Ellen Peters

New job 🚨:

Our #SCIMaP (scienceimpacts.org) team is searching for a Research Communications and Media Outreach Specialist to facilitate public engagement related to federal investment in science and health research.

Application review starts Oct 10:
umd.wd1.myworkdayjobs.com/en-US/UMCP/j...

NSF invests in science, technology, and education in all 50 states. Cutting it this much will cause substantial losses to communities around the US

Trump's moves against media outlets mirror authoritarian approaches to silencing dissent Since taking office in January, President Donald Trump has waged an aggressive campaign against the media unlike any in modern U.S. history, making moves similar to those of authoritarian leaders that...

“What we’re seeing is an unprecedented attempt to silence disfavored speech by the government,” said Brendan Nyhan, a political scientist at Dartmouth College. “Donald Trump is trying to dictate what Americans can say.” https://to.pbs.org/46AYg7U

Examining the interplay of risk and affect over time Research on the relation between affect and risk perceptions offers two competing perspectives. Decades of research on the affect-heuristic and risk-as-feelings hypotheses situates affect as centra...

Title: Examining the interplay of risk and affect over time

Paper: www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

First 50 copies are free here: www.tandfonline.com/eprint/ARGXV...

Kudos to Dan Chapman for leading the paper! @uoregon.bsky.social

🚨 New in J of Risk Research
💡 Neg affect-risk perc correlated in 6 waves Yr1 COVID consistent w affect heuristic
💡 Affect preceded risk perc btw waves
💡But paths of risk perc to affect were stronger
💡Why? Waves were 2–22 wk apart and strength of affect-risk relation stronger w less time for thinking

It’s hard to make good decisions if you don’t understand numbers.

This numeracy shapes the quality of our daily lives in ways we might not realize.

Many thanks to the American Psychological Association's award-winning podcast: at.apa.org/qz2

#numeracy #math #numbers #decisionmaking #psychology

SCIMaP - Impacts of Federal Cuts to Science and Medical Research View Projected Impact of the FY2026 Budget Cuts to the NIH

The White House FY26 budget proposal slashes NIH funding of medical research and will lead to economic and job losses in community nationwide. Our (updated) #SCIMaP analysis now includes state-level scorecards

Go to scienceimpacts.org/fy26

Click on any state (or House District) to learn more.

SCIMaP - Impacts of Federal Cuts to Science and Medical Research Developed by an interdisciplinary research team, this website shows how funding cuts reduce economic activity and employment nationwide

Longer posts soon on recent exec orders that threaten the vitality of America's research capacity, but wanted to step back and highlight the release of in-depth analyses that directly confront the economic impacts of administration decisions building on viz at scienceimpacts.org

a 🧵

📣 New preprint from the SCIMaP team!

Across three studies, we show that communicating the economic impact of NIH funding cuts—especially with interactive quizzes and maps—decreases approval and motivates action to oppose the cuts, across the political spectrum. 🧵 1/8
osf.io/preprints/ps...

As Trump and his allies in Congress try to gut public funding for PBS, watch this 1971 clip of Rev. Jesse Jackson and the kids of Sesame Street.

This is why we need public broadcasting.

Um, that's not science

We just went to Dishoom but didn't get to play. Now I want to go back!

Experiencing extreme weather events alone isn't enough to drive support for climate policies. People need to believe these events are actually linked to climate change. This is why effective climate communication is so important. Another valuable contribution from the TISP consortium! 👏

Heat Check

Great advice from @americanredcross.bsky.social about what to look for and what to do when temperatures and humidity get high. www.redcross.org/get-help/how... h/t @maibached.bsky.social

Here’s Your Cheat Sheet for Vaccine Recommendations Backed by Science These graphics will guide you through science-based vaccine guidelines for children and adults

Vaccination schedules on the CDC website have already started changing under RFK Jr. So we published a guide to the evidence-based vaccine recommendations in place *before* all 17 members of the advisory panel were abruptly dismissed by the new admin. www.scientificamerican.com/article/see-... 🧪

Economic loss due to NIH budget cuts by congressional district, scienceimpacts.org/fy26

The #SCIMaP team announces a major update: an analysis of the economic impacts of the White House's NIH FY26 budget.

