Ember McCoy

A neighborhood in River Rouge, Mich. A doctoral student’s grant was canceled because she was studying low-income neighborhoods with high rates of air pollution.

Ember McCoy, a doctoral student at the University of Michigan who studies the politics of air pollution, found out on Monday that her N.S.F. grant was canceled. She did not receive an official reason for the cancellation. But she sensed it was coming, she said, because in the United States, the places with the highest rates of air pollution are low-income neighborhoods and communities of color. Ms. McCoy was planning to use the rest of her grant money to pay community partners in southwest Detroit, with whom she collaborates to conduct research. She also hoped to use the funds to host a public presentation about her research for the community she studies.

This example particularly stood out to me: great way to piss off voters in a swing state is by cancelling grants related to air pollution.

"A doctoral student’s grant was canceled because she was studying low-income neighborhoods with high rates of air pollution."

Michigan Researcher’s Work on Air Pollution and Racial Inequities Caught in Funding Freeze at National Science Foundation - Inside Climate News A doctoral candidate examining air pollution effects in mostly Black and Latino neighborhoods in Detroit was among the wave of researchers who have had federal funds halted.

I talked to @embermcc.bsky.social, one of the hundreds of scientists who had their grant money revoked by NSF. Her research, focused on environmental injustices, and exemplifies what type of research the government is trying to eliminate. @insideclimatenews.org insideclimatenews.org/news/0605202...

I find these articles frustrating because in so far as AI is denigrating academic labor and the learning process (and it is), it’s doing so in a system that was already denigrating academic labor and turning college into a transactional investment.

Proud of you @embermcc.bsky.social! Gift link to NYT article on NSF terminations here: www.nytimes.com/2025/04/22/s...

Live footage of me today:

We also need to talk about the knock-on burdens these grant terminations are creating, for university administrators, students, and PIs, who have to find replacement funds, hop on crisis meetings, figure out how to file appeals, expedite paperwork and reimbursement requests, etc.

Mahmoud Khalil’s Son Arrives After ICE Refuses to Let Him Attend Birth (Gift Article) Mr. Khalil, a permanent resident detained in Louisiana, had requested a monitored furlough for the birth. His request was denied in less than an hour.

NEW: Mahmoud Khalil's wife gave birth to their child without him after ICE denied their request to let him be present.

“This was a purposeful decision by ICE to make me, Mahmoud, and our son suffer,” Dr. Abdalla said. “My son and I should not be navigating his first days on earth without Mahmoud."

This is so depressing: the Trump admin has terminated a grant that was going to reinterview Black Americans from the National Survey of American Life, one of the most important mental health surveys of the 21st century and one that sociologists still use more than 2 decades after data were collected

Here’s a list of some of the grants with amounts listed: bsky.app/profile/etha...

I sent ours! Thanks for collecting these!

I sent ours! Thank you for collecting these!

Does that include downriver communities, e.g. Ecorse, Inkster, River Rouge? The pollutants in that area have been so bad that in years past (not sure how bad it is now), you knew when the wind was out of the SW due to the rotten egg aroma from the smelters.

It does include interviews with folks in Ecorse & River Rouge, too!

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There are some folks (who I can vouch for for whatever that's worth) tracking the terminated NSF grants to facilitate coordinated responses, media coverage, etc:

Form to add a terminated grant: airtable.com/appGKlSVeXni...

Current grants on the list:
airtable.com/appGKlSVeXni...

My PhD student's NSF grant was terminated today. Her dissertation investigates why air pollution monitoring, metrics, and regulations don't properly capture the harms experienced by marginalized communities--esp in the most polluted Detroit neighborhoods. She and I are happy to talk with press etc.

All NIH study sections canceled indefinitely. This will halt science and devastate research budgets in universities.

So excited about this! If you want to help us make a Michigan-based science and tech policy fellowship a reality, see the job posting below (Nov 17 deadline)!

And if you want to apply, stay tuned!! 👀 fordschool.umich.edu/news/2024/st... #scipolicy #techpolicy #altac #policy #michigan

GEOGRAPHERS for JUSTICE in PALESTINE
a pre-AAG workshop
Sunday, March 23, 2025 - Detroit, MI

Please share widely, and sign up for further information below. #geosky

docs.google.com/document/d/e...

Did you leave the #EASST4S2024 presidential plenary session wondering how to put STS in concert with applied policy from the academy (while mentoring students to do the same)? Check out University of Michigan’s Technology Assessment Project or find these folks (unfortunately their panel was Tues).

This article could also be written about Ann Arbor amid the frequent power outages due to DTE’s crumbling infrastructure.

This panel was incredible — I learned so much from my colleagues about this project that I knew about, but didn’t *know* — UM’s Science, Technology & Public Policy program is doing truly remarkable work that engages STS in applied policymaking & transforms early career scholars in the process.

Looking forward to the #EASST #4S conference starting on Tuesday!! Who will be there? I am co-organizing a panel about UM's Technology Assessment Project, Tuesday at 4pm along with @mollyak.bsky.social, Denia Djokić, and Margarita Rodriguez Morales! #STS stpp.fordschool.umich.edu/technology-a...

Also particularly excited about our third session, formatted as a workshop to candidly & collaboratively discuss ‘devices’ in each of our cases.

I’m excited to test out a new draft chapter of mine — where I discuss the strategies that activists deploy to shift authority, domain & data and disrupt scientific/technical epistemologies of environmental exposure in Southwest Detroit #EASST4S2024

Environmental exposure has become a troubling & widespread component of everyday life; but how have our understandings of environmental exposure also *become troubled* by the democratization of epistemologies surrounding it? Join our series Friday at #EASST4S2024 to hear more!

Looking forward to our 3 panels on the Next-Generation Intersections of STS and Public Policy today!! First one is up at 8:30am (then 1:30 and 3:40pm!) Room 313A. Join us!! #4sHonolulu23 #4S2023 #STS