On Thursday, Professor Emeritus and Director of the Soybean Innovation Lab Peter Goldsmith announced that his lab has reopened following the finalization of a private $1 million donation earlier this week.
Goldsmith shared the news at a talk titled “The Closing of USAID: A conversation about Impacts & Implications,” hosted by the Center for Latin American and Caribbean Studies. Goldsmith’s talk chronicled the Trump administration’s lack of communication about the defunding, the importance of soybean research and the future of the SIL.
In January, a Trump Administration executive order froze funding to the United States Agency for International Development. In February, authorities ordered the SIL to permanently close.
USAID was the SIL’s primary source of funding, and its sudden termination was a shock to the labʼs staff.
“On Feb. 27, we received (a letter) that said that Secretary (of State Marco) Rubio … deemed the Soybean Innovation Lab was not operating in the interests of the U.S. government, and we were hereby terminated,” Goldsmith said.
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The order directed the lab to close by April 15, and Goldsmith was forced to lay off 30 staff members. Rubio said in March that USAID contracts were canceled due to their failure to serve the “core national interests of the United States.”
Following the lab’s closing, an anonymous United Kingdom-based company donated $1 million dollars in support. Goldsmith reported that as of Thursday, the SIL is “up and running.”
Before it shut down, the SIL had access to over $3 million in annual funds, almost entirely provided by USAID. With this donation, it will be able to operate for one year with a reduced staff finishing work on a single project.
“We’re less than one-third as big as we were,” Goldsmith said. “I decided to focus on one area that we could deliver on and the team could have some really good success, and we wouldn’t need a huge staff.”
Goldsmith continued his talk by outlining the importance of the SIL’s research.
“The mission USAID had laid out for us was to establish the foundation for soybeans in sub-Saharan Africa,” Goldsmith said.
Soybeans are one of the most produced oil crops in the world, and the SIL was tasked with extending the crop’s reach to sub-Saharan Africa.
“Poverty is urgent,” Goldsmith said. “It’s every day in these countries. Our research is not just for publication. We have to deliver solutions.”
