A US climate scientist who clashed with the Trump administration over the suppression of evidence has been named the 2025 winner of the John Maddox Prize, which honours researchers who stand up for science in the public interest.

Virginia Burkett, a former chief scientist for climate and land use change at the US Geological Survey, received the award for her work on the impacts of climate change on ecosystems and for her persistence in defending scientific integrity.

Burkett’s career has combined research on coastal and wetland systems with outspoken advocacy for evidence-based climate policy.

During Donald Trump’s first presidency, she was among several federal scientists who said they had been marginalised or excluded from work linked to the US National Climate Assessment, after warning that senior officials were attempting to downplay findings about human-caused warming.

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The annual Maddox Prize, awarded jointly by Nature Awards and the charity Sense about Science, recognises researchers with a record of “standing up for sound science and evidence in the public interest, and for showing courage and integrity in the face of challenges and hostility”.

In a first this year, an early career prize was also awarded to Nicolás Zanetta-Colombo, for engaging Chilean communities living near copper mines in documenting heavy metal contamination.

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Judges also commended Andrew Macintosh for his work exposing flaws in Australia’s carbon offset scheme.

Magdalena Skipper, editor-in-chief of Nature, said the winners reflected the values of collaboration and openness on which research depends.

“Science and innovation are built on collaboration, evidence-based knowledge and research sharing, and ensuring all voices can be heard,” she said.

“Our Nature Awards programme recognises those outstanding individuals whose work achieves this…their work deserves to be rewarded and celebrated.”

Tracey Brown, director of Sense about Science and one of the judges, said the prize aimed to highlight the harm caused when researchers are silenced.

“The Maddox Prize highlights the damage done to society when good research is suppressed and when scientists are intimidated from contributing to public discussion,” she said.

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“This year’s courageous winners have insisted on the public’s access to evidence.”

Brown added that the most meaningful recognition would be for universities, politicians and commentators to “start defending researchers who bring evidence to difficult issues, regardless of whether it fits our views”.

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The 2025 shortlist included several prominent figures, including Alice Sullivan, the University College London sociologist whose government-commissioned review on how biological sex is recorded in research drew both praise and criticism.

Other nominees were Edward Barbier, the US environmental economist known for work on natural capital, and Richard Gill, a British-Dutch data scientist who has intervened in wrongful conviction cases involving health workers and parents.

In announcing the shortlist, Sense about Science warned of increasing attempts to suppress or distort research.

“Attempts to suppress scientific findings now frequently target researchers’ employment rather than their data,” the organisation said.

Burkett’s selection as Maddox Prize laureate places her in a long line of researchers recognised for defending evidence amid political or social controversy.

The prize, established in 2012 and named after late Nature editor John Maddox, has previously honoured scientists facing backlash over issues from climate change to public health.

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tash.mosheim@timeshighereducation.com