Trump DEI order chills science work with Indigenous communities

By Chelsea Harvey | 02/03/2025 06:17 AM EST

President Donald Trump’s purge of diversity initiatives has affected both federal agencies and the institutions they fund.

President Donald Trump speaks to reporters.

President Donald Trump speaks to reporters Friday as he signs executive orders in the Oval Office of the White House. Evan Vucci/AP

The National Center for Atmospheric Research, an institute funded by the National Science Foundation, has closed all its offices engaging in work related to diversity, equity and inclusion — including at least one initiative aimed at encouraging collaborations among Indigenous communities and environmental researchers.

Sometime in the last two weeks, information about the Rising Voices Center for Indigenous and Earth Sciences has disappeared from the website for the nonprofit University Corporation for Atmospheric Research, which manages NCAR.

An archived version of the site, preserved by the Internet Archive, describes the initiative as a community “inviting engagement to nurture collaborations that weave together Indigenous and other Earth sciences, knowledge systems, and traditions.”

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Founded in 2013, the Rising Voices Center was previously administered jointly by NCAR and the Livelihoods Knowledge Exchange Network (LiKEN). A Rising Voices webpage also has disappeared from LIKEN’s website.

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