Grace van Deelen

Grace van Deelen, joined Eos in 2023 as a staff writer. She covers all things Earth science and is particularly interested in stories that highlight the intersection of society, the environment, and equity in science. Grace holds a master’s degree from MIT’s Graduate Program in Science Writing and bachelor’s degrees in biology and anthropology from Tufts University.
Posted inResearch & Developments

EPA to Cancel Nearly 800 Environmental Justice Grants

by Grace van Deelen

The EPA plans to cancel 781 grants, almost all focused on environmental justice, according to a court document filed last week.

In Woonasquatucket River Watershed Council v. Department of Agriculture, a coalition of nonprofits is challenging the Trump administration’s freezing of funding from the Biden-era Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) and Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. In the recent court document, Daniel Coogan, an administrator in the Office of Mission Support for the EPA, stated that the agency completed a grant-by-grant review of its awards to ensure that grants aligned with administration priorities. Those that were not aligned were targeted for termination.

Posted inResearch & Developments

U.S. National Climate Assessment Likely Dead After Contract Canceled

by Grace van Deelen

The Trump administration has canceled funding used to coordinate the National Climate Assessment, a major, congressionally mandated U.S. climate change report produced through the U.S. Global Change Research Program (USGCRP).

The National Climate Assessment is published approximately every four years and is the United States’ broadest assessment of current climate change impacts and climate science.

Posted inResearch & Developments

Trump Administration Moves to Weaken PFAS Rules

by Grace van Deelen

President Donald Trump’s EPA is considering a rule that would weaken regulations limiting chemicals harmful to human health in consumer goods, The Guardian reports.

Per- and poly-fluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS, are a group of chemicals added to consumer products, oftentimes for their water- and stain-resistant properties. Exposure to PFAS is known to raise the risk of certain cancers, kidney and liver disease, and complications surrounding reproductive health. The chemicals are omnipresent in everyday life and contaminate drinking water across the United States.

Posted inResearch & Developments

NIH Cancels Climate and Health Research Grants

by Grace van Deelen

The Trump administration’s intentions toward addressing climate change are clear: Federal agencies purged mentions of the climate crisis from their websites and slashed funding for mitigation tools such as the Future Risk Index. Now, those intentions are extending to health research: The National Institutes of Health (NIH) has begun to cancel funding for investigations into the health effects of climate change, and will not financially support new research on the subject, according to ProPublica and Nature.