Since the Sustainable Development Goals were adopted, higher education professionals have worked across departments and reached across borders to advance the agenda, with universities offering the kind of interdisciplinary expertise needed to solve such complex problems as eradicating poverty in all its forms by 2030. But researchers who rely on the U.S. government for funding say they may now be in the difficult position of having to defend their work and demonstrate their value to an “America first” administration.
Last month, Devex attended an event at the University of California, Davis — which receives much of its funding for global research from USAID — about how universities can work toward the SDGs and transform research into action.
Many of the researchers who were at that event rely on funding from the U.S. government. UC Davis is home to five of the 24 Feed the Future Innovation Labs, a collaboration between U.S. universities and developing country research institutions centered on the U.S. government’s global hunger and food security initiative. Although the event had been in the works for many months, the unexpected results of the U.S. presidential election cast a shadow of uncertainty over many of the conversations.
About the author
Catherine Cheneycatherinecheney
Catherine Cheney is the Senior Editor for Special Coverage at Devex. She leads the editorial vision of Devex’s news events and editorial coverage of key moments on the global development calendar. Catherine joined Devex as a reporter, focusing on technology and innovation in making progress on the Sustainable Development Goals. Prior to joining Devex, Catherine earned her bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Yale University, and worked as a web producer for POLITICO, a reporter for World Politics Review, and special projects editor at NationSwell. She has reported domestically and internationally for outlets including The Atlantic and the Washington Post. Catherine also works for the Solutions Journalism Network, a non profit organization that supports journalists and news organizations to report on responses to problems.
