(4.22) Head over to the state house today for the Rhode Island March for Science.
On Earth Day, April 22, 2017, scientists and science enthusiasts around the globe, including 394 satellite marches in every major US city and 37 other countries, will gather and march in the name of science. We stand together to champion the extensive enhancing effects of science everywhere, for the free exchange of scientific information benefitting everyone, and in protest of the censorship of publicly funded research.
March for Science is non-partisan. The greatest objective of March for Science is to persuade the public to demand our elected officials enact evidence based policies. In order to accomplish this task, our aim is to raise awareness of how science works, why it is effective in sorting fiction from reality, and what scientists do to better the lives of everyone.
Show your support for knowing things! Scientists used to be our heroes: Einstein, Salk, Marie Curie, Cousteau, Sagan, all the astronauts. Let’s bring back that American tradition. Confirmed speakers today include:
Sunshine Menezes — URI expert in effective science communication
Janet Freedman — geology expert from RI Coastal Resources Management Council
Zoe Goris — Met School valedictorian and Jacoby Observatory intern
Timmons Roberts — Brown University Environmental Studies & Sociology Professor
Christina Ergas — Postdoctoral Research Associate with Institute at Brown University for Environment and Society
Dr. Nicole Alexander-Scott —Director of the RI Department of Health and Assistant Professor at Brown University
(If you get a chance, politely tell Dr. Alexander-Scott that you support marijuana legalization. She seems to think more study is needed. I think there is enough science to support an end to the current system in which African-Americans are three times as likely to be arrested as whites.)
The New York Times has a helpful “What You Need to Know” article today.
RI March, 1pm to 4pm, Saturday, April 22, RI Statehouse, 82 Smith Street, (directions)