The path forward for science is rarely straightforward—especially in times of funding uncertainty. Yet, by coming together, we can uncover new ways to strengthen our work, partnerships, and resilience.
Last month, AAPS hosted a dynamic community conversation on project resilience, exploring strategies to sustain vital programs during lean funding cycles.
Common Challenges in a Tight Funding Landscape
We shared a pre-event survey in lead up to the event that highlighted shared challenges: maintaining staff capacity, engaging communities, disseminating results, and sustaining infrastructure, equipment, and DEI efforts. Funding uncertainties have amplified these issues, forcing many to rethink how they support their teams and missions.
Learning from Leaders Across the Field
During our “fishbowl” discussion, pre-selected program leaders shared their experiences navigating these pressures:
- Theresa Crimmins (USA National Phenology Network) discussed exploring commercial revenue streams and focusing on core mission elements when faced with funding cuts.
- Julia Byrd (South Atlantic Fisheries Management Council) shared how strategic partnerships helped sustain and grow their citizen science program.
- Sean Kelly (BioBus) emphasized building authentic relationships with individual donors and foundations to create more resilient funding streams.
A broader discussion followed on capacity building and partnerships. We heard about:
- Tough choices related to cutting back on costs, including reducing team size and transitioning program staff to contract roles.
- How a state agency–university partnership built momentum and ongoing project support that extended beyond the initial grant–and the potential gaps state agencies could help fill in some areas.
- Building capacity through university-based internships at an environmental justice non-profit.
- The potential role of community foundations in supporting participatory science, and how to align participatory sciences with the mission of these organizations.
- Challenges of asking for financial support from already-engaged project contributors—an issue that resonated with many in the audience.
Collective Needs and Next Steps
We closed the session by asking: What do we need to strengthen project resilience across the field?
Participants called for:
- A shared library of funding tools and resources
- Training and matchmaking opportunities to connect synergistic programs
- Continued advocacy to legitimize participatory science and address policy barriers
AAPS is committed to supporting these next steps. Our engagement platform, AAPS Connect, already provides spaces for sharing opportunities, questions, and collaborations—and we’re expanding access beyond membership soon. Our working groups have also built valuable resource collections on evaluation, law and policy, data quality, and more thanks to community champions who compile them with on-going work needed to keep them up-to-date.
This conversation was just the beginning of AAPS’s exploration of how we can work together to build resilience across participatory science. Look for follow-up discussions at our 2026 virtual conference and on AAPS Connect.
As one participant summed it up:
“Conversations like this are so helpful—building out community sharing and relationships across members.”
