It's too bad that we don't have research positions similar to parish priest postings.

We could assign enthusiastic researchers to underserved primary/secondary school teaching positions relevant to their field. In exchange, the researchers could get an extra stipend and a classroom to use as off-hours lab space.

I guess the hard part would be setting up a good network of remote advisors to help everyone stay on track, without enabling the usual toxic power dynamics of academia.

Indeed :D