​

​

CLEVELAND, Ohio – A local collaboration between grassroots volunteers and science-based organizations is planning a March for Science to take place in University Circle on July 21. Expected to draw thousands, of supporters, March for Science Cleveland is meant to highlight the vital role scientific research plays in our daily lives and underscore the impact of science in the Northeast Ohio community and the danger to our economy and citizenry if political attacks on science are allowed to continue. All are welcome to attend this free event.

​

The event kicks off on Wade Oval near the Natural History Museum and Botanic Garden with a rally with speakers at 11am. Around noon the march steps off, following a course that will bring it to Toby’s Plaza by MOCA and Uptown. At Toby’s Plaza, the March for Science will join forces with the Cause & Effect Festival featuring Cleveland’s non-profits and activist organizations plus live music and hands-on activities for adults and children. The Cause & Effect Festival will serve as an “after party” of the March for Science!

​

Although too young to vote, children are particularly welcome to take part in the march and learn about the many ways they can make a difference now and in the future. March co-director Patricia Princehouse of the Institute for the Science of Origins recalls the huge success of last year’s March for Science Cleveland, with crowd estimates as high as 15,000 Clevelanders turning out, “My favorite sign from last year was a little girl with a big smile, clad in a too-big lab coat. Her sign read ‘I’m 7. I love science. Don’t ruin it for me.’”

​

Princehouse continued, “This goes to the heart of what we’re trying to accomplish. Working with scientists and science enthusiasts from all walks of life, we want to protect and preserve this little girl’s right to choose a career in science in which she is free to follow the data wherever they lead without regard for what the political fall-out might be.” She added, “And we want to make sure there’s a free and fair democracy in America in which she can follow her chosen path. It’s crucial that the hopes and fears of politicians not interfere with or influence the process of science or communicating the results of science to the public.”

​

“Science is crucial to the future of Cleveland, this country, and the world” said march for science co- director Marty Krebs, a local artist. He continued, “It’s not melodrama, it’s the plain truth. Science is the backbone of democracy and if it can be corrupted by politics, then nothing is safe. If they can lie about science and get away with it, they can lie about anything.” He added, “Our banner reads ‘Stand and Fight for Science. We mean it.”

​

Organizers seek to highlight the distinctions between the independence of scientific methods and the reliance on science necessary in policy-making. Although the process of doing science must never be infringed by political concerns, it is necessary to draw on the results of science to create properly-informed public policy. Princehouse explained, “Scientific results are always contingent on future studies. That’s why the refrain of every scientist interviewed on any topic is ‘more studies are needed!’” She continued, “But that should never prevent policy-makers using the best current understanding of science to form the best policies possible. There is no issue before the American people that science doesn’t bear on. It’s not just medicine, agriculture, the environment, global warming and climate change. It’s economics, national defense, evaluating the effects of gun control, child separation from parents, universal health care, etc. It’s abortion the inherent ‘naturalness’ of LGBT people, the equality and abilities of people of different races. The results of scientific inquiry bear on every single issue before the American people. Science should not be impugned or disrupted as it is under the current administration. But the problem didn’t start with this administration, It has been brewing for a long time. And it needs to stop right now.”

​

Major partner organizations of the march include Lake Erie College, PowerPure, and InterRayBio.

​

The March for Science Cleveland was originally planned for April to coincide with the national march for science, but a dangerous electrical storm forced its cancellation. Organizer and speaker Jürgen Bosch said “Better postponed than never!”

​

The mission of the march is to show support for the scientific community; to safeguard the scientific process and research funding when seeking answers to the things that matter; to publicly celebrate science, which helps us make sense of ourselves and the world; to encourage curiosity and exploration, the heart of the scientific approach.

​

Speakers

Cleveland’s March for Science features a diversity of speakers from all walks of science.

 

Keynote speaker:
Cynthia Beall Ph.D is the Sarah Idyll Pyle Professor of Biological Anthropology at Case Western Reserve University, board member of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and Member of the most prestigious scientific honorary society in America, the National Academy of Sciences.
Dr. Beall is world-renowned for her studies of the interactions between culture and biology, and the genetics of evolutionary adaptation to high altitude among human populations. Her work has elegantly demonstrated that human evolution took different routes to adapting diverse human populations to high altitude in diverse geographical areas, including the Tibetan plateau, the Andes and the highlands of Ethiopia. Dr Beall (pronounced bell) was one of the first professors to be chosen for the title of CWRU Distinguished University Professor. It is expected her talk will explore the unity of science and its crucial importance in developing sound policy in so many areas, as well as the role of science as an engine of economic vitality.

 

Additional speakers include:
Jürgen Bosch PhD, InterRayBio LLC, CWRU and Johns Hopkins, on drug and vaccine development. Aaron Godfrey, Physicist, ZIN Technologies Aerospace
Martins Krebs, Artist and Maker, co-director of March for Science
Edward Leigh, Founder and Director of The Center for Healthcare Communication

Hazel Marie Ph.D., Department Chair and Associate Professor of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering, Youngstown State University

Patricia Princehouse, Evolutionary Biologist at the Institute for the Science of Origins, Director of the Origins Major at Case Western Reserve University; co-director of March for Science

Riley Tedrow, US NAVY OC1, PhD Candidate, Department of Biology, CWRU, on the importance of unfettered science for the armed forces

Deborah Schulman PhD, Professor of Biology, Lake Erie College, speaking on how the left is wrong about GMOs

About the March for Science Cleveland

 

The March for Science consists of a grassroots group of scientists, enthusiasts, seekers of knowledge, Northeast Ohio residents and a partnership of science-based institutions. The march underscores the vital role science plays in our daily lives, celebrates the impact of science in the Northeast Ohio community, and emphasizes the importance of science as a major driver of the economy in NorthEast Ohio.

​

A major message of Cleveland’s March for Science is “Vote Science” referencing the need to put aside partisan squabbles and support candidates who support science –regardless of party affiliation or views on other matters. Science is our future.

​

For more information about volunteering and participating in the Cleveland satellite March for Science,

visit http://www.marchforsciencecle.com 

​

For information about the national March for Science, visit www.marchforscience.com.

 

March for Science - Cleveland, OH
When: Saturday, July 21, 2018. Rally begins at 11 a.m., March starts at 12 p.m. Activities begin at 1 p.m.,
Where: Wade Oval, University Circle, Cleveland
Admission: Free, all ages

​