News that the Trump Administration wants to shutter the National Center for Atmospheric Research is leaving a cloud of uncertainty in the Boulder area.
NCAR’s Mesa Laboratory is seen as a global leader in scientific research, is an economic driver and, along with other federal labs, a cultural and educational pillar in Boulder, local officials said.
“We make a huge mistake as a nation if we don’t continue to invest in understanding the evolution of our climate and the impacts that will have on society, let alone the local impacts on our economy,” said Boulder Chamber of Commerce CEO John Tayer.
The Trump Administration has targeted the lab for an alleged “woke” direction for its research on climate change, according to Russ Vought, director of the White House Office of Management and Budget. NCAR’s mission goes well beyond climate change. It’s unclear when NCAR would be shuttered, or if Trump even has the authority to do so. Elected officials decried the move, labeling it as political retaliation.
The Mesa Lab employs about 830 people. Based on current LinkedIn and Lightcast data, the Boulder Chamber of Commerce estimates that between 37 and 440 of those employees live in the Boulder area. Cutting each of those jobs could amount to nearly $49 million in payroll losses, and total direct and indirect impacts on the local economy of $98 million, according to a Boulder Chamber analysis.
“The positive ripple effect of fundamental climate and weather research when it is leveraged by entrepreneurs and companies of all sizes cannot be overstated,” said Dan Powers, executive director for CO-LABS and the Society for Science at User Research Facilities. “We have brilliant technologists who add their capabilities and their ideas to the research from NCAR that results in further important and even lifesaving technologies.”
The city of Boulder estimates that the nearby network of about a dozen research facilities contribute more than $1 billion to Boulder’s economy each year, according to a statement provided to the Daily Camera. The city also estimates that the network of labs have more than 3,500 employees and support 4,000 additional jobs in the city and nearby area.
The city said it was “deeply disturbed” by the administration’s push to dismantle NCAR.
“Our community’s commitment to climate action, science-based decision-making, and public service is grounded in institutions like NCAR and the decades of expertise they represent,” the statement read. “The city will work with our partners to do all we can at local, state, regional and national levels to prevent this from occurring.”
Indivisible Boulder is planning a protest in support of NCAR from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday in front of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration building on South Broadway and Rayleigh Road.
Educational impact
Kevin Trenberth retired from Boulder’s NCAR lab in 2020 after working as a scientist there for 36 years. He continues to write research papers and is now an NCAR distinguished scholar.
NCAR plays a major role for universities across the nation in educating students and providing facilities for research, including at the University of Colorado Boulder.
Students from across the country visit NCAR during the summer and participate in specially designed programs and seminars, Trenberth said, and many doctoral theses are written jointly with NCAR scientists as co-advisers.
“The potential for damage here is huge,” Trenberth said. “And the thing is, it can have very long-lasting effects because it impacts a whole generation of students that are coming up to become the next set of professors and leaders.”
Numerous CU Boulder faculty work closely with NCAR scientists, according to CU Boulder’s website, and about 40 university postdocs and graduate students conduct a majority of their research at NCAR. They collaborate over a wide range of studies related to atmospheric and Earth sciences.
CU Boulder spokesperson Deborah Mendez-Wilson said the university values its longstanding collaboration with NCAR, which spans decades of joint research and innovation.
“Together, CU and NCAR have advanced critical scientific understanding in various weather-related areas affecting our state and nation — work that directly benefits communities around the country and supports national security,” Mendez-Wilson wrote in an email. “NCAR is a national resource with deep-rooted collaborations with institutions across the United States and the world.”