Krystal Vasquez

US air strikes are the latest blow to Venezuela’s decimated science infrastructure Venezuelan scientists are ‘waiting to see’ how damage to the country’s top basic science center will affect its research sector

Earlier this month, a research institute in Venezuela was damaged by US air strikes, marking the latest blow to a research sector already battered by funding and supply shortages.

Read more at @cenmag.bsky.social: cen.acs.org/policy/US-ai...

I'd like to chat with people who have applied for grad school in chem or biochem for fall 2026 for an article in C&EN (@cenmag.bsky.social) about how funding changes in the US are impacting admissions. If this is you, please fill out this form.

forms.office.com/r/5xUxaqEnfX
#chemsky #chemchat

Hope that one day my capable colleagues will have a say in the direction that C&EN is headed. Here we go …

I've been at C&EN for over four years and I can genuinely say our staff is some of the most thoughtful, dedicated people I've ever worked with. With @cenguild.bsky.social, we can make sure we're all supported in our effort to keep putting out our unique brand of high-quality science journalism!

Happy New Years! Here's to making sure that everyone at C&EN---from reporters to copyeditors to production staff---has a voice in the direction of our magazine!

Image with a red, spiked circle and white chemistry flask with a red ampersand in the middle above text that reads, “Chemical & Engineering News is forming a union,” in all caps

We are proud to announce the formation of the Chemical & Engineering News Guild. We represent staffers across the editorial and operations teams at C&EN. 1/6

Trailblazers: Chemists with disabilities rethink how we do science C&EN’s 2025 Trailblazers issue, curated by guest editor Mona Minkara, looks at how chemists can solve problems in new ways

In October 2025, we celebrate the 80th anniversary of National Disability Employment Awareness Month #NDEAM. Meet the 2025 C&EN Trailblazers, chemists with disabilities who rethink how we do science: cen.acs.org/people/profi...

#DisabledInSTEM #chemsky 🧪

The tools we build become the questions we ask Why inclusive design is good for more than access—it expands the boundaries of discovery

"Inclusive design doesn’t just widen participation; it expands the very structure-function relationship of science itself. We all stand to gain from that."

#NDEAM #DisabledInSTEM #chemsky 🧪
cen.acs.org/careers/dive...

Scientists brace for impact of US government shutdown Trump administration’s plan for mass federal layoffs could further disrupt research funding and environmental regulation

We saw big disruptions to science during the 2018-19 shutdown, but this one could bring with it a new threat: further reductions in the federal workforce.

cen.acs.org/policy/resea...

Trailblazers: Chemists with disabilities rethink how we do science C&EN’s 2025 Trailblazers issue, curated by guest editor Mona Minkara, looks at how chemists can solve problems in new ways

I admit that when i started working on this project with @kvasquez.bsky.social, i didn’t think i knew any chemists with disabilities 🧵1/ cen.acs.org/people/profi... @cenmag.bsky.social

Project is live! bsky.app/profile/did:...

The tools we build become the questions we ask Why inclusive design is good for more than access—it expands the boundaries of discovery

"When we design tools that welcome different ways of sensing and thinking, we open new reaction pathways for discovery. Inclusive design doesn’t just widen participation; it expands the very structure-function relationship of science itself."

cen.acs.org/careers/dive...

The tools we build become the questions we ask Why inclusive design is good for more than access—it expands the boundaries of discovery

So many were involved in this project, but I want to give a special shout out our guest editor Mona Minkara!

Mona had a hand in selecting our theme and the 12 Trailblazers featured here. She also wrote a stellar guest essay that I highly encourage you to read: cen.acs.org/careers/dive...

Trailblazers: Chemists with disabilities rethink how we do science C&EN’s 2025 Trailblazers issue, curated by guest editor Mona Minkara, looks at how chemists can solve problems in new ways

These 12 profiles highlight how this year's @cenmag.bsky.social Trailblazers are expanding our knowledge of the molecular world, while not shying away from talking about the struggles that come with having to navigate inaccessible STEM environments.

cen.acs.org/people/profi...

