Perfect. I have all the information I need to write a comprehensive article. Let me structure it with the required elements.
UCLA ecologist Daniel Blumstein and his “Marmateers” lab launched a free, G-rated OnlyFans account called OnlyMarms to share daily yellow-bellied marmot videos and raise money for their 60-year research project after the NSF rejected their grant proposals three times.
On June 17, the Rocky Mountain Biological Laboratory (RMBL) Marmot Project announced on Instagram that “the state of funding is so bad we are turning to OnlyFans, or as we like to call it ‘OnlyMarms’.”
Daniel Blumstein, co-director of The Marmot Project at the Rocky Mountain Biological Laboratory in Colorado, launched a free account called OnlyMarms after the National Science Foundation rejected his team’s grant applications three times.
More than $700 million in NSF grants have been frozen or cut since the Trump administration’s return to office, according to the Brennan Center, and hundreds of grants to the Rocky Mountain Biological Laboratory alone were terminated, per June court filings.
“Long-term research like ours is both very valuable to understand how and why things change over time, and our project has been very productive,” Blumstein told Live Science.
His department recently lost its third graduate-student teaching assistant and it’s been tough keeping the marmot project fully staffed, Blumstein said. Annual expenses run about $75,000 to $100,000, he said.
“I spend a lot of time in meadows, watching nothing, waiting for marmots to emerge,” he said. “That gives me time to think.” Then he had an epiphany.
When he watched the Apple TV comedy Margo’s Got Money Troubles, Blumstein could relate and was inspired by the protagonist’s decision to turn to digital sex work to avoid financial ruin. He recalled asking, thinking of all the “hysterical” videos his lab has of the loaf-like rodents, “Why don’t we share them… and maybe people will give us tips?”
Back at the lab, he and his research assistants brainstormed what to title their OnlyFans account. “Somebody blurted out, ‘OnlyMarms!’ And we said, ‘Yes, OnlyMarms!'” he said.
“It’s going to be G-rated, and we’re not going to sexualize this,” said Daniel Blumstein, a professor and member of the UCLA Institute of the Environment and Sustainability.
Right away, he hit a snag. As an adults-only site, OnlyFans has a rigorous screening process for new creators, he said. “They’re serious about getting age verification,” he said, noting that includes the account’s profile photo. “I’m never going to match a picture of a marmot,” Blumstein said. He finally convinced the site’s administrators that although the marmot’s age couldn’t be verified, he, as an adult human, was the one responsible for the account.
The account, which uploads research videos of wild marmots burrowing into nests or scurrying across rocks, offers free subscriptions but asks for tips to help offset federal funding cuts that have impacted field studies conducted by Blumstein and his team.
“We’re trying this out of frustration with an extremely challenging funding environment,” Blumstein said.
So far, it has raised about $4,000, research scientist Daniel Blumstein told Cowboy State Daily.
Emily Renkey, who also works on the project, said the team hopes to add videos of marmot pups soon. “Our ‘Onlymarms’ page has gotten a bit of engagement since we started it a bit over a month back,” Renkey told Live Science. “We’ve gotten 735 page visits and have 44 fans.”
“In general, I think many younger folks think this is hysterical whether they donate or not,” he said.
“Some of my colleagues have understood the real issue, highlighting the crazy funding cuts we’re all facing.”
While the OnlyMarms account has certainly helped, Blumstein said he doesn’t expect it to fully fund his department. People who might have misgivings about subscribing to OnlyFans can donate directly to the department or the university, he added.
The marmot program’s other fundraisers include the early July launch of Marmot Tears IPA, a beer brewed by Irwin Brewing Co. in Crested Butte, and an upcoming Fat Marmot Week event in August, inspired by Katmai National Park’s Fat Bear Week.
In the viral moment that captured national attention in June, the RMBL Marmot Project unveiled its unconventional strategy to save a research initiative that had faced dire financial straits.
The Marmot Project has tracked individually marked yellow-bellied marmots continuously since 1962, making it the second-oldest study of its kind in the world, behind only Jane Goodall’s chimpanzee research.
The football-sized ground squirrels, native to western North America, spend up to eight months a year in hibernation.
Blumstein took over the project from its founder in 2001.
With
daily yellow-bellied marmot videos
now available on the platform, the account has become a symbol of how scientists adapt when traditional funding evaporates.
Voting for Fat Marmot Week begins on August 24th.