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00:00Vera Kuklina is trying to remain positive.
00:03But the geographer has just received an email that many researchers in the US have been dreading.
00:08Her grant has been cut.
00:10That was shocking, it was concerning about the future,
00:14because my research is almost 100% depends on the National Science Foundation.
00:24In a few weeks, she was meant to head to the Arctic to study indigenous populations
00:29and how they're adapting to global warming,
00:31a topic of research that President Donald Trump is now refusing to fund.
00:36Since his return to the White House,
00:38Trump has sought to reshape higher education in the US,
00:41which he accuses of promoting an ideology that is too progressive.
00:45Among the topics in the firing line, climate studies, research on AIDS and the history of segregation.
00:52As a result, thousands of American researchers have lost their grants or have been laid off.
00:59Protesters have been taking to the streets to defend academic freedom.
01:03Some professors have gone even further, including this philosopher,
01:07who is considering leaving the US.
01:10In a democracy, universities are there to teach the facts.
01:14They're not there to breed patriotism.
01:17It's one reason that I am probably leaving the United States.
01:22Trump is also seeking to cut NASA's budget by around 24%.
01:27The proposed budget would slash science and climate programmes
01:30and prioritise Mars-focused initiatives.
01:33Initiatives that have been pushed by billionaire Trump adviser Elon Musk.
01:3775% of US scientists who responded to a recent poll said they are considering leaving the US
01:45as a result of the disruption sparked by Trump.
01:47They say they are strategicissen,
01:59especially this country one.
02:05It's a team where one Dana previously moved.