March for Science

On the morning of 24 January 2017, during an infuriating conversation with a friend about the new U.S. administration's silencing of scientists, I idly floated the idea of organizing a March for Science. Less than 10 hours later, I found myself at the center of a global movement focused on defending the role of science in society and policy. The defense of science is necessary. Our society faces a dramatic flood of challenges, including restrictions on communicating scientific work and promises of budget cuts at major scientific institutions. These actions threaten the future of science and the fundamental research that forms the building blocks of scientific advancement. It is tempting to believe that these attacks against science happened all at once, but a March for Science should have happened many times over before 2017. The crisis we face today is driven by the subtle and steady debasing of science over decades. We should have marched when Congress passed an omnibus bill that banned federal funding for needle exchange programs, a proven means of reducing the transmission of HIV. We should have protested when the White House poured resources into abstinence-only sex education. We should have publicly rallied when information linking breast cancer to abortion appeared on federally administered medical Web sites. We should have taken to the streets when our leaders questioned the scientific consensus on the origins of air pollution or acid rain, hampering efforts to combat major environmental dangers and prevent public health crises. Despite this history, as a group, scientists have long preferred to separate themselves from overt political debate. So why, after decades of policymakers ignoring scientific evidence, are scientists and science supporters finally taking to the streets in defense of scientific research? The answer is simple: We have been unequivocally dragged into the fray. Science is no longer simply being ignored by policymakers. Today, the very practice of scientific research is under threat, jeopardizing our ability to answer questions about our world, improve our health and environment, generate jobs, and bring to life our dreams about the future. To stay silent is to devalue the work of scientists everywhere and to endanger our collective future. The March for Science represents a planet-scale movement in support of our field and the hope it offers for the future. We hope that the march will draw attention to the need to defend the role of science in society and policy. On 22 April 2017, the efforts of thousands of volunteers around the world will culminate in a massive grassroots event in support of science. But the real work begins on April 23, when science supporters need to transition into a global organization focused on science education, outreach, and advocacy. That's when the efforts to break down barriers between science and the public take center stage. We must encourage discussion, not one-sided lectures, and further our research by building trust and collaboration between scientists and communities ( 1). Using the march's tremendous network of partners, the March for Science will be able to pair researchers from scientific societies with teachers from educational organizations to give presentations in schools, museums, aquariums, and other places where communities connect with science. Scientific research cannot move us forward if it is not shared. Trust in science and scientists is deeply interwoven with public support, involvement, and investment in research and its applications. Scientists must effectively represent ourselves and communicate with nonscientists to implement change ( 2, 3). Free inquiry has been baked into the American experiment since the Founding Fathers began to imagine the shape of our democracy. Scientists should not remain separate from politics and our communitieson the contrary, we need to take a stand for our vital role in both. We must all commit to communicating the importance of scientific research and the need to passionately defend it from attacks both inside and outside the field. It is our responsibility as scientists and citizens of the world to make science accessible to all and turn every person into an advocate for science. The fight for science will not be won with a march; there are many hard years ahead, and each of usscientists and science supporters alikewill play a pivotal role in helping to advocate for science in policy and advance science as a field. On April 22, let's take a collective step forward in science advocacy around the world.