After an eight-week scientific journey to Antarctica, nearly 40 researchers from across the globe returned this past Thursday. Notably, roughly a quarter of the expedition team was American.
However, a striking detail emerged: the primary research conducted by these American scientists received no funding from the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF), the nation’s foremost supporter of non-medical scientific endeavors. Instead, private foundations largely covered their costs.
Their mode of transport, the icebreaker Araon, is owned by South Korea. This is a significant point, as the U.S. National Science Foundation, under President Trump, decommissioned America’s sole icebreaker dedicated to Antarctic research last year, leaving American polar scientists without their own vessel.
David Holland, a polar scientist from New York University, expressed profound disappointment. Having participated in this expedition, which honed in on Antarctica’s most formidable glacier, he remarked, “I’m used to frustration when working in Antarctica. But disappointment with the NSF is a different thing.” His words underscore a growing sentiment among researchers.
This situation starkly contrasts with just a few years prior, when the NSF collaborated with Britain to fund numerous research trips to the Thwaites Glacier. This glacier, an unstable ice mass the size of Florida, plays a critical role in holding back the vast West Antarctic ice sheet. Scientists are gravely concerned that its potential collapse could trigger a massive influx of ice into the ocean, contributing up to an additional 15 feet to global sea-level rise over the next few centuries.
To accurately predict the future impact on coastal cities, a more profound understanding of the glacier’s melting and disintegration processes is desperately needed.
Under the Trump administration last year, the NSF significantly reduced its grant funding across all scientific disciplines. This was part of a stated effort to cut what the administration deemed ‘wasteful and “woke” spending.’ Specifically, awards for geosciences, a field encompassing Antarctic research, saw a 25% decrease in 2025 compared to the average of the preceding decade.
During the expedition, David Holland, a polar scientist at New York University, was seen celebrating on the deck of the Araon as two of his robot profilers were released into the sea. Another of his robot profilers waited for deployment on the ship’s stern. The Korea Polar Research Institute brought these 38 scientists and engineers from around the world aboard its icebreaker, the Araon, as part of a nine-year campaign to investigate Antarctica’s future in a warming climate.
For many polar scientists, the most significant setbacks were not just funding cuts but also the decommissioning of the U.S. icebreaker, the Nathaniel B. Palmer, and the subsequent abandonment of plans for a new vessel. This leaves American researchers without a dedicated Antarctic ship for the first time in 50 years.
Julie M. Palais, a former director of the NSF’s Antarctic glaciology program, lamented the shift: “In the past, the U.S. was the leader. We invited scientists from other countries to join our field programs to take advantage of our logistics. Now, it is our turn to come begging to other countries, not so much as payback, but hopefully as a way to help us bridge this difficult time in American science.”
Responding to inquiries from The Times, NSF spokesman Mike England asserted the agency’s “commitment to maintaining America’s active and influential presence through a world-leading science program in Antarctica.”
Mr. England detailed that the NSF continues to fund essential upgrades for America’s three aging Antarctic research stations and supports several Thwaites-related projects, primarily focusing on analyzing existing data. Furthermore, he noted that two substitute vessels, the Sikuliaq and the Roger Revelle, are currently accommodating scientists originally slated for the Palmer.
However, these alternatives present limitations: the Sikuliaq is smaller and requires more frequent resupply, while the Revelle is not an icebreaker, restricting its operational range around Antarctica. Mr. England did not clarify how the agency intends to support future oceangoing expeditions.
This year, the Korea Polar Research Institute spearheaded an ambitious mission to Thwaites, bringing 38 scientists and engineers globally aboard its icebreaker, the Araon. This voyage is part of a nine-year initiative to understand Antarctica’s future in a changing climate. Won Sang Lee, the expedition’s chief scientist, was photographed at the drilling camp on the Thwaites Glacier.
