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UCLA marmot lab turns to OnlyFans after U.S. research funding cuts

UCLA marmot lab turns to OnlyFans after U.S. research funding cuts

The UCLA team behind a wildlife study dating to 1962 says OnlyMarms has raised about $4,000, while community-created Solana meme coins have also surfaced around the project.

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Fact Check
Every component of the claim is corroborated by multiple independent authoritative sources. NPR's interview with professor Dan Blumstein and the LA Times confirm the OnlyMarms OnlyFans account was created in response to federal research funding cuts and has raised approximately $4,000 (net after platform fees). UCLA lab pages and the Daily Bruin confirm the marmot study dates to 1962 (started by Ken Armitage at the Rocky Mountain Biological Laboratory). Decrypt and the LA Times confirm community-created meme coins surfaced on Pump.fun connected to the OnlyMarms phenomenon.
Summary

A UCLA team studying yellow-bellied marmots in Colorado since 1962 has turned to OnlyFans and drawn attention from the crypto community as traditional research funding tightens. The account, OnlyMarms, was launched to help support fieldwork and graduate students after funding became harder to secure, and has generated about $4,000 so far. The project still needs between $75,000 and $100,000 a year, according to the researchers. The effort has also inspired several Solana-based meme coins, but the researchers say they did not create any related tokens and have no official connection to them. The episode has become an example of internet culture, science communication and crypto speculation intersecting around an unlikely fundraising campaign.

Terms & Concepts
  • meme coins: Tokens tied to internet culture and social attention, often created and traded speculatively.
  • Solana: A blockchain network where many low-cost, fast-moving retail tokens are launched and traded.