Before joining the Union of Concerned Scientists, I had the privilege of serving as a Science and Technology Policy Fellow through the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). Under this fellowship, I was placed at a US federal agency that became one of the most rewarding experiences of my professional career: the National Science Foundation (NSF).
Now, you might not immediately recognize NSF by name, but you almost certainly encounter its impact every single day. For the past 75 years, the NSF has quietly powered innovations that shape our daily lives, from the classroom to the smartphone, from the weather report to the internet.
Its story begins with President Franklin D. Roosevelt, who during World War II recognized the decisive role that scientific research played in national success. As the war ended, Roosevelt envisioned a way to carry that same scientific energy into peacetime; to support knowledge not just for defense, but for discovery. This vision became law under President Harry S. Truman in 1950 with the National Science Foundation Act , establishing a federal agency devoted to “promoting the progress of science” and “advancing the national health, prosperity, and welfare.”
Today, NSF accounts for only 0.1% of federal spending but supports roughly a quarter of all federally funded basic research at US colleges and universities. And that research underpins many of the everyday technologies we rely on.
75 Years of benefits for the American public
Ever watch The Magic School Bus or Bill Nye the Science Guy? Those Millennial science classics were funded by NSF. When your local meteorologist points to a Doppler radar image tracking storms or hurricanes, that technology too has NSF roots. If you’ve ever undergone an MRI scan, used American Sign Language (ASL) resources, or benefited from a kidney exchange program, NSF funding helped make those possible.
NSF funding even helped with the acceleration of the internet. In the 1980s, NSF created NSFNet, a major internet backbone that linked academic communities together, leading to the rapid acceleration and use of the internet across the US. NSF also funded Mosaic, the first freely available web-browser, paving the way for the World Wide Web (WWW). The technological tools we use today, including Artificial Intelligence (AI), GPS, and smartphones, all have fingerprints from the NSF.
The research is not the only thing NSF funds, but the researcher too. Have you heard of Luis von Ahn? NSF supported his research as a graduate student and postdoc, and his work focused on improving translation software on internet sites. The research would become Duolingo, which today has over 50 million users to learn over 40 languages for free! So the next time you use Duolingo, know it was brought to you by NSF!
Finally, NSF also supports small businesses! Through the America’s Seed Fund, NSF provides early-stage research and development funding for about 400 small businesses and startups every year! Some examples include a father-son duo creating a life-saving grain-bin robot helps improve safety and grain quality for farms across rural America, a sustainable cleaning company using non-toxic ingredients that is now at over 300 Costco locations nationwide, and a tech company with an early-warning wildfire detection network that can detect lightning strikes within 40 seconds of a 20-mile radius. You can find more information on the impacts of many of the small businesses and startups funded by the NSF America’s Seed Fund here.
Observes the poles, tropics, space, and everywhere in between
In the poles, the NSF manages the US Antarctic Program (USAP), which supports scientific research and education in Antarctica. The foundation operates and funds three year-round research stations and a research vessel in the Antarctic. The program, established in 1959, is valuable for understanding our past climate through its vast collection of ice core samples, monitoring changes to glaciers and sea ice and how their changes impact global weather patterns and US coastal resilience, and is a prime example of peacetime international scientific efforts led by the US. The NSF also has two stations in the Arctic supporting collaborative research with Indigenous Peoples and monitoring environmental changes that inform our climate.
Beyond the poles, NSF supports a suite of Earth and Space observation systems around the world. This includes the National Ecological Observatory Network, which provides open and free data on climate and land-use change impacts to living ecosystems, the National Solar Observatory to understand our sun, and the Ocean Observatories Initiative which supports data collection that informs fisheries management, coastal resilience, and hurricane forecasting.
NSF also operates a suite of radio astronomy observatories to better understand our solar system and space weather. You may have seen one notable example in the James Bond Goldeneye movie—the Arecibo Radio Telescope in Puerto Rico, which unfortunately collapsed in 2020, but has transformed into a computer science and STEM education center for Puerto Rican scientists.
Developed one of the most important climate modeling centers in the world
In geosciences, one of NSF’s most significant achievements is the creation of the NSF National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR).
After World War II, academic scientists sought an interdisciplinary hub for atmospheric research, a place where universities could collaborate beyond the limits of any single department. Hence, NSF NCAR was started in 1960, just a decade after the agency’s founding. (Fun fact: NCAR was designed by world-renowned architect I.M. Pei, the same mind behind the Louvre Pyramid).
Today, NSF NCAR is a world-class research center, developing tools that are freely available to scientists and the public alike, for weather, air quality, water resources, and even solar activity. The center also provides a variety of hands-on educational opportunities and resources for students and the public.
One of NCAR’s most important contributions is the Community Earth System Model (CESM), a cornerstone of international climate assessments and US policy analysis.
If you’re ever in Boulder, visit the NSF NCAR Mesa Laboratory. It’s open to the public, offers guided tours, and features interactive exhibits on weather, climate, and the Sun!
Investing in the future and participation in STEM
At its core, the NSF invests in people. Every discovery, innovation, and breakthrough begins with someone who has had the chance to explore, question, and create.
That was true for me. As an undergraduate, I was selected to participate in the NSF NCAR Significant Opportunities in Atmospheric Research and Science (SOARS) program, a summer Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU). The program introduced me to research and gave me a family of mentors and peers, a vision for the kind of scientist I wanted to become, and the confidence to pursue graduate school and beyond.
As a graduate student, I applied for the NSF Graduate Research Fellowship Program (GRFP). The Foundation’s longest-running program, the GRFP was launched in 1952 and supports more than 60,000 students across STEM. Though I received an Honorable Mention (no shame in that!), I saw firsthand how GRFP awards transformed the lives of my peers, enabling them to pursue research they might never have been able to undertake otherwise.
Although I am not in academia, I know many of my early-career colleagues have benefited from the NSF Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) Award, which is designed to help early-career professors in their academic journey and be a leader in their field.
Through the GRFP, REU, and other career-building programs, NSF empowers people from every background to engage in hands-on research and build the skills that shape the nation’s scientific future.
These programs are a testament to NSF’s longstanding commitment to broaden participation in STEM, ensuring curiosity is not limited by geography, gender, race, or resources. NSF works with minority-serving Institutions, including Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) and Tribal Colleges and Universities (TCUs), to build pathways into scientific and STEM careers. NSF has historically provided programs that foster mentorship, strengthen institutional capacity, and open doors for those historically excluded from the scientific enterprise.
Science as a public good
Serving at NSF as a Science and Technology Policy Fellow through the American Association for the Advancement of Science and helping manage the very programs that opened those doors for me has been one of the greatest honors of my career. It’s also why I write about NSF with enormous gratitude—its mission to fund people and ideas that expand our collective understanding is one of the greatest public investments the United States makes.
That public investment has quietly made numerous benefits for Americans and the World: From educational viewings like the Magic School Bus, to radars that warn us of severe weather, to an app that helps us craft our language skills!
It’s a reminder that public investment in science yields public good. For three-quarters of a century, the NSF has opened doors for generations of curious minds, sparking wonder, nurturing knowledge, and investing in futures, just as it did for me.