The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has been targeted in the most recent round of federal firings.
Of the hundreds of NOAA staff who were fired on Thursday, eight were from the Great Lakes Environmental Research Lab in Ann Arbor.
Nicole Rice was a communications specialist at NOAA’s Great Lakes Environmental Research Lab. She said that probationary employees were aware that termination was a possibility, but didn’t know when.
She, along with the lab’s communications department, were fired abruptly after receiving an email from superiors. Without the region’s science communicators, Rice said that the gap in knowledge between scientists and the public will quickly widen; but the federal move will lead to even farther-reaching consequences.
“This is not just a personnel issue. This is going to continue to show impacts day after day, as this administration moves forward with dismantling the government. There are going to be real impacts on communities, on research, and on our ability to predict things that are going to impact human health," said Rice.
One of Rice’s concerns is how these terminations will affect drinking water intake managers. They rely on NOAA’s Great Lakes research to make decisions about drinking water treatment, especially as cyanobacterial bloom season approaches in the spring.
“We’re talking human health. We’re talking lives," she said. "Not having those services available to the public is detrimental to everyone in this region.”
Rice had been a federal employee for thirteen years, and a NOAA employee for ten—but was considered a probationary employee due to a recent promotion. She said that now more than ever, she believes in the mission of NOAA in the Great Lakes region, and will continue to advocate for her coworkers.
“Especially in these times of need during these changes in the administration, I think it’s going to be super, super important that those of us who have the voice who can speak up to take advantage of that time and do so," Rice said.