Won Sang Lee, the expedition’s chief scientist, stated that this year’s voyage, the second of four planned for Thwaites, incurred costs between $1.5 million and $2 million. While the Institute covered onboard expenses for visiting researchers, such as food and fuel, their equipment and salaries still required external funding.
Dr. Holland had initially sought $2 million from the NSF for his Thwaites projects, which included deploying a fiber-optic cable to capture the first detailed temperature data of the warm ocean water eroding the glacier from beneath. His proposal was denied, leading him to secure a grant from the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, a philanthropy founded by the Intel co-founder and his spouse.
Similarly, glaciologist Chris Pierce from Montana State University and his three-person team received funding from NASA and the G. Unger Vetlesen Foundation to map Thwaites’s fractured internal structure with a specialized helicopter-mounted radar.
Another three-person team from the University of California, Davis, funded by the Korea Polar Research Institute, successfully deployed a robot into the waters surrounding Pine Island Glacier, a rapidly melting neighbor of Thwaites. Romane Bouchard, a master’s student at the University of British Columbia, was part of this team, working near Pine Island Glacier.
Polar geophysicist Jamin Greenbaum presented the NSF with an ambitious proposal for this expedition: to measure the ocean depths within the tight, ice-choked canyons separating the broken fragments of Thwaites Glacier.
These perilous rifts are typically impenetrable by ships due to dense sea ice. However, Dr. Greenbaum and his team innovated a floating platform designed for helicopter deployment. Successful deployment would enable unprecedented data collection beneath previously inaccessible glacial areas, shedding light on how warm ocean currents accelerate ice erosion.
Despite reviewers praising his concept as ‘transformative,’ the NSF rejected his grant application, citing it as ‘too high risk.’
Undeterred, Dr. Greenbaum began piecing together funding from various sources, including the Explorers Club and his institution, the Scripps Institution of Oceanography. He even used personal credit cards for research expenses and relied on donated equipment from other scientists.
Mere weeks before the Araon’s December departure for Antarctica, a lifeline arrived in the form of a $500,000 grant from the Fund for Science and Technology, a philanthropic endeavor backed by the estate of Microsoft co-founder Paul G. Allen. This crucial funding finally allowed Dr. Greenbaum and his team to settle their expenses and commence their vital work.
Researchers were also captured on video preparing to lower a sensor into the sea from the open door of a helicopter. Dr. Greenbaum, a polar geophysicist with the Scripps Institution of Oceanography, was seen examining a laptop screen on the glacier.
Dr. Greenbaum observes that the NSF’s caution predates even the recent budget cuts. He half-jokingly suggested the agency is hesitant to ‘swing for the fences,’ preferring safer, established research paths.
He elaborated that the agency often favors projects with precedents, shying away from higher-risk endeavors. Furthermore, it appears reluctant to support projects extending across multiple field seasons, a common necessity for pioneering research with novel technologies.
In response, NSF spokesman Mr. England reiterated that ‘All NSF-supported projects, including international partnerships, undergo rigorous, merit-based peer review to ensure scientific excellence and responsible stewardship of public resources.’
Despite these domestic challenges, some U.S. scientists believe America’s inherent talent pool will keep it prominent in polar research. This is particularly crucial as China rapidly expands its Antarctic and Arctic footprint, having opened its fifth Antarctic research base in 2024 and planning a sixth by next year. A Chinese team is currently attempting an ambitious drill through nearly 10,000 feet of an Antarctic glacier to study a subglacial lake.
Eric Rignot, a professor of Earth system science at the University of California, Irvine, emphasized, ‘Our pool of researchers, technologies, scientific will, is huge. But we are all stranded on the sidelines right now, which is unbearable and counterproductive.’
Richard Alley, a geosciences professor at Pennsylvania State University, argues that the immense threat of rising sea levels necessitates a far greater investment in Antarctic research.
Dr. Alley concluded, ‘A lot of us have been planning for what is possible with limited funds, rather than developing research plans for what is necessary.’ Siobhán Johnson of the British Antarctic Survey was filmed taking an ice-core sample.