Trailblazers: Chemists with disabilities rethink how we do science C&EN’s 2025 Trailblazers issue, curated by guest editor Mona Minkara, looks at how chemists can solve problems in new ways

It so was hard to imagine having successful career in science as a disabled PhD student that eventually I just left.

Who could have guessed that years later I would help create a magazine issue dedicated to highlighting Trailblazing disabled chemists!

cen.acs.org/people/profi...

#DisabledInSTEM

Trailblazers: Chemists with disabilities rethink how we do science C&EN’s 2025 Trailblazers issue, curated by guest editor Mona Minkara, looks at how chemists can solve problems in new ways

And be sure to read through the rest of the package, ably edited by my colleagues @mannyfoxmorone.bsky.social and @kvasquez.bsky.social, featuring how chemists with disabilities are reimagining the discipline: cen.acs.org/people/profi...

Artur Mylin wears a lab coat and stands for a portrait in an orderly lab space. He stands on one natural leg and one prosthetic leg and holds a cane. An array of flasks, some with stoppers and others without, are on the counter behind him and on the shelves above him. The brown, tiled floor alternates in a pattern of squares, diamonds, and eight-pointed stars.

Artur Mylin was unfazed when his friend called him in the middle of the night to tell him that the war had begun.

Where have I been the past couple months? Working on a project that will feature #DisabledInSTEM chemists who pushing the boundaries of their fields! Can't wait for that to go live Monday!

Until then, I invite you to read about 8 disabled scientists who left a lasting mark on modern chemistry. ⬇️

Photo showing ACS Fall 2025 attendees help glue braille dots into one of the wooden Braille Periodic Tables (around 24 by 36 inches) at the Member Lounge.

Photo showing a ACS Fall 2025 attendee touching one of the wooden Braille Periodic Tables (around 24 by 36 inches) at the Member Lounge.

Close-up photo showing a ACS Fall 2025 attendee touching one of the wooden Braille Periodic Tables (around 24 by 36 inches) at the Member Lounge.

Many hands make light work! At the @acs.org Chemists With Disabilities (CWD) Braille Periodic Table activity at the #ACSFall2025 Member Lounge, over 100 people have helped glue braille dots for element symbols so far. One is almost done! Aiming to finish both Tuesday, so come join us to help out!

Discover the redesigned C&EN online. The site is built to help you stay informed about chemistry, with a streamlined layout, smarter navigation, and curated selections from our editorial team.

Discover the redesigned C&EN online.

The site is built to help you stay informed about chemistry, with a streamlined layout, smarter navigation, and curated selections from our editorial team. cen.acs.org?sc=250723_sc...

Petition for Action As provided under the Lloyd-La Follette Act (5 U.S.C. 7211), the signatories respectfully petition the Committee to: 1. Ensure that NSF employees are shielded from politically motivated firings and protected under merit-based personnel systems. 2. End illegal impoundments of monies appropriated to NSF. 3. Defend the agency from further interference in its peer review process. 4. Demand transparency from OMB, DOGE, and NSF leadership regarding internal employment policies and future agency relocations. 5. Reaffirm NSF’s scientific independence and support for world-class research that advances national prosperity and security. NSF employees are committed to serving the American people through research, education, and innovation. But they cannot do so under fear, censorship, and institutional sabotage. Without immediate oversight and corrective action from Congress, one of our nation’s greatest engines for scientific and technological advancement faces irreversible long-term damage. Put simply, America will forfeit its scientific leadership position to China and other rival nations.

NSF staff release their appeal—slightly different format than the declarations of dissent from EPA/NIH/NASA; a more formal petition to Congress to redress attacks on the agency and its employees. 149 signatories (48 named)
democrats-science.house.gov/imo/media/do...

