Since its inauguration under President Trump on Jan. 20, 2025, the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) has implemented a series of job and funding cuts on a wide array of federal agencies as an extension of its mission to eliminate waste and diminish the federal deficit. From educational to environmental agencies, DOGE’s mass slashing primarily represents the new administration’s attack on and disdain for the bureaucracy.Â
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the National Institute of Health (NIH), the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) have been at the forefront of the cuts, a crisis that has significantly diminished current national scientific research. However, the occupation dilemma has not been limited to existing staff. University students around the country have also received rescinded job offers and research cancellations as a result of DOGE’s efforts.Â
At the University of Florida, wildlife ecology and conservation majors were greatly impacted by the limitations placed on the U.S Geological Survey (USGS) Wetlands and Aquatic Research Center. One student pursuing her master’s degree in the field reported that her position under a biological scientist for USGS was “pulled” due to the nation’s current political climate. “I had also applied for a different federal job doing lit reviews for zoonotic diseases, and it essentially disappeared,” she claimed.Â
The student additionally disclosed that her former research partner, a probationary worker for the FDA, lost his job following the cuts but was “luckily reinstated.”Â
Another UF student, while personally unaffected, weighed in, arguing that the “uncertainty” of the current job market is the most worrisome. “I would be applying to internships/jobs, not knowing if they would even still be around after I graduated,” she wrote.Â
The student also detailed her friend’s situation, explaining that he received an email from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) urging him to search for backup internship options as the people he would be working under at NOAA were at risk of being fired.
“Watching employees in the National Park Service and other agencies being mass-fired has been really upsetting for us all. I feel like I wake up every day and watch it become harder and harder to get a job in conservation.”