Thousands of scientists and science supporters joined the March For Science through downtown Denver Saturday in the city’s largest rally since the Women’s March in January.
In cities across the globe — as close as Boulder and as far away as Washington D.C. and a German scientific enclave in Antarctica — marchers showed support for evidence-based and science-based public policy, protested potential cuts to federally-funded research and expressed disappointment with the White House’s response to climate change.
“I just want people to pay attention to science,” said Bradley Maurer, a 22-year-old mechanical engineering student at Colorado State University. “We have to have facts and logic and data behind our decisions.”
The march was Maurer’s first foray into political action, as was the case for many others, including his group of friends who ranged from a 58-year-old physics teacher living in Centennial and a 27-year-old engineer living in Longmont. Others said their first rally was the Jan. 21 Women’s March — and its iconic pink hats speckled Saturday morning’s crowd.
Marchers were a mix of younger and older people who traveling from across Colorado, including Boulder, Durango and Bailey. Some were scientists and teachers while others were students and science enthusiasts.
Many held signs that ranged from nerd jokes to political riffs. Several people wore lab coats while another dressed as Ms. Frizzle, the science teacher from the popular TV show “The Magic School Bus.” One person marched in a polar bear costume with a poster saying, “help.”