Bottom-line, we estimate $46B in total economic loss, 202K lost jobs, and impacts in communities nationwide.

Interactive map and shareable report:
scienceimpacts.org/fy26

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Update to https://scienceimpacts.org to include terminated grants

Major update to #SCIMaP visualization of impacts of cuts to federally supported health research. Map now includes information on future economic losses (impact of proposed reduction of NIH IDC to 15%) and current economic losses (impact of terminated NIH grants).

scienceimpacts.org

www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/202...

NIH indirect cost cuts will affect the economy and employment Nature Human Behaviour - NIH indirect cost cuts will affect the economy and employment

Joint w/@asinclair.bsky.social and the #SCIMaP team: brief correspondence in @nathumbehav.nature.com on the impact of NIH indirect cost cuts on the economy and employment, impacts that will only worsen given similar proposals for NSF/DOE + overall science proposal.

rdcu.be/eo3Hp

Dan Chapman and Brittany Shoots-Reinhard are also authors but they are not on BlueSky!

The power of numbers in natural hazard communication Challenges and opportunities exist when communicating geohazard risks with numeric evidence. Public innumeracy and experts’ concerns about providing numbers, for example, suggest not showing them. ...

We review pros+cons of communicating geohazard risks w/#s + theory-based strategies: 1) provide #s, 2) make #s manageable, 3) make #s meaningful, and 4) don’t let stories displace #s
www.tandfonline.com/eprint/7AUDR...
@universityoforegon.bsky.social @uosojc.bsky.social
w/ @ashliblow.bsky.social

SCIMaP - Impacts of Federal Cuts to Science and Medical Research Developed by an interdisciplinary research team, this website shows how funding cuts reduce economic activity and employment nationwide

Along with w/joint lead @asinclair.bsky.social, many thanks to the entire #SCIMaP crew, including @malar0ne.bsky.social + Clio Andris + @dcosme.bsky.social + @ellenpeters.bsky.social + @angiefagerlin.bsky.social + @falklab.bsky.social + the software development team.

More via: scienceimpacts.org

Communicating Numeric Risk Information to Patients - PubMed Risk information is increasingly available to health care providers and patients thanks to a growing body of health outcomes research and clinical prediction models. Meanwhile, communicating such info...

Here's the paper, too, pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/40301218/

When doctors skip the numbers, patients may misjudge health risks Experts outline five ways to help patients understand risk estimates — and make better decisions

I've had the privilege of working with two amazing physicians, Drs. Clara Lee and Paul Han, about communicating with patients.
Many thanks to @leilaokahata.bsky.social for her wonderful ability to write press releases, news.uoregon.edu/content/when...

@uosojc.bsky.social @uoregon.bsky.social

A chocolate cake with red and white decorations and lit candles shaped as the number 75. Bold text reads: ‘The NSF Turns 75 Today. What has it done over the past 7 decades?’ The background is a celebratory red with a spray-paint texture.

HAPPY 75th, NSF!

We’re celebrating this milestone by highlighting some of NSF’s most transformative accomplishments—innovations that have shaped our world and continue to drive progress in health, technology, the environment, and beyond.

Read on 🧵(1/11):

Congress needs to block this. This so incredibly detrimental to the health, welfare, and prosperity of the nation.

I'm always surprised when I talk to a younger person about the 3/5th "compromise" how often they think it was a good thing for slaves. As if acknowledging partial humanity was the first step towards emancipation. Rather, it was the most craven part of the constitution. Surrender is right

Your regular reminder that NSF grants built the internet and helped the U.S. dominate tech.

Exclusive: NSF stops awarding new grants and funding existing ones US science funder also plans to screen grant applications for compliance with ‘agency priorities’.

🔔BREAKING🔔

The NSF has frozen all research grant awards—cutting off life-saving science midstream and demanding ideological screenings for future funding.

This is censorship disguised as oversight.

Here’s how you can help us spread the word ➡️🧵(1/3):
www.nature.com/articles/d41...

Trump’s Cuts to Science Funding Could Hurt U.S. Economy, Study Shows Reducing federal support for research and development could cause long-run economic damage and reduce government revenue.

Trump’s Cuts to Science Funding Could Hurt U.S. Economy, Study Shows, www.nytimes.com/2025/04/30/b...