A few years ago, I had a chance to bring Bill Nye into a story about the Great Lakes. He was running the Planetary Society — Carl Sagan’s old post — and had millions of science-hungry followers. My pitch was simple: connect the public's fascination with space to the mysteries of Earth’s own unexplored frontiers — deep freshwater sinkholes in Lake Huron, ancient ecosystems, and the links to alien oceans like those on Jupiter's moon Europa.

It was a ready-made narrative bridge, and Bill was in.

This wasn’t hypothetical. I had direct contact with Bill’s second-in-command. He was confirmed as interested. I brought the proposal to the head of communications at my office within NOAA. There was interest there too. But then, everything stopped. No call. No email. No follow-up. The moment passed.

That missed opportunity wasn’t just frustrating. It was emblematic of a larger, systemic failure in science: a persistent reluctance to prioritize communication, even when the cost is high and the stakes are clear.

Today, scientists are losing jobs. Programs........

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