Local scientists show solidarity with global colleagues
SEVERAL DOZEN MARCH FOR SCIENCE IN PROTEST OF TRUMP CUTS
Local scientists left their stations on Saturday in support of the March for Science, which coincided with Earth Day.
The main march took place in Washington, D.C, but over 500 events were slated to take place across the globe, making it the largest coordinated science demonstration in history.
In Lethbridge, approximately 50 scientists and supporters gathered at the University of Lethbridge at 12:30 p.m in solidarity.
The movement is being described as political but non-partisan and was sparked after the Trump administration put forward massive cuts and restrictions against federal science agencies, which local organizers feel will affect Canada’s ability to work with our neighbors on issues such as pollution and climate change.
“There's been talk of defunding or even shutting down the EPA (Environmental Protection Agency), cutting funding for the National Institute of Health and the Center for Disease Control; those are all American organizations, but for things like the EPA, they deal with the environment and because our countries share borders, water and air, any changes to policies that can affect that aspect of the United States will affect Canada,” said co-organizer and U of L graduate student Kayleigh Nielson.
“I think standing up as a Canadian is a way to show the United States and the world, that science does matter and transcends borders. “Science is so important.” She noted the St. Mary River is a cross-border tributary, which eventually flows into the Oldman River near Cottonwood Park.
“It has headwaters in Montana, so if they push through some type of policy that affects water quality in the St. Mary River or availability of water in the St. Mary River, once that crosses into Canada it will have effects on things like irrigation,” she said.
“That’s the most highly-regulated river for irrigation in Alberta and supplies water to farmers in the area. A loss of water there will affect crop fields here and crop quality, which of course affects our economy.”
But she’s not just worried about the implications these policy changes may locally, but she fears the impact it may have on a global scale as well.
“I think more broadly, if the United States government chooses not to listen to these marchers and time goes on and they do push through all of these changes, it kind of sets a precedent,” said Nielson.
“The United States is really powerful on a global scale and I consider myself a global citizen, so to think that a huge powerful country like that could repress scientists, could muzzle scientists, could limit the work that they’re being able to do and deprive the world of that kind of knowledge and information potentially is scary.”
During the gathering, she wore her lab coat, but she’s just like everyone else.
“Often, scientists are seen as kind of scary, academic figures in their ivory tower and some people feel we have no business getting involved in politics,” said Nielson.
“We’re regular people, we still want to do our jobs and we want to do it for the bigger community. Policies that are related to research and science affect regular people.”
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