cuts to NIH:
❌15% reduction in new therapies
❌reduction in life expectancy by 83M life years in the US = $8.2T
❌loss of $51B in economic output annually
All to save $20B annually. The math ain't mathin.'
jamanetwork.com/journals/jam...
❌15% reduction in new therapies
❌reduction in life expectancy by 83M life years in the US = $8.2T
❌loss of $51B in economic output annually
All to save $20B annually. The math ain't mathin.'
jamanetwork.com/journals/jam...
Cutting the NIH—The $8 Trillion Health Care Catastrophe
This JAMA Forum discusses the recent budget cuts to National Institutes of Health (NIH), the effects of these cuts on scientific research and health of individuals in the US, and the prospects for cha...
jamanetwork.com
May 31, 2025 at 11:22 AM
“Our calculations suggest that the proposed budgetary cuts to the NIH will create a social cost that is 16 times greater than the savings that the administration is attempting to achieve.”
ITS 👏🏼 BAD 👏🏼 FOR 👏🏼 BUSINESS 👏🏼
ITS 👏🏼 BAD 👏🏼 FOR 👏🏼 BUSINESS 👏🏼
If you care about the prosperity and safety that the US scientific enterprise provides, please reach out to your representatives. This proposed budget isn’t a done deal yet.
🚨🚨 Friday night news drop from National Science Foundation!! 🧪
NSF just released its detailed budget request for next year: nsf-gov-resources.nsf.gov/files/00-NSF...
We knew it was going to be bad...and it lives up. Guts direct NSF support for a **quarter million people**
🧵 on some highlights...
NSF just released its detailed budget request for next year: nsf-gov-resources.nsf.gov/files/00-NSF...
We knew it was going to be bad...and it lives up. Guts direct NSF support for a **quarter million people**
🧵 on some highlights...
May 31, 2025 at 5:34 AM
If you care about the prosperity and safety that the US scientific enterprise provides, please reach out to your representatives. This proposed budget isn’t a done deal yet.
Reposted by Alison Sheets
Scientists,
I am asking us to do something that goes against our nature:
Step away from fine-grained, nuanced arguments. Zoom WAY out. Share the big picture. Don’t soften the seriousness of this moment with “xxx may be ok in xxx circumstances” talk.
It’s uncomfortable AND necessary.
I am asking us to do something that goes against our nature:
Step away from fine-grained, nuanced arguments. Zoom WAY out. Share the big picture. Don’t soften the seriousness of this moment with “xxx may be ok in xxx circumstances” talk.
It’s uncomfortable AND necessary.
May 25, 2025 at 3:49 PM
Scientists,
I am asking us to do something that goes against our nature:
Step away from fine-grained, nuanced arguments. Zoom WAY out. Share the big picture. Don’t soften the seriousness of this moment with “xxx may be ok in xxx circumstances” talk.
It’s uncomfortable AND necessary.
I am asking us to do something that goes against our nature:
Step away from fine-grained, nuanced arguments. Zoom WAY out. Share the big picture. Don’t soften the seriousness of this moment with “xxx may be ok in xxx circumstances” talk.
It’s uncomfortable AND necessary.
Reposted by Alison Sheets
I testified to a Senate committee about this in 2017 arguing that science is humanity's most important long-term investment. The goal of the reform movement is to identifying friction that interferes with making the most out of that investment.
My remarks: osf.io/preprints/os...
My remarks: osf.io/preprints/os...
OSF
osf.io
May 24, 2025 at 11:47 AM
I testified to a Senate committee about this in 2017 arguing that science is humanity's most important long-term investment. The goal of the reform movement is to identifying friction that interferes with making the most out of that investment.
My remarks: osf.io/preprints/os...
My remarks: osf.io/preprints/os...
Reposted by Alison Sheets
The Trump administration just dropped an executive order, "Restoring Gold Standard Science" and there's lots to unpack. This EO reveals more about how the Administration will approach scientific integrity and science in regulatory contexts. Some initial thoughts. 🧵
www.whitehouse.gov/presidential...
www.whitehouse.gov/presidential...
Restoring Gold Standard Science
By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, including section 7301 of title 5, United
www.whitehouse.gov
May 23, 2025 at 11:01 PM
The Trump administration just dropped an executive order, "Restoring Gold Standard Science" and there's lots to unpack. This EO reveals more about how the Administration will approach scientific integrity and science in regulatory contexts. Some initial thoughts. 🧵
www.whitehouse.gov/presidential...
www.whitehouse.gov/presidential...
