West Point’s only climate scientist fired after continuing to teach human causes of climate change

Dr. Adam Kalkstein, West Point's only climate scientist and a 17-year professor of geography, was fired after refusing an order to strip human causes of climate change from his curriculum, according to a lawsuit reported by Stars and Stripes and The New York Times.

Kalkstein says he told then-dean Brig. Gen. Shane Reeves at a November 2025 meeting that the order was immoral and likely illegal, comparing it to teaching law without mentioning the Constitution. Reeves allegedly responded by invoking Donald Trump as commander in chief and storming out; he has since retired to chair a university board in Wyoming.

This is the second West Point lawsuit over academic freedom this year, following law professor Tim Bakken's fight over a policy requiring civilian faculty to seek approval before publishing or speaking. Kalkstein's attorney describes his client as a conservative Republican whose objection is professional, not partisan, while West Point says only that it takes the allegations seriously and declined further comment.

Kalkstein had already given up tenure and a severance package earlier in 2025 to keep teaching, fearing colleagues would be burdened if he left — a decision that preceded the September order banning the very content that got him fired months later.

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