A large number of individuals have marched this weekend in Washington, D.C., trying to protect science and support its evolution.The march came as a response to President Trump's huge budget cuts. President Trump's budget proposition is anticipated to have a huge effect on scientific work. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) will get about 66% of the financing it was expected to.
Furthermore, the National Institutes of Health (NIH), which spends roughly $32 billion consistently for research purposes, will also suffer a 20 percent budget cut. A large portion of these assets is wanted to be taken away in research offices from medicinal schools and colleges across the country. The activity began via social media, where various clients attempted to persuade peers who are interested in science to get out from their homes to protect the scientific community.
"This has been a living research center as researchers and science organizations will make a step outside their comfort zone, outside of the labs and into the public circles," said Beka Economopoulos, founder of the pop- up Natural History Museum and a coordinator of the march, as per NYTimes. The budget cut also affected non-scientific works. The National Endowment for the Humanities and the National Endowment for the Arts were some of the projects that President Trump proposes to take out.
April 22 was President Trump's 100th day in office, and his measures were not received with as much popularity as he may have anticipated. Accordingly, of these budget cuts, a huge number of researchers and science supporters marched in Washington, D.C. in what was called "the March of Science." According to Reuters, there have been around 600 events internationally supporting this cause.
"Whenever we see some government official patronizing somebody who's dedicated their life to research, will go to fight for science," noted Kathy Miller, an education activist from the Texas Freedom Network, an association whose objective is to regulate the science in the instructive educational programs. Among the most famous signs carried by the demonstrators are "No one Is above Peer Review," "Make Science Great Again," "Revenge of the Nerds," and "There Is No Planet B."
The March for Science is not the first event individuals have taken an interest to national demonstration since President Trump's initiation. Another protests and marches have been completed in regards to a wide series of issues, from abortion rights to divided issues or immigration procedure.