Reposted by Alison Sheets
““What you are feeling is the disconnect between seeing that systems are failing, that things aren’t working … and yet the institutions and the people in power just are, like, ignoring it and pretending everything is going to go on the way that it has,””
www.theguardian.com/wellness/ng-...
www.theguardian.com/wellness/ng-...
Systems are crumbling - but daily life continues. The dissonance is real
If everything feels broken but strangely normal, the Soviet-era concept of hypernormalization can help
www.theguardian.com
May 23, 2025 at 3:21 AM
““What you are feeling is the disconnect between seeing that systems are failing, that things aren’t working … and yet the institutions and the people in power just are, like, ignoring it and pretending everything is going to go on the way that it has,””
www.theguardian.com/wellness/ng-...
www.theguardian.com/wellness/ng-...
Reposted by Alison Sheets
people need to internalize, very quickly, that federal research grants are a hypercompetitive contracting process not charity, and that what Uncle Sam gets in return for that money is American dominance in the future
May 18, 2025 at 3:31 AM
people need to internalize, very quickly, that federal research grants are a hypercompetitive contracting process not charity, and that what Uncle Sam gets in return for that money is American dominance in the future
Reposted by Alison Sheets
LISTEN TO ME. *NOW* IS THE TIME TO CALL YOUR REP AND SENATORS. NO MATTER WHO YOU ARE, WHAT YOU DO, OR WHERE IN THE US YOU LIVE. I'M HERE BEGGING YOU.
#SaveNSF
Here are your talking points:
democrats-science.house.gov/imo/media/do...
#SaveNSF
Here are your talking points:
democrats-science.house.gov/imo/media/do...
democrats-science.house.gov
May 9, 2025 at 2:09 AM
LISTEN TO ME. *NOW* IS THE TIME TO CALL YOUR REP AND SENATORS. NO MATTER WHO YOU ARE, WHAT YOU DO, OR WHERE IN THE US YOU LIVE. I'M HERE BEGGING YOU.
#SaveNSF
Here are your talking points:
democrats-science.house.gov/imo/media/do...
#SaveNSF
Here are your talking points:
democrats-science.house.gov/imo/media/do...
Reposted by Alison Sheets
We need you--every single one of you-- in the US to stand up, right now, and fight for NSF, NIH, USGS, NASA, USDA. Agencies Congress empowered to serve the public with impactful science and innovation. This is not a drill. This is our last stand. After this, there will be nothing left to fight for.
May 9, 2025 at 3:50 AM
We need you--every single one of you-- in the US to stand up, right now, and fight for NSF, NIH, USGS, NASA, USDA. Agencies Congress empowered to serve the public with impactful science and innovation. This is not a drill. This is our last stand. After this, there will be nothing left to fight for.
Reposted by Alison Sheets
I grew up believing that we had learned the lessons of the German poem and Martin Luther King Jr's speeches. We would all speak out if we saw democracy threatened and the rule of law under attack.
I will always speak out against wrong. I will always stand up for democracy. I will not back down.
I will always speak out against wrong. I will always stand up for democracy. I will not back down.
May 6, 2025 at 1:24 AM
I grew up believing that we had learned the lessons of the German poem and Martin Luther King Jr's speeches. We would all speak out if we saw democracy threatened and the rule of law under attack.
I will always speak out against wrong. I will always stand up for democracy. I will not back down.
I will always speak out against wrong. I will always stand up for democracy. I will not back down.
Reposted by Alison Sheets
The majority of people —56% in the US!—are worried about climate change, but not activated.
Why not? Most feel helpless, hopeless, and don't know what to do. So more fear won't activate them. Rather, knowing what to do—and being invited to do it—will.
Where to start? With a conversation today. 🧵
Why not? Most feel helpless, hopeless, and don't know what to do. So more fear won't activate them. Rather, knowing what to do—and being invited to do it—will.
Where to start? With a conversation today. 🧵
Activate climate’s ‘silent majority’ to supercharge action, experts say
Making concerned people aware their views are far from alone could unlock the change so urgently needed
www.theguardian.com
April 22, 2025 at 2:37 PM
The majority of people —56% in the US!—are worried about climate change, but not activated.
