NEWS

Delmarva rallies support DC March for Science

Gino Fanelli
gfanelli@delmarvanow.com
Two young women carry signs among fellow rally goers in Ocean City on Saturday.

As the rain drizzled down through the April chill at Lewes' Canalfront Park, dozens of attendees gathered. They bore signs reading "Science is not an alternative fact" and "Science is our friend."

This was the Lewes March for Science, an event aimed at supporting the scientific community against skepticism and the defunding of scientific programs. In tandem with the main march in Washington D.C., the Lewes march and another just down the coast in Ocean City, Maryland were part of more than 600 satellite marches around the world Saturday, April 22.

READ MORE:  Marchers for Science protest 'alarming' anti-science trends

"The work of scientists that evaluate and educate the public is invaluable to the future," said Mayor Ted Becker. "This research is important, and it takes government, at every level, for this work to go on."

Maggie Miller, of Ocean Pines, leads a group of people down the boardwalk in Ocean City on Saturday, as part of an Earth Day movement called March for Science on April 22, 2017. Miller, the organizer of the rally, collaborated with the Democratic Women's Club of Worcester County, Together we will and Indivisible Worcester County.

Becker expressed concerned over the budget presented by the Trump administration which, among other cuts, plans to cut $828 million from the Environmental Protection Agency. Additionally, in January, the president placed a gag order on some federal employees, including scientists, from discussing climate change on social media.

It's a situation that organizer and Emeritus Professor at the University of Delaware Jonathan Sharp described as science "under attack."

"Science, scientists and the strides toward clean energy are under attack through budgetary and policy restrictions," Sharp said. "And that is putting our health, food, air and water at risk."

Lewes-based Oceanography professor Matthew Oliver said that, in the midst of the "Anthropocene Era," it is time to react and bind together by common interests of prospering and protecting the planet.

The Anthropocene is a geological era in which humans hold the dominant impact on the climate, geology and ecosystems. While it is a theoretical era not expressly adopted by the scientific community, Oliver argued that humans have entered this era.

"We live in an era when humans have an impact on the environment," Oliver said. "And this is a result of science that has done marvelous, incredible things that we sometimes forget the impacts of."

Oliver pointed to the massive variety and abundance of produce at a grocery store, among other examples, as exemplifying the mundane scientific marvels found in our day-to-day lives.

Mark Walter of Frankford holds a "Support Science" sign at the March for Science in Lewes on Saturday, April 22.

"Because of biomedical research, even our own bodies are examples of us bending the world to our whim," Oliver said. "And in our rush to assert our dominance over nature, we now stand to lose it."

OPINION:  Marching for science — and much more

Oliver urged the audience to push for understanding, rather than to shame and ridicule.

"We share a common goal, flourishing, and recognizing that is an important start," Oliver said. "Shame, snark and belittlement do not work. As far as I can tell on social media, we like to show off how smart we are, and it is not an effective pedagogy."

Seeing the shaming and belittlement on both sides of the debate, Oliver urged the audience to find common ground, and learn to work together.

"Is this really where we are? Where persuasion is no longer an option? That it's just one power bloc over another?" Oliver asked. "I think there's another way."

James Parrigin, of Salisbury, carries his son, Wyatt, 5, just before the start of the March for Science in Ocean City.

Attendees of the march, who cheered at Oliver's unification sentiments, were not remiss to express their frustration with the state of the world. Former USDA botanist Polly Lehtonen said the current perception of science has spurred her desire to take action.

"I care deeply about what's happening in the world," Lehtonen said. "It almost seems like science has become a bad word, and I feel compelled to stand up and say something."

Paige Deiner of Milton said that the move to reject science spells a bleak future for the world.

A man holds a sign as part of the March for Science demonstration in Ocean City on Saturday, April 22, 2017.

"We live in a world that is dependent on science, where we define reality in pragmatic terms," Deiner said. "When we start to conclude things not based in fact, there are long-term consequences."

The world now needs to be focused on creating a better future for our children, said Cindy Westhoff, a second-grade teacher at Lake Forest North Elementary in Felton.

"Life revolves around fact," Westhoff said "We need to recognize that so our kids can inherit a world safe to live in."

As frigid wind blew across the Lewes-Rehoboth Canal, the crowd began to disperse, packing away their signs and popping open umbrellas as they made their way back to the parking lot. Before stepping away, the crowd heard parting words by Bryn Mawr College philosophy professor Michael Krausz.

"I was in a parking lot the other day and I spotted a black Honda with a bumper sticker that just said 'Science is cool,'" Krausz said. "And, you know what, I agree. Science is cool."