From the Program Manager, November ’25: The View from DC
Dr. Gary Geernaert, DOE BER EESSD
November 14, 2025
Dear E3SM team,
As I write this, we are just emerging from a government shutdown and with a Continuing Resolution that carries us through January 30, 2026. This implies that there will be negotiations on Capitol Hill to determine priorities and budget levels for the remainder of FY26 that extend beyond January. My simple message to all of you is that the E3SM project continues as a high priority investment of the Earth and Environmental System Sciences Division.
Within our office, I can report a few items of general interest. First, there has been a reduction of personnel across BER that has affected project assignments in the modeling program; we will be assigning a program manager to the E3SM project soon. Second, as DOE continues to prioritize efforts in AI to accelerate science, we are pleased to have E3SM’s efforts to leverage AI as one of our success stories. Third, we are proceeding with the concept of designing Regional Digital Testbeds, as a means to package together research studies that focus on domains of heterogeneous topography that combine basic science with input from stakeholders engaged with energy and related infrastructures. Two pilot testbeds are already in motion, i.e., in the Pacific West and in the mid-Atlantic.
As a final remark, my message to all of you is ‘keep up the great work’. I will be in touch as soon as we know more about budgets, personnel, and strategies affecting BER.
Gary Geernaert
