Lab Girl

This chapter explores the budgets and funding of research. Jahren opens by explaining that trees are ruled by the yearly budgets. From March to July, a tree must grow an entire new canopy of leaves, and ifit falls short of this task, a competitor will grow in its space and the tree “will eventually lose its foothold and die” (120).

Similarly, a scientist is ruled by a budget. Every three years, scientists must solicit grants from the government in order to pay employee salaries and obtain materials and equipment. Jahren’s research is “curiosity-driven research”(122)and is considered low priority compared to science that yields a product like a machine, drug, or weapon. Her only significant source of funding is the National Science Foundation (NSF), with a budget of $6 million in 2013. They award about $165,000 per contract. This money must pay Bill’s salary, buy all of her equipment, and pay an overhead fee to the university as taxes.

She notes:“America may say it values science but it sure as hell doesn’t want to pay for it” (122). More funding goes to agriculture, NASA, and research and military spending. She ends by asserting that if you ask any science professor what she is worried about, she will not touch on her research or results, but instead, “[s]he’ll look you in the eye and say one word: ‘Money’” (125).