The March for Science (formerly known as the Scientists' March on Washington) was an international series of rallies and marches held on Earth Day. The inaugural march was held on April 22, 2017, in Washington, D.C., and more than 600 other cities across the world. According to organizers, the march was a non-partisan movement to celebrate science and the role it plays in everyday lives. The goals of the marches and rallies were to emphasize that science upholds the common good and to call for evidence-based policy in the public's best interest. The March for Science organizers, estimated global attendance at 1.07 million, with 100,000 participants estimated for the main March in Washington, D.C., 70,000 in Boston, 60,000 in Chicago, 50,000 in Los Angeles, 50,000 in San Francisco, 20,000 in Seattle, 14,000 in Phoenix, and 11,000 in Berlin.sueddeutsche.de / Kathrin Zinkant October 24, 2017: Wissen an die Macht
A second March for Science was held April 14, 2018. 230 satellite events around the world participated in the 2nd annual event, including New York City, Abuja, Nigeria, and Baraut, India. A third March for Science took place on May 22, 2019, this time with 150 locations around the world participating.
The March for Science organizers and supporters said that support for science should be nonpartisan. The march was organized by scientists skeptical of the agenda of the Trump administration, and critical of Trump administration policies widely viewed as hostile to science. The march's website stated that an "American government that ignores science to pursue ideological agendas endangers the world."
Particular issues of science policy raised by the marchers include support for evidence-based policymaking, as well as support for government funding for scientific research, government transparency, and government acceptance of the scientific consensus on climate change and evolution. The march was part of growing political activity by American scientists in the wake of the November 2016 elections and the 2017 Women's March.
Robert N. Proctor, a historian of science at Stanford University, stated that the March for Science was "pretty unprecedented in terms of the scale and breadth of the scientific community that's involved" and was rooted in "a broader perception of a massive attack on sacred notions of truth that are sacred to the scientific community."Chris Mooney, Historians say the March for Science is 'pretty unprecedented' , The Washington Post (April 22, 2017).
Background
Donald Trump In 2012, Donald Trump referred to climate change as a hoax. As a presidential candidate, published on April 21, 2017 The National - CBC he promised to resume construction of the Keystone XL Pipeline and roll back U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regulations adopted by the Obama administration.
After Trump's election, his first transition team sought out specific U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) employees who had worked on climate change during the Obama administration. Prior to Trump's inauguration, many climate scientists began downloading climate data from government websites that they feared might be deleted by the Trump administration. Other actions taken or promised by the Trump administration inspired the march, including pulling out of the Paris Agreement, the stances of his Cabinet nominees, the freezing of research grants, and a gag order placed on scientists in the EPA regarding dissemination of their research findings. In February 2017, William Happer, a possible Trump science advisor with skeptical views on human caused global warming, described an area of climate science as "really more like a cult" and its practitioners "glassy-eyed". ScienceInsider reported Trump's first budget request as "A grim budget day for U.S. science" because it contained major funding cuts to NOAA's research and satellite programs, the EPA's Office of Research and Development, the DOE's Office of Science and energy programs, the U.S. Geological Survey, the National Institutes of Health, and other science agencies.
International solidarity International sister marches were planned for countries around the world. These both supported American scientists and climate scientists more generally, and protested against other impingements on academic freedom internationally, such as government action against the Central European University in Hungary and the closure of educational institutes and dismissal of academics in the 2016–17 Turkish purges, as well as local issues.
Planning and participants
A major source of inspiration behind the planning of the march was the 2017 Women's March of January 21, 2017. The specific idea to create a march originated from a Reddit discussion thread about the removal of references to climate change from the White House website. In the discussion, an anonymous poster named "Beaverteeth92" made a comment regarding the need for a "Scientist's March on Washington". Dozens of Reddit users responded positively to the proposal.Ben Guarino, The March for Science began with this person's 'throwaway line' on Reddit , The Washington Post, (April 21, 2017) Jonathan Berman, a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Texas Health Science Center and a participant in the original conversation, created a Facebook page, Twitter feed and website to organize a march. The Facebook group grew from 200 members to 300,000 in less than a week, growing to 800,000 members. Individual scientists have both applauded and criticized this development.
It was announced on March 30 that Bill Nye, Mona Hanna-Attisha, and Lydia Villa-Komaroff would headline the march, and serve as honorary co-chairs. The protest was set to occur on Earth Day, with satellite rallies planned in hundreds of cities across the world.
For the inaugural march in Washington, D.C., the National Committee consisted of (in alphabetic order):
Sofia Ahsanuddin, Valorie V. Aquino, Jonathan Berman, Teon L. Brooks, Beka Economopoulos, Kate Gage, Kristen Gunther, Kishore Hari, Sloane Henningsen, Rachael Holloway, Aaron Huertas, Ayana Elizabeth Johnson, Rosalyn LaPier, Julia MacFall, Adam Miller, Lina Miller, Caitlin Pharo, Jennifer Redig, Joanna Spencer-Segal, Lucky Tran, Courtnie Weber, Caroline Weinberg, and Amanda Yang.