How the White House is dismantling the heart of US climate policy Gutting the National Climate Assessment is just one way the Trump administration is undermining the legal justification to limit greenhouse gas emissions

Gutting the National Climate Assessment is just one way the Trump administration is undermining the legal justification to limit greenhouse gas emissions. cen.acs.org/environment/... #chemsky 🧪

10 SEC. 542. In making Federal financial assistance, the 11 Department of Commerce, the National Aeronautics and 12 Space Administration, and the National Science Founda13 tion shall continue to apply the negotiated indirect cost 14 rates for Institutions of Higher Education in section 15 200.414 of title 2, Code of Federal Regulations, including 16 with respect to the approval of deviations from negotiated 17 indirect cost rates, to the same extent and in the same 18 manner as such negotiated indirect cost rates were applied 19 in fiscal year 2024: Provided, That none of the funds ap20 propriated in this or prior Commerce, Justice, Science, 21 and Related Agencies Appropriations Acts, or otherwise 22 made available to the Department of Commerce, the Na23 tional Aeronautics and Space Administration, and the Na24 tional Science Foundation may be used to develop, modify, 143 •S 2354 RS 1 or implement changes to such fiscal year 2024 negotiated 2 indirect cost rates.

🧪 For those following indirect rates (not normally an issue with so much drama!):

Senate bill, out today, seeks to block the admin from making abrupt changes to indirect rates at NSF, NASA, and NOAA: www.appropriations.senate.gov/imo/media/do...

I do want to point out that any differences between the House and Senate bill need to be resolved before the budget is signed by the president.

And here's a great thread by @davidimiller.bsky.social breaking down what the House's version says right now: bsky.app/profile/davi...

Table of the NSF STEM education budget. Amounts are in thousands of dollars. STEM education: 1,000,000 Graduate Research Fellowship Program: 285,000 Advanced Technological Education: 75,000 Improving Undergraduate STEM Education [IUSE]: 90,000 Centers for Research Excellence in Science and Technology: 24,000 HBCU—Undergraduate Program: 36,500 IUSE: HSI: 46,500 Tribal Colleges and Universities Program: 16,500 ADVANCE: 18,000 Alliances for Graduate Education and the Professoriate: 8,000 Louis Stokes Alliances for Minority Participation: 49,500 Robert Noyce Teacher Scholarship Program: 67,000 CyberCorps, Scholarships for Service: 63,000 Advancing Informal STEM Learning [AISL]: 60,000 The Committee’s recommendation provides $1,000,000,000 for STEM Education. The recommendation is $172,000,000 below the fiscal year 2025 enacted level.

More on the Senate bill and NSF's FY26 STEM ed budget based on the committee's report: www.appropriations.senate.gov/imo/media/do...

The GRFP + a number of broadening participation programs would maintain current funding levels. The Trump admin's proposal for comparison: cen.acs.org/policy/resea...

And here's the bill text that was approved by the Senate committee: www.appropriations.senate.gov/imo/media/do...

It would give the NSF $1 billion for STEM education.

For comparison:
FY2024: ~$1.2 billion
President's request: $288 million

📰 Save NSF has another newsletter coming out this week. Sign up for our mailing list, so you don't miss out on any important updates or resources.

www.savensf.com/join-our-list

#SaveNSF #stayuptodate

Lawmakers slash US science funding Many federal agencies, except the DOE, brace for cuts until Oct. 1

For even more context, here's a summary of what Congress passed in FY2024: cen.acs.org/policy/resea...

Proposed White House budget would slash science funding Plan called ‘disastrous’ and ‘catastrophic’ by lawmakers and science advocates

For context, here is what the Trump administration requested back in May: cen.acs.org/policy/resea...

From the Senate committee bill summary:

NSF: $9 billion
NASA: $24.9 billion
NOAA: $6.1 billion
NIST: $1.6 billion

www.appropriations.senate.gov/imo/media/do...