Brandon Jones

Headshot of Brandon Jones

Brandon Jones is the 2023-2024 AGU President. Jones is the Program Director for Education and Broadening Participation in the Geosciences Directorate at the National Science Foundation (NSF), where he oversees programs that focus on early career workforce preparation and diversity.

Throughout his career, Jones has been a champion for increasing DEI in STEM. Jones served 13 years at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), where, among other responsibilities, he led higher education student support programs. In this role, he was also the EPA’s Agency Representative to The White House’s Office of Science, Technology and Policy’s Federal Committee on STEM (FC-STEM).

Trump Administration’s FY27 President’s Budget Request Cannot Go Unanswered 

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House of Reprs

Last Friday, President Trump released the fiscal year 2027 President’s Budget Request. What we are seeing is devastating, and it demands a forceful response.  As our policy team details on The Bridge, this budget is largely a repeat of last year’s proposal, but repetition does not soften the blow. NASA’s Science Mission Directorate is cut by nearly half its budget. The National Science Foundation is losing more than half. NOAA is down nearly 28%. The … Read more

Ignoring Science Weakens Court Decisions: Reinstate Climate Science in the Federal Judicial Center’s Reference Manual

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AGU decries the recent removal of a chapter on climate science from the 2025 4th edition of the Federal Judicial Center’s Reference Manual on Scientific Evidence, particularly at a moment when judges are likely to encounter increasingly complex and critical issues related to climate change.   The Reference Manual on Scientific Evidence is one of the judiciary’s most widely used resources for understanding complex scientific and technical issues. … Read more

AGU Denounces Trump Administration’s Repeal of the EPA Endangerment Finding

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In 1856, American scientist Eunice Foote made history by publishing the first academic paper demonstrating that carbon dioxide traps heat from the Sun, a discovery that laid the foundation for climate science. Over the next 170 years, researchers have tested and built on that insight with the rigor of the scientific method, publishing hundreds of thousands of peer-reviewed studies that have not only affirmed Foote’s original … Read more

AGU statement on U.S. withdrawal from climate and environmental organizations and treaties

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AGU headquarters

The Trump Administration’s announcement that the United States will withdraw from a multitude of international organizations and treaties that support global cooperation on climate and environmental issues is a grievous setback at a moment when the impacts of climate change and environmental degradation are only accelerating and when scientific expertise and collaboration are indispensable to addressing them.   Some of these bodies and treaties form … Read more

Don’t Just Reopen Government. Recommit to Science.

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House of Reprs

The United States has just come through the longest government shutdown in its history—a period of deep uncertainty that exacerbated hardships for the nation.   Some scientists still reported for duty, delivering life-saving forecasts and monitoring hazards without pay. But with labs closed and research halted, the critical work behind those services—modeling, maintenance, and long-term observations—was … Read more

AGU Condemns Threatened Mass Firings of U.S. Federal Workforce During Shutdown

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AGU headquarters

I write to you today outraged on behalf of everyone who depends on a functioning government. Last Wednesday, the U.S. government shut down. Now, the threat of mass firings looms over our federal workforce.  Many of our members are hardworking U.S. federal scientists who have dedicated their careers to serving the public. When federal scientists … Read more

AGU Statement on the U.S. Government Shutdown

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House of Reprs

A government shutdown at any time is devastating for U.S. science and the public it serves. Immobilizing the government halts critical research, disrupts data collection and delays life-saving work on climate, health and natural disasters.   AGU stands firmly against these harmful disruptions and calls on Congress and the Administration to work together in a … Read more

All That’s Gold Does Not Glitter

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At the end of this week, federal agencies will have submitted their plans to the White House outlining implementation of the Administration’s executive order on “Gold Standard Science.” The order and accompanying guidance memo have been met with rightful outrage and grave concern across our Earth and space sciences community.   I am heartened to see … Read more

AGU Board of Directors selects new Executive Director and CEO Janice R. Lachance

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AGU headquarters

The American Geophysical Union (AGU) Board of Directors and Executive Search Committee is pleased to announce AGU’s new Executive Director and CEO is Janice R. Lachance, J.D., Fellow of the American Society of Association Executives (FASAE) and the National Academy of Public Administration. The Board of Directors and the Executive Search Committee believe Janice embodies … Read more