Since the inauguration of President Donald Trump on Jan. 20, a number of actions aimed at slashing federal science spending and restricting research topics have begun to worry the American scientific community.
These include firing many — then rehiring some — staff across major science agencies, as well as holding up over a billion dollars in federal funding and triggering a pause in graduate admissions and faculty job postings at universities. Executive orders prompted the flagging of research projects for review based on whether they contain words like “female” or “gender,” and scrubbing peer-reviewed papers from agency websites if they conflict with the current administration’s policy priorities.
In response, scientists have begun to mobilize. On her Bluesky feed, Colette Delawalla, a graduate student in clinical psychology at Emory University in Atlanta, posted on Feb. 9 simply, “Get in Dorks, we are going protesting.”
Delawalla is the lead organizer of Stand Up for Science, a grassroots movement with three main policy goals: to end political interference in science, to secure science funding, and to defend diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility in science.
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On Friday (March 7), people in more than two dozen cities across the U.S. attended Stand Up for Science rallies. The main rally was held in D.C., with speakers like Bill Nye slated to talk, and 31 other cities held their own events.
Live Science reported from two of these locations — New York City and Raleigh, North Carolina — to learn more about what science supporters want from the U.S. government.
In New York City
Hundreds of rally attendees assembled in Washington Square Park in Manhattan under a bright-blue sky, although they occasionally had to grasp their signs tightly as they were buffeted by gusts of strong wind.
The crowd represented a wide range of age groups and vocations. Young children teetered on their caregivers’ shoulders, high schoolers hoisted homemade cardboard signs, members of professional groups crowded together for a group photo in front of the square’s iconic arch, and prominent professors stood alongside members of state government.
Among the clever and emphatic signage was the giant head of the beloved Muppets character Beaker, worn by an attendee affiliated with the Zuckerman Institute at Columbia…
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