Stand Up For Science rallies took place across the United States on March 7. (Photo: Nicoletta Lanez)
Since the inauguration of President Donald Trump on January 20, a number of initiatives aimed at cutting federal funding for science and restricting research topics have begun to raise alarm among the American scientific community.
The measures include firing and then rehiring many employees at major academic institutions, withholding more than $1 billion in federal funding, and freezing graduate student recruitment and faculty positions at universities. The executive orders have led to research projects being screened for words like “women’s” or “gender,” and peer-reviewed articles being removed from agency websites if they conflict with the current administration’s policy priorities.
In response to these events, academics began organizing. On her Bluesky feed, Colette Delavalla, a clinical psychology graduate student at Emory University in Atlanta, wrote a simple message on February 9: “Get up people, we’re going to protest.”
Delavalla is a key organizer of Stand Up for Science, a grassroots movement that has three key policy goals: ending political interference in science, ensuring funding for scientific research, and protecting diversity, equity, inclusion, and access in science.
On Friday (March 7), people in more than 20 cities across the U.S. took part in Stand Up for Science rallies. The main rally was in D.C., where speakers like Bill Nye were scheduled to speak, and 31 other cities hosted their own events.
Live Science covered events in two such places — New York City and Raleigh, North Carolina — to find out what science advocates want from the U.S. government.
In New York
Hundreds of protesters gathered in Manhattan's Washington Square Park under bright blue skies, though at times they had to hold their signs tightly because of the strong wind.
The crowd represented a wide range of ages and professions. Young children sat on their parents' shoulders, high school students held up homemade signs, professional groups united for group photos in front of the square's famous arch, and prominent professors stood alongside local government officials.
Among the witty and expressive signs was a giant head of the popular Muppet character Beaker, worn by a member affiliated with Columbia University's Zuckerman Institute.
While many attended the rally as scientists, not all were.
“I think the entire expertise is under attack. That’s why I’m here,” said Randi, a Brooklyn retiree who worked in construction and asked that her last name not be used. “When you undermine expertise, no one knows what the facts are.” She added that she “had to come out” to protest after learning that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention was advising scientists to avoid using “words that could cause problems” in their research.
“I think they're going after experts at all levels, trying to bankrupt them so that eventually all the functions that scientists do are privatized,” Randi told Live Science.
Two young participants, Caitlin and Amalia, who declined to give their last names, held signs that read, “Science for Everyone” and “Girls Just Want Research Funding.” Commenting on recent events in the federal government, Amalia, a high school senior who plans to study biology in college, said, “I’m just kind of shocked — surprised — that this is all happening.”
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Sourse: www.livescience.com
