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When Julia Kukulies left Europe to work at the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Boulder, she was excited to build her science career in the United States.
But when the Trump administration took over in 2025, everything changed.
“For the first two years doing my time at NCAR, I was definitely hoping that something would open up so I could stay at NCAR or work at a different institution in the U.S., either at a university or a national lab,” Kukulies said. “…A big factor for me was definitely the change in politics, which made me rethink my decision.”
Kukulies left NCAR this spring and returned to Europe to conduct her research. Austin Harris, a postdoctoral research fellow at NCAR until December, won a grant to fund an NCAR position for himself long-term. But he wasn’t sure whether the funding would actually come through. So when he was offered a faculty position at the University of Oklahoma, he took it.
“It sounded like I might have a job at NCAR long-term, but because there was a lot of uncertainty surrounding federal science, it wasn’t locked in,” he said.
Longmont resident Cyndi Vail Castro was let go from her postdoctoral fellowship at NCAR in January. Since then, she’s been unable to find full-time employment. So, she started a YouTube channel to educate people about socio-hydrology, an area of science dedicated to understanding human-water dynamics and interactions.
“Science is hitting a confusing era right now, and nobody really knows what opportunities there will be in the next few years,” Castro said.
Since December, the National Science Foundation has proposed the sale of Boulder’s NCAR, solicited public comment on how to restructure the organization and sought to remove NCAR from its leadership of the NCAR-Wyoming Supercomputing Center in Wyoming. The University Corporation for Atmospheric Research filed a lawsuit on March 16 to stop these actions aimed at dismantling NCAR, and in June, a federal judge temporarily stopped the NSF from removing NCAR from the supercomputing center.
There are 775 staff across all NCAR locations. In the past year, NCAR’s seen a 6% drop from 826 staff as of last October. NCAR’s staff generally fluctuates by about 4% due to the normal ebb and flow of hires and departures, NCAR spokesperson David Hosansky said. Additionally, NCAR is experiencing more voluntary departures, including an increase in retirements.
“We are not backfilling positions because of budget uncertainty,” Hosansky said. “We have not had large-scale layoffs, but we are being cautious given the constrained budget environment around federal funding.”
Kukulies was hired at NCAR in 2023 on a contract for a postdoctoral position. A postdoctoral position is typically a short-term research position for people who have recently earned a doctoral degree. At NCAR, Kukulies researched high-resolution modeling and new modeling methods to advance weather and climate predictions.
Knowing her contract with NCAR was up in April, Kukulies applied for jobs. She applied for a few faculty positions in the U.S. and was watching NCAR for openings, but there were not many jobs available. So, Kukulies expanded her search to beyond the United States. She’s now a fellow at the University of Reading in England, where she’s pursuing the same research topic, except her research is on weather in Europe instead of America.
As the Trump administration cut billions of dollars in federal funding to scientific research, thousands of scientists in the U.S. have lost their jobs or grants, according to the Associated Press. Universities, institutions and governments around the world are seeing an opportunity to recruit new talent. The “Canada Leads” program is bringing in early-career biomedical researchers, and Australia’s “Global Talent Attraction Program” offers competitive pay and relocation support.
Kukulies said there’s a real concern about the United States losing its scientific talent to other countries. Especially because postdoctoral programs, such as the one she had at NCAR, have a history of attracting people from abroad who then stay in the country and continue to contribute.
“I am an example of this,” Kukulies said. “About two years ago, I was convinced I wanted to spend more time in the U.S. But that changed a lot, and I know that I’m not the only one.”
Part of the reason the U.S. was so strong in science was because of its international talent, she said, attracting researchers and experts from around the world. Now, the U.S. is not as attractive to foreign talent as it used to be, she said.
“It really seems like something bigger is changing now, and maybe other countries — European and also Asian countries that put a lot of resources on research and technology — will advance so that the U.S. will maybe not be the leader anymore,” Kukulies said.
Castro, a socio-hydrologist who was on a postdoctoral fellowship at NCAR, was let go in January. She studied the human element of the water cycle and how humans impact water and green infrastructure.
“I was very shocked and upset, and I was not sure what I was going to do because everything is uncertain right now,” Castro said.
Castro, who lives in Longmont, was unable to find a job working at a nearby university. Because she’s been consistently looking for jobs for years, she knows higher education isn’t hiring like it used to. She was offered several professor jobs in Texas and turned them all down to work at NCAR. Now, her science is not popular with the Trump administration, she said, and there is a lack of jobs for researchers focused on the human element of science.

Castro was a licensed civil engineer for a decade before deciding on a career change to science, so she considered returning to engineering. But during her time at NCAR, she became interested in science communications. She considered writing a book or filming a documentary, but never did, due to the demands of her full-time job.
So when her job at NCAR ended, she felt it was now or never. Castro started a YouTube channel called Rivulay that aims to help people understand their impact on water systems. In her videos, she tells stories about human and water connections all over the world, from the news or from history.
“Seeing the public and political response to science — especially environmental science in the last few years — I thought there was an opportunity to be a voice of reason and someone people could trust,” Castro said.
While there are plenty of people discussing weather, climate and atmospheric science, Castro couldn’t find anyone making videos on YouTube about sociohydrology. There’s a huge social element on how people relate to water, Castro said, and that determines how people conserve it, use it for crops, how people pump and share water and how people store it in reservoirs.
“All these different things stem from the human connection to water,” she said.
The more people who connect with and understand human impact on water can, over time, shape how people as a society manage water, she said, especially as humanity is faced with population growth challenges and climate challenges.
“All of our feelings about water, our actions, how we vote and how we build our homes and eat, all these different things play into how the water moves through the Earth,” Castro said. “I want to bring that awareness to people through interesting stories.”
Harris was a postdoctoral research fellow at NCAR for about two-and-a-half years, from July of 2023 to December. He was researching hurricane evacuation modeling, or the interaction between weather forecast uncertainty and evacuation decisions to see the impact on society.
“I suppose I was one of many people who was wondering if I would have this job and this fellowship for much longer, and if there would be a job after,” Harris said.
During his job search, Harris interviewed for faculty positions across the country and won a federal grant from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to fund an NCAR position for himself long-term. But because it was uncertain whether the funding would come through, he took a job as a faculty member at the University of Oklahoma when he was offered it.
While he’s happy with his job and how everything worked out for him, he still thinks of his former colleagues who remain at NCAR. Especially the early career scientists and postdoctoral researchers, who are trying to figure out where they want to be and what they want to do in their career, long-term.
“From the outside perspective in my new position, it seems like they’ve ridden more and more waves of uncertainty,” Harris said. “I just have a lot of love for the people at NCAR, and I know the people there are doing their best. I think it’s really hard to do science in these kinds of funding landscapes where there’s so much uncertainty for federal funding.”
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