The McClintock Letters

Once your letter has been published, please share it with us here!

You can sign up here to join the initiative and get our updates.

Thank you to everyone who has participated so far – view published McClintock Letters here. Contact us or join the Slack group if you are having trouble writing or getting published. Don’t give up!

Important Guidelines

Your letter to the editor / op-ed for your local hometown paper should generally cover:

  • Your research as a next-generation scientist,
  • Its broader impacts,
  • How research in your field generally impacts the local community
  • How the local community impacted your journey to science, and
  • A call for action
    • Please refer readers to our Locals Supporting Science Pledge by including “tiny.cc/sciencepledge” in your article; also can encourage local science engagement, contacting congresspeople, etc.

Please select a local newspaper that distributes to your hometown or a town of significance to you. We encourage you seek free editing services available through our McClintock Letters Slack group, found here.

Visit the Published McClintock Letters page to view example pieces.

Here is a quick tips guide for writing your McClintock Letter piece and some resources and another guide compiled from a recent workshop. You can also check out our FAQ and some resources regarding federal research funding data, even down to congressional district or institution, and the impact of federal health research funds, and please don’t hesitate to contact us with questions at ibd5@cornell.edu or eks88@cornell.edu or SNAPscipolorg@gmail.com.

This initiative was recently featured in Forbes (twice), The New York Times, NBC News, Science, Cornell Chronicle, and the Ithaca Voice!

Objective and Scope

Federal funding for scientific research is under unprecedented threat. But how the public responds to this threat depends on the stories they hear, and who they hear them from. Unfortunately, local communities rarely get to connect with the scientists whose work their tax dollars support. Direct communication is how we continue to foster trust between the scientific community and the public who fund us. All over the country, fascinating, valuable research that pushes the boundaries of human knowledge is being conducted by an incredible diversity of scientists, and the public deserves to know about it. This is where you come in. To increase public awareness of the value of federally-funded research being done across the United States, sign up now to participate in this nationwide science communication project, the McClintock Letters Initiative.

This initiative, organized by 20+ grad groups across the U.S., along with Cornell Advancing Science and Policy Club (ASAP) and Science Homecoming, encourages scientists to write opinion pieces for their hometown newspapers – sharing what their research is about, why it matters, and why science is worth investing in. Our goal is to simultaneously publish over 1,000 op-eds across the country the week of June 16th – Nobel Prize-awarded geneticist Barbara McClintock’s birthday. To contextualize, 1,000 articles will reach an estimated 8 million people who otherwise may not hear from scientists. Visit our FAQ for more information and sign up now to write a McClintock Letter about your research and its importance.

This project is not limited to federally funded researchers, or to grad students, as we need the voices of all scientists speaking to their communities.

These pieces will be accompanied by reporting in national media and an open letter from early career researchers regarding the vital nature of public funding to our personal and national futures and what is at stake if this funding is lost. Thus, the scope of these pieces should be restricted to your research as a scientist and its broader impacts, how research in your field generally impacts the local community, and how the local community played a role in shaping you as a scientist.

It is crucial that we improve the general public’s understanding of how scientific research contributes to their everyday health and wealth. And we want to highlight the importance of your research through the voice of the person doing it: YOU!

Why June 16th?

Barbara McClintock was the first American woman to win an unshared Nobel Prize in the sciences. She spoke about the obstacles being a woman presented in her career and how being a woman, and thus an outsider, allowed her to view her work with a different perspective than the men around her and make observations that they couldn’t. Her discoveries in the maize model system transformed our understanding of genetics and enabled innovations in the field that revolutionized everything from plant breeding to life-changing gene therapies in humans that have the potential to eliminate deadly heritable conditions. Her story exemplifies how unique perspectives can accelerate STEM research, and her work exemplifies the value of basic science. Both of these concepts are under threat today, making Barbara the perfect figurehead to represent this effort.

Dr. McClintock also served on a committee to promote Science Foundation Legislation, encouraging the establishment of the National Science Foundation, meaning part of her legacy is being threatened by recent government actions and budget cuts.