Vanderbilt astrophysicist Kelly Holley‑Bockelmann leaves US for Netherlands

Danny Miller20

This is particularly upsetting to me as someone who majored in Astrophysics and chose my college based on which had the best program. The United States has long been the worldwide leader in the hard sciences. If we lose that edge, the scientific and economic consequences would be incalculable.

Benjamin Husstad-Nedberg13

When loyalty is the only government-approved currency, real competence leaves town. All American experts: Welcome to Europe! Here you find real democracy, less crime, and real humanitarian values.

Jay Mann12

My son is studying Quantum Physics in Germany. I don't see him returning to work.

adamczewski.bsky.social9

Congratulations to 🇳🇱 for recruiting a US star scientist! European countries & research institutions should do (even) more to use the opportunity of Trump’s war on science for attracting top talent! @cramer-bondeau.fr @sustainable2050.bsky.social @claesdevreese.bsky.social @rahmstorf.bsky.social

German Wondering7

Predicted and happening: US bleeding education, research and science capacities. Result of Trump's corrupt and failed policies. It will take decades to recover. #Science

Angie Coiro5

“It’s perfect. After these last few years, I’m just so grateful to be here.” I hear an echo of "anywhere but the US." I literally want to cry. It will be decades before we're whole again, if we ever are.

Nicola Gaston3

Gosh this is a good read. Nothing surprising in it, but detail to illustrate the battles that great academics are increasingly fighting — on behalf of their students, on behalf of science, and for themselves and their families… 💔✊

Shawn Wildermuth2

The Trump induced brain drain is real.

Jacob T. Levy298

Rage-inducing pet peeve: institutional neutrality is NOT NOT NOT any kind of obstacle to standing up for academic freedom, for the research and teaching enterprises, and for a robust research policy environment. I know some lying liars use it as an excuse for that, but they're lying liars.

John Warner241

Infuriating story. And just one example of countless acts of thoughtless destruction, and institutions that failed to protect the freedom and work of their faculty.

Ioannis Ziogas165

I am happy for Prof. Holley-Bockelmann. At the same time, I am sad for America. She is not the only one -- researchers I personally know have moved or are considering relocating abroad. Couple this with fewer incoming int'l grad students and America's brain drain will have a generational impact.

hilzoy135

First of all, this is heartbreaking. About institutional neutrality, though: first, most of the challenges recounted in this article aren’t about Vanderbilt’s response. They’re about the collapsing job prospects of her grad students, funding cuts, foreign students worrying about ICE, etc.

Colette Delawalla, PhD25

This is why @standupforscience.net launched America’s Compact for Higher Education! Read it and SEND IT TO ANY AND ALL HIGHER ED LEADERS HERE: www.standupforscience.net/sufs-compact...

Stan Oklobdzija23

If you act with integrity, you will never look cowardly in retrospect. But perhaps more importantly, you will also never look stupid.

Dan Ancona17

This one made me blind with rage. It’s all just so fucking stupid. Cutting budgets for the coolest shit ever, understanding the foundational structures of the universe, so Elon could get a nice fat tax cut. We are going to make this case to voters in a big way. This is the project.

Nashville Resist 🗳️ Against Authoritarianism17

Ed. note: Vanderbilt University located on West End Ave in Nashville, TN; same school’s hospital gave records on trans kids to Trump goons.

Needhi Bhalla 💅🏽14

“She helped begin a new graduate program for astronomers and raised millions in federal money to recruit American scientists with backgrounds as unlikely as her own, only to watch that pipeline be dismantled piece by piece...For the first time in her life, she didn’t have energy for science.”

David Gorski, MD, PhD119

The damage this administration has done to US science in under two years is a generational catastrophe in that it will take at least a generation to repair; that is, if it can even ever be repaired at all. And don’t even get me started on what this administration has done to biomedical research.

whet moser101

this is what happens when you rail against blue haired elites (hers is dyed purple, close enough) and it wasn’t just conservatives doing it

John Paul98

Losing all of these brilliant, interesting people to countries that welcome them with open arms is both heartbreaking and devastating. All for nothing.

Elizabeth N. Saunders84

Devastating read on the effects of Trump’s war on science and enabling of racism.

Amanda Katz80

Chasing the most accomplished and brilliant and also the most interesting people out of the US is certainly a choice

Microplastics Sommelier58

people should understand that the funding environment in astro & space science has been awful for *decades* already, before the chaos of trump 2. things were not *good* before, we were already squandering a generation of talent in an age where incredible progress was possible.

Jonathan Howard20

I was told that it’s “ridiculous slander” to say Trump is not pro science.

Prof Gavin Yamey MD MPH17

This is an incredibly depressing article, but it’s a must-read, as it demonstrates the grotesque tactics the Trump administration uses to destroy so many extraordinary US scientists

Amateur Expert Opinions16

not even hyperbole, just blunt historical facts, that is exactly same reason why Nazi Germany lost its world-leading edge in science & lost the war they started