Rebuilding GeoHealth: Science, Governance, and Resilience After 2025

Recent U.S. federal policy changes have created disruption and uncertainty for researchers, policymakers, and practitioners in GeoHealth, the interlocking sciences connecting Earth systems to human health and wellbeing. The termination of billions of dollars in research and implementation funding, the dismantling of data systems and regulatory authority, and reductions in scientific workforce capacity have had cascading domestic and global consequences. These changes affect research and public health workflows, health outcomes, and the institutions that create evidence-based policy. This contributes to growing polarization in trust of science and reduces its policy relevance. In this Article, we assess the implications of these changes for GeoHealth governance and identify strategies to stabilize and rebuild the field. While federal leadership is crucial for scientific funding and policy coordination, the dependence of the research and science-policy communities on federal resources has created an unacceptable exposure to political volatility and influence. We propose reforms to limit disruption of funded research, expand partnerships with state and local governments, strengthen statutory protections for scientific infrastructure, and develop more reciprocal international collaborations that reduce systemic dependence on U.S. capacity. We also highlight the need to realign academic incentives to support public engagement, actionable research, and evidence-based policy. These recommendations aim to inform policymakers, research institutions, and funding agencies on the scope of and possible responses to the current crisis in order to preserve the benefits of coordinated federal science while building a more resilient and accountable system of research, policy, and practice.