Opinion: Why Public Science Funding Matters More Than Ever

Not long ago, I ran into a longtime Fleet Science Center member outside our Giant Dome theater. He had just seen a film about researchers behind the publicly funded James Webb Space Telescope. With tears in his eyes, he hugged me. “We need to make sure every kid in San Diego sees this,” he said. “They need to feel the inspiration that I just felt seeing those scientists’ work.”

While it’s not every day I get a hug for the work we do, I do get to see moments of inspiration daily. Whether it’s the young girl who dragged her father across the gallery to excitedly share her discovery about sound or the mother and son who spent half an hour painstakingly building an 8-foot-tall spiraling tower, I’m privileged to witness the moments when a door opens and they glimpse the physicist, architect or mathematician they will one day become. I’ve seen scientists ignite children’s imaginations by sharing their work and how the latest breakthroughs spark curiosity and determination. In these moments, I feel visceral excitement for the discoveries, cures and industries these young innovators will one day create.

For over 50 years, the Fleet Science Center has been investing in creating these moments, launching the careers of scientists, engineers, and even astronauts. Today, however, our future success is in question.

Recently, we’ve witnessed an alarming attack on science. Despite its overwhelming success in unlocking the secrets of our world, developing advances that improve our lives, and generating unrivaled economic impact, opportunistic interests are deliberately dismantling America’s publicly funded scientific enterprise.

Where once I could see the future of the next generation of thinkers, today I see research terminations, massive funding cuts and the devaluation of expertise. Politicians, pundits and podcasters cynically disparage the motivations of scientists while subordinating research to political “priorities.” I hear the repeated fantasy that corporations will fill the gap as we actively hand over the leadership we spent a century building to other countries, encouraging today’s and tomorrow’s visionaries to go elsewhere.

The damage being done is deep and self-defeating. But the impact, while profound, isn’t just on today’s scientists. When we sideline, ridicule and undermine science; when we invalidate its work to serve political ends; when we replace expertise with allegiance, we send a destructive message to our children: that their aspirations are unsupported, unstable and will go unrewarded.

As public funding erodes, scientists will have fewer resources to engage the next generation. Museums will struggle to create programs without the breakthroughs that inspire our work. Science communication will wither, leaving access to discovery and innovation to only a select few.

The result will be an inspiration gap, a void between our children and the experiences that lead to futures in science. This generational deficit will not just impact individual lives; it will weaken our national capacity for decades to come. When we capriciously cut funding for research and education, we don’t just hurt today’s scientists and educators; we starve tomorrow’s innovators of the inspiration, tools and purpose they need to transform the world.

But it doesn’t have to be this way.

Science is inspirational because it drives us to imagine and build a better world. We must embrace this promise, reject partisan division and choose to invest in our scientific future. We can demand our elected representatives prioritize public research funding and call out those who don’t. We can volunteer, donate and stand with nonprofits that advance the cause. Most importantly, we can celebrate and support the scientists who, undeterred by political hostility, advance our understanding and transform our future.

My encounter outside the Giant Dome theater is a powerful reminder: The connection between all of us and scientific discovery is profound and irreplaceable. By reaffirming our commitment to science by investing in public science and science education, we can ensure that future innovators across San Diego have the inspiration and resources they need to blaze a path into the future.

Because investing in science isn’t just about winning the next Nobel Prize.

It’s about lighting the way for the next generation.