Why not? Most feel helpless, hopeless, and don't know what to do. So more fear won't activate them. Rather, knowing what to do—and being invited to do it—will.
Where to start? With a conversation today. 🧵
Why not? Most feel helpless, hopeless, and don't know what to do. So more fear won't activate them. Rather, knowing what to do—and being invited to do it—will.
Where to start? With a conversation today. 🧵
“Knowing the world is a group project, and everyone has something to contribute.” From
@mjcrockett.bsky.social.
I couldn’t agree more.
@mjcrockett.bsky.social.
I couldn’t agree more.
Feminist social epistemology teaches us that diversity is a *requirement* for scientific excellence. We need each other to know the world. We need each other to solve the thorny problems that threaten our existence. Knowing the world is a group project, and everyone has something to contribute.
April 2, 2025 at 3:07 AM
“Knowing the world is a group project, and everyone has something to contribute.” From
@mjcrockett.bsky.social.
I couldn’t agree more.
@mjcrockett.bsky.social.
I couldn’t agree more.
Reposted by Alison Sheets
I sincerely think that universities should suspend their productivity standards for scientists and ask them instead to hold town halls in schools, public libraries, museums, shopping malls, and anywhere else and communicate what is being lost with the collapse of the research ecosystem.
“The ecosystem of research and the creation of new knowledge in universities has been so powerful for American prosperity, American freedom, American ingenuity. To have that disrupted by government overreach is a disaster for this country.” —Wesleyan University President Michael Roth on
@msnbc.com
@msnbc.com
March 18, 2025 at 5:05 PM
I sincerely think that universities should suspend their productivity standards for scientists and ask them instead to hold town halls in schools, public libraries, museums, shopping malls, and anywhere else and communicate what is being lost with the collapse of the research ecosystem.
Reposted by Alison Sheets
Nothing will kill more children than the ongoing decimation of CDC, NIH, and USAID work to lift vaccine uptake in the US and world.
Child survival rose 75% in the last 50 years. Vaccines account for 40% of that. Measles vax alone was 60% of the benefit. www.thelancet.com/journals/lan...
Child survival rose 75% in the last 50 years. Vaccines account for 40% of that. Measles vax alone was 60% of the benefit. www.thelancet.com/journals/lan...
Contribution of vaccination to improved survival and health: modelling 50 years of the Expanded Programme on Immunization
Since 1974 substantial gains in childhood survival have occurred in every global region.
We estimate that EPI has provided the single greatest contribution to improved infant
survival over the past 50...
www.thelancet.com
March 13, 2025 at 12:05 PM
Nothing will kill more children than the ongoing decimation of CDC, NIH, and USAID work to lift vaccine uptake in the US and world.
Child survival rose 75% in the last 50 years. Vaccines account for 40% of that. Measles vax alone was 60% of the benefit. www.thelancet.com/journals/lan...
Child survival rose 75% in the last 50 years. Vaccines account for 40% of that. Measles vax alone was 60% of the benefit. www.thelancet.com/journals/lan...
Reposted by Alison Sheets
It’s all so overwhelming. There’s nothing I can do but offer to tell the stories of scientists affected by these actions, cuts and firings. If you want to tell your story for an illustrated portrait, I have here 20 science artists now volunteering - tell your story at bit.ly/faces_of_science.
March 12, 2025 at 3:21 AM
It’s all so overwhelming. There’s nothing I can do but offer to tell the stories of scientists affected by these actions, cuts and firings. If you want to tell your story for an illustrated portrait, I have here 20 science artists now volunteering - tell your story at bit.ly/faces_of_science.
Reposted by Alison Sheets
The abolishment of the Department of Education & the continued reckless defunding of public education is a clear path to setting America back in technology, innovation, & competitiveness. Congress can & must stand up for the American people & stop the destruction of our federal education system.
8/
8/
March 6, 2025 at 5:08 PM
The abolishment of the Department of Education & the continued reckless defunding of public education is a clear path to setting America back in technology, innovation, & competitiveness. Congress can & must stand up for the American people & stop the destruction of our federal education system.
8/
8/
Reposted by Alison Sheets
We are experiencing an assault on science unparalleled by anything I’ve seen in my life. It’s not one issue or another anymore, the entire institution is under attack by the most powerful individuals in the country.
