"Meet Jane, a Climate Scientist Who Fled Trump’s Government"

"Worries about science censorship drove her from her post at the Energy Department."

"The day after President Donald Trump’s unexpected victory, Jane Zelikova was 'crying her eyes out' in her office at the U.S. Department of Energy in Washington, D.C. As a scientist researching how big fossil-fuel industries can reduce greenhouse gas emissions, she feared that her work would be stymied because of the new president’s skepticism about climate change. As a Jewish refugee who came to the United States as a teen, she felt threatened by Trump’s anti-immigrant rhetoric during the campaign. The election also created a rift in her family: Her father voted for Trump; her mother sat out the election. “Every part of me that I identify with felt fear and anger combined into outrage,” Zelikova said.

She texted furiously with three close friends — other women scientists she had known since they went to graduate school at the University of Colorado, Boulder. At first, they simply shared their alarm. But by the second day, they wondered what they could do about it.  'We moved into an email thread and added women scientists we knew,' Zelikova recalled. 'It grew very quickly — from five people to 20 to 50 to 100 — within a matter of a couple of days.'

They drafted an open letter from women scientists. 'We fear that the scientific progress and momentum in tackling our biggest challenges, including staving off the worst impacts of climate change, will be severely hindered under this next U.S. administration,' they wrote.  The letter rejects the 'hateful rhetoric' of the campaign and commits to overcoming discrimination against women and minorities in science. Then they built a website and gathered signatures. Thousands signed on, and a new activist group was born: 500 Women Scientists."

Elizabeth Shogren reports for High Country News May 26, 2017.