Wow- yesterday was a fantastic turn out for the Science March in San Francisco! There were thousands of scientists, science lovers and science allies that met at Justin Herman Plaza pre 11am for a rally with some great speeches, and great company, with the march setting off at 12:30 to the Civic Center where the Earth Day Festival merged with a science fair.
Below is my husband and fellow scientist-Gerid Ollison- holding up our sign at the SF Rally, and a snapshot of the march through SF. See my husband’s blog on his work as an evolutionary molecular biologist and bioinformatician here: http://www.theolligist.com
And below my mom (the short one of course) doing her part with her fellow friends and scientists in Washington DC- marching despite the poor weather!
I saw some awesome posters that made me laugh. My favorites included “It’s so bad that even introverts are here!”, “Got Plague? Me Neither.. Thank Science”, “Heard of Polio? No? Thank Science”, “Make America Smart Again” and lastly- this ‘alternative cat’ below.
So.. what do we do from here?
Well in my opinion- we need to stay politically active and engaged in our local communities. Outreach is super important as more pro-science politicians will be elected if the general public understands the application and importance of science!
Also in order to increase and maintain funding for our science, we need to diversify the funding for our research (as mentioned by Jim Sanchirico at the Science Communication workshop that I blogged about last week).
All in all- I think this march was a good start in promoting the importance of science and creating awareness about the dangers of climate change denial, the defunding of science agencies, and silencing scientists.
Dr. Julie V. Hopper 