This Friday, where will you be?
standupforscience2025.org
This Friday, where will you be?
standupforscience2025.org
March 2, 2025 at 4:27 PM
We are experiencing an assault on science unparalleled by anything I’ve seen in my life. It’s not one issue or another anymore, the entire institution is under attack by the most powerful individuals in the country.
This Friday, where will you be?
standupforscience2025.org
This Friday, where will you be?
standupforscience2025.org
Reposted by Alison Sheets
If you have experienced direct harm to your work/lab/job due to recent changes at US NSF, & are willing to share this on behalf of the Am. Society of Naturalists and NSF, please DM/ email me ASAP (this is time-sensitive) or submit story here sites.google.com/view/scienti...
Please share widely
Please share widely
Scientists' Stories - How to Contribute
How to contribute a Story
sites.google.com
March 2, 2025 at 6:24 PM
If you have experienced direct harm to your work/lab/job due to recent changes at US NSF, & are willing to share this on behalf of the Am. Society of Naturalists and NSF, please DM/ email me ASAP (this is time-sensitive) or submit story here sites.google.com/view/scienti...
Please share widely
Please share widely
Reposted by Alison Sheets
I made this the other night while procrastinating, mainly because I thought all the posts about the blackout were boring. It feels like there is momentum bringing people together!
February 27, 2025 at 1:39 AM
I made this the other night while procrastinating, mainly because I thought all the posts about the blackout were boring. It feels like there is momentum bringing people together!
Reposted by Alison Sheets
US President Donald Trump is taking a wrecking ball to science and to international institutions. The global research community must take a stand against these attacks.
https://go.nature.com/4kd1vIu
https://go.nature.com/4kd1vIu
Trump 2.0: an assault on science anywhere is an assault on science everywhere
US President Donald Trump is taking a wrecking ball to science and to international institutions. The global research community must take a stand against these attacks.
go.nature.com
February 25, 2025 at 9:53 PM
US President Donald Trump is taking a wrecking ball to science and to international institutions. The global research community must take a stand against these attacks.
https://go.nature.com/4kd1vIu
https://go.nature.com/4kd1vIu
Reposted by Alison Sheets
Briefly putting on my hat as @asn-amnat.bsky.social President: The ASN Council has just distributed an updated message to the American Society of Naturalists members with information about actions that can be undertaken to advocate for science, and scientists, within the US:
February 26, 2025 at 1:56 AM
Briefly putting on my hat as @asn-amnat.bsky.social President: The ASN Council has just distributed an updated message to the American Society of Naturalists members with information about actions that can be undertaken to advocate for science, and scientists, within the US:
Reposted by Alison Sheets
Hi! We're Skype a Scientist! We're a free program that matches scientists with classrooms, scout troops, libraries, & other groups for Q&As all about science.
Get matched with a scientist for a virtual conversation! We have 30+ types of scientist & match weekly.
www.skypeascientist.com/sign-up.html
Get matched with a scientist for a virtual conversation! We have 30+ types of scientist & match weekly.
www.skypeascientist.com/sign-up.html
February 26, 2025 at 3:04 AM
Hi! We're Skype a Scientist! We're a free program that matches scientists with classrooms, scout troops, libraries, & other groups for Q&As all about science.
Get matched with a scientist for a virtual conversation! We have 30+ types of scientist & match weekly.
www.skypeascientist.com/sign-up.html
Get matched with a scientist for a virtual conversation! We have 30+ types of scientist & match weekly.
www.skypeascientist.com/sign-up.html
Reposted by Alison Sheets
For decades, the US government has painstakingly kept American science #1 globally—and every facet of American life has improved because of it. The internet? Flu shot? Ozempic? All grew out of federally-funded research. Now all that's being dismantled. 1/ www.technologyreview.com/2025/02/21/1...
The foundations of America’s prosperity are being dismantled
Federal scientists warn that Americans could feel the effects of the new administration's devastating cuts for decades to come
www.technologyreview.com
February 21, 2025 at 1:01 PM
For decades, the US government has painstakingly kept American science #1 globally—and every facet of American life has improved because of it. The internet? Flu shot? Ozempic? All grew out of federally-funded research. Now all that's being dismantled. 1/ www.technologyreview.com/2025/02/21/1...