The CSIRO plans to axe about 500 jobs after more than $100 million was cut from the organisation in the May budget.
Staff at the Australian Animal Health Laboratory (AAHL) in Geelong have not been told whether they will be affected by the cuts but fear up to 20 jobs could go.
Researcher and CPSU representative Vicky Boyd, who works with diseases that pass from animals to humans at the AAHL, said the cuts across the CSIRO were devastating.
"We're learning more about these diseases so we can stop the spread," Ms Boyd said.
"It's vital to the Australian community and unfortunately these federal cuts to our science budget are affecting us at the ground level - we're actually losing scientists at the bench level that do this vital research."
Ms Boyd said any cuts in Geelong would hit hard.
"Particularly in Australia, and in Geelong, we're losing our industry and at least I thought we were perhaps going to grow with innovation and our science, but all that is being cut as well," she said.
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