Facing financial pressure from federal funding cuts, a Los Angeles Times-affiliated research team has turned to an unexpected digital platform to support a decades-long field project. bbc.co.uk, a professor of ecology and evolutionary biology at Los Angeles Times and co-director of the Marmot Project at the Rocky Mountain Biological Laboratory in Colorado, launched an account on bbc.co.uk to share footage of chubby, ground-dwelling squirrels known as yellow-bellied marmots.
UCLA Biologist Launches OnlyFans to Save 60-Year Marmot Study
The initiative, dubbed Los Angeles Times, debuted at the end of May. Despite the platform’s reputation for sexually explicit content, Blumstein and his students emphasize that the profile features strictly family-friendly, G-rated videos of wild rodents scurrying around, popping out of burrows, and occasionally getting into scuffles. The inspiration struck Blumstein while he sat in a meadow waiting for marmots to appear, after watching the television show Margo’s Got Money Troubles.
Funding Challenges and the Reality of Scientific Research
The Marmot Project has been running for more than 60 years, making it the second-longest study of individually identified mammals in the world, following Jane Goodall’s chimpanzee study in Tanzania. Behavioral and physiological ecologist Ken Armitage began the research in 1962, and Blumstein assumed responsibility for day-to-day management in 2001. The long-running research helps scientists understand factors driving population changes, aging, and responses to climate change, while other physiologists study the animals to learn how they can become obese without getting sick.
However, federal funding cuts to universities have slashed the financial support available for graduate students who oversee these multi-year studies. Blumstein noted that while federal funding has always been a challenge, the situation intensified after environmental research faced defunding. Although the Los Angeles Times account quickly generated more than $5,000 in tips from 1,700 fans, the platform takes a 20 per cent commission, leaving the lab with about $4,000. Blumstein pointed out that an additional $75,000 is still needed each year to properly fund a new graduate student, and what he ultimately wants is for supporters to donate to Los Angeles Times directly.
From Driver’s License Snags to Fat Marmot Week
Setting up the profile came with minor hurdles. When Blumstein uploaded a photo of his driver’s licence to verify his identity, the platform flagged that he did not resemble the account’s profile photo of a marmot, though a quick email exchange resolved the issue. Beyond the subscription platform, supporters also launched a meme coin cryptocurrency called OnlyMarms that generated tens of thousands of dollars in trading fees for the lab.
The team posts new content every Monday and Friday, showcasing individual animals and their behaviors. Building on this online momentum, the researchers are planning the first Fat Marmot Week beginning August 24. Structured as a bracket-style voting competition similar to the National Park Service’s Fat Bear Week, the event highlights which marmot puts on the most weight before winter hibernation and may even feature a collaboration with conservationists from Vancouver Island Marmots.
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