March for Science heads Earth Day fest
Event offers everything from astrophysicists to veggie dogs
Amid the vegan cuisine and solar-energy booths, this year’s Central Florida Earth Day celebration is expected to draw several thousand marchers with a message they hope will reach the White House and beyond: Science matters.
“Science, scientists and evidence-based policy-making are under attack,” said organizer Mitch Emerson, who will lead Saturday’s March For Science at Lake Eola Park. “Given how partisan things have become, we need science more than ever.”
The march, part of the daylong Earth Day program at the park, is one of 21 in Florida and about 500 around the world, including a teach-in and rally in Washington, D.C., that’s expected to draw tens of thousands of participants.
Organizers at all levels insist the march isn’t partisan, though they have garnered support in part because of President Donald Trump’s proposal to cut billions of dollars from basic scientific and medical research and eliminate funding for climate scientists studying global warming.
“As scientists and doctors, we have a moral obligation to speak out in service to our communities,” said Dr. Mona Hanna-Attisha, a pediatrician and public health advocate in Flint, Mich., where her findings on lead exposure were initially challenged by the government. “Likewise, the life and death implications intertwined with the science of climate change, vaccines and air pollution are moral issues. We march for science so that scientists have the freedom, like I did, to speak out, free from politicization and to continue to make the world a better place.”
Emerson, an Orlandobased organizer for For Our Future — a liberal politicalaction committee — acknowledged that his day job gives fodder to critics of the march, including some scientists who say it is too political.
“I’m doing this on my own,” he said. “I’m not a scientist, but as a rational human being who understands the value of
science, this is a passion of mine. I see science as the great equalizer. Given how partisan things have become, and how dogmatic people have become in the way they view the world, we need science as a rejection of bias, of dogma, of popular opinion. Science isn’t about people on one side being bad and the other side being good.”
Emerson paid for the march permit and other expenses himself, though he has launched an Orlando March For Science GoFundMe campaign to cover the $2,205 bill. That would also help offset the airfare and hotel tab for guest speaker Hakeem Oluseyi, a NASA astrophysicist and distinguished research professor for Florida Institute of Technology.
An African-American who grew up in poverty, he has dubbed himself a “gangsta nerd.”
“I think a lot of people are going to go and talk about the anti-science climate we have,” said Oluseyi, who taught on the Florida Tech campus in Melbourne from 2007 to 2014 and now lives in Washington. “I want to bridge the gaps that exist and tear down these false walls. I want to have a message of unity and make us realize we’re all in this together.”
There’s no sign-up required for the march, but Emerson hopes participants will RSVP on the event’s Facebook page. He expects marchers to begin gathering at the northeast corner of the park, near Panera Bread, about 10 a.m. and the march itself to start at 11. Those who only want to hear the speeches should meet at the park’s amphitheater soon afterward.
For further event details, go to facebook.com/ScienceMarch Orlando.
Central Florida Earth Day activities run from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. at the park and include healthy living and eco-friendly exhibitors, speakers and presentations; activities for kids; dog and cat adoptions; food booths; environmental and humane education; artist and craft corners, plus live music.
See cfearthday.org for details.