These are the roles of the National Committee along with their teams: +CommitteesTeam LeadsTeam MembersCo-ChairsValorie Aquino, Jonathan Berman, Caroline WeinbergSteeringSofia Ahsanuddin, Rosalyn LaPier, Joanna Spencer-Segal, Lucky TranLogistics and OperationsKate Gage, Lina Miller Amanda YangSatellite CoordinationKishore Hari, Caitlin PharoAdam Arcus, Jocelyn Barton, Rachael Holloway, Miles Greb, Claudio Paganini, Markus Strehlau, Erin Vaughn, Hugo Valls, Robin ViourouxCommunicationsAaron HuertasAtu Darko, Paige Knappenberger, Bridget McGannSocial MediaBeka Economopoulos, Courtnie WeberThomas Gaudin, Anna Hardin, Karen James, David Lash, Ed Marshall, Carmi Orenstein, Kristina SullivanMission StrategyKristen GuntherLucky Tran, Beka Economopoulos, Aaron HuertasPartnershipsTeon L. Brooks, Ayana Elizabeth JohnsonSofia Ahsanuddin, Kate Gage, Charise Johnson, Mercedes Paredes, and Sabriya YukesFundraisingJulia MacFallAnthony BurnBlogJennifer RedigPoornima Apte, Diana Crandall, Manasseh Franklin, Jayde Lovell, and Zoe WoodCreative/DesignSloane HenningsenLogo DesignBryan Francis TechAdam MillerSam Kim, Amanda Yang During the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), the largest scientific organization in the US, scientists held the "Rally to Stand Up for Science" at Copley Square, Boston, on February 19. The same month, the AAAS announced its support for the march. By mid-March, some 100 science organizations endorsed the March for Science, including many scientific societies. Endorsers of the march included the American Geophysical Union, American Association of Geographers, American Association of Physical Anthropologists, Society for Neuroscience, Society for Freshwater Science, American Statistical Association, Association for Psychological Science, American Sociological Association, Electrochemical Society, Entomological Society of America, California Academy of Sciences, and the Monterey Bay Aquarium.
The University of Delaware Center for Political Communication conducted a survey of 1,040 members of March for Science Facebook groups or pages from March 31 to April 18 to study their motivations for joining the march.Peter Bothum, March Participants Interested in Both Promoting, Defending Science , University of Delaware News Office (April 21, 2017). Respondents cited the following as reasons for marching:
Reason Percent rating"very important" Encouraging public officials to make policies based on scientific facts and evidence 97% Opposing political attacks on the integrity of science 93% Encouraging the public to support science 93% Protesting cuts to funding for scientific research 90% Celebrating the value of science and scientists to society 89% Promoting science education and scientific literacy among the public 86% Encouraging scientists to engage the public 70% Encouraging diversity and inclusion in science 68% To become more involved in politics or policy-making 45%
Before April, enthusiasts found existing knitting patterns for a hat shaped like a brain and proposed it as a symbol of solidarity for the march in analogy with the pussyhat project.
Participation
The primary march, organized by Earth Day Network and March for Science, in Washington, D.C., began at 10 AM with a rally and teach-in on the grounds of the Washington Monument, featuring speeches by concerned citizens alternating with scientists and engineers; including Denis Hayes, co-founder of the first Earth Day in 1970 and Bill Nye. No politicians spoke at the rally. At 2 PM the crowd of thousands, in spite of the steady rain throughout the day, proceeded down Constitution Avenue to 3rd Street, NW between the National Mall and the west front of the United States Capitol.
Protesters gathered in over a hundred cities across the globe, with an estimated 70,000 participants in Boston, Massachusetts, and over 150,000 in several cities in California.
Reception Professor Robert Proctor of Stanford University said that the March for Science was similar to other efforts by scientists such as Physicians for Social Responsibility; however, the scale was larger because "there's a broader perception of a massive attack on sacred notions of truth that are sacred to the scientific community."
Support On January 26, 2017, U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont expressed his support for the march, congratulating "those scientists and researchers who are fighting back". U.S. Representative Bill Foster of Illinois, a physicist and the only current member of Congress with a Ph.D. in a natural sciences field, will join the march, "not as a Democratic member of Congress, but as a scientist."Lev Gacher, Congress's one PhD-trained scientist will join march on Washington , Stat (April 5, 2017). Foster said that he viewed the march as political, but not partisan, saying, "if you see a specific policy that is inconsistent with the known principles of science, every citizen who is also a scientist should speak out."
In February the AAAS and other science groups announced their support for the march. Rush Holt Jr., the chief executive officer of the AAAS, expressed support for scientist involvement in politics. Holt also emphasizes the importance of "appreciation for and understanding of science in the general population".
Criticism