Trump cut their climate jobs. This secretive network found them new ones.

After the Trump administration slashed research grants and fired thousands of employees at agencies like the EPA and NOAA, a group of climate experts convened at a Colorado workshop last July and built what became Climate Reserve, now backed by tens of millions of dollars. Led by former Biden climate official Aparna Shrivastava, the group has funded more than two dozen new positions at nonprofits and universities, and revived federal projects such as the pollution-mapping tool EJScreen.

The group keeps some fellows and projects undisclosed, reasoning that visibility could draw punitive funding cuts from the administration, since many participants still depend on or hope to apply for federal money. Its work spans domestic hires alongside international projects, including sea level mapping in Panama and emissions tracking across five African countries.

Organizers describe a philosophy of “movement generosity,” emphasizing shared resources over competition among displaced experts, with some fellows splitting time across multiple organizations. The group is now going public in hopes of attracting further funding, even as, by one anecdote, laid-off climate experts have ended up driving for rideshare services to make ends meet.

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