Posts Tagged ‘March for Science’
Alexandria Ocasio Cortez, Andrew Yang, Bold Iowa, Brianne Pfannenstiel, CAFOs, Citizens Climate Lobby, climate change, Des Moines Register, Douglas Burns, Drake University, Elizabeth Warren, Green New Deal, IASTEM, Iowa Caucuses, Iowa Starting Line, Jay Inslee, Jennifer Zwagerman, March for Science, March for Science Iowa, Pat Rynard, Sarah Beckman, Science on the Stump, SciLine, The Carroll Times Herald, WOI-TV
In Government, STEM on June 17, 2019 at 7:10 am
Sarah Beckman of WOI-TV speaks to the audience at the March for Science Iowa Science on the Stump forum. From left, Douglas Burns, Brianne Pfannenstiel and Pat Rynard listen in. Photo by Joe Sheehan.
For Iowans who care about science – government support for research, using evidence to define policy, and things like addressing climate change and backing vaccine safety – now is the time to speak up.
The caucus campaign gives us a quadrennial opportunity to push for these goals. Candidates – and the reporters who cover them – are listening.
That was one message from Iowa journalists last month at Drake University in Des Moines. They were on the second of two panels gathered for Science on the Stump, hosted by the March for Science Iowa, a nonpartisan group that advocates for evidence-based policy and research in the public interest. I helped organize the event and previously wrote about the first forum, of scientists and science observers.
You can listen to the entire discussion on the March for Science Iowa Facebook page.
The journalists who spoke noted that Iowans often dictate the subjects candidates address when they appear in cafes, barns, auditoriums and living rooms across the state. For example, activists and interested voters have made climate change a key science-related issue.
Reporters, editors and producers also respond to voter feedback, but a lack of science expertise sometimes makes it difficult for them to sift competing claims. Read the rest of this entry »
David Courard-Hauri, Des Moines Register, Dierdre Egan, Drake University, Drake University School of Journalism and Mass Communication, Iowa Caucuses, Iowa City Darwin Day, Iowa City Science Booster Club, Iowa State University, Kathie Obradovich, March for Science, March for Science Iowa, Paul Lasley, Science Debate, Successful Farming
In Government on May 20, 2019 at 7:19 am
David Courard-Hauri makes a point at Drake University during the March for Science Iowa “Science on the Stump” panel. Dierdre Egan and David Kurns look on. Photo by Joe Sheehan.
Hordes of candidates are cutting across Iowa, touring ethanol plants and farms and chatting up voters in coffee shops and living rooms.
It’s to up us to get these would-be presidents to take science seriously, leaders in education and agriculture told an Iowa audience at a recent discussion, hosted by March for Science Iowa. We must demand that they support their views with solid research.
The session (which I helped organize) was designed to get Iowans – and, more importantly, journalists and candidates – talking about science, research and evidence-based policy, subjects that usually get little attention on the campaign trail.
It was illuminating discussion, illustrating Iowans’ diverging views on such science-based issues as climate change and water quality. One thing most spoke to: science advocates must change how they address the issues if they’re to gain support from other voters.
The big question is how to do it.
Read the rest of this entry »
Department of Energy, Drake University, Drake University School of Journalism and Mass Communication, Environmental Protection Agency, March for Science, March for Science Iowa, National Institutes of Health, Science Debate, U.S. Department of Agriculture
In Government on April 24, 2019 at 11:13 am
The science commandments, from a 2017 March for Science Iowa participant.
For something that affects our lives in so many ways, science gets remarkably little attention when candidates at all levels – especially for president – talk to voters.
Science-based policies govern our air, water, health, food, communications – nearly everything we do, hear, see, taste and smell every day. A president’s appointees to such scientific agencies as the Environmental Protection Agency, Department of Energy Office of Science, Agricultural Research Service and National Institutes of Health can affect our lives more deeply than Congress.
So why doesn’t science get a bigger share of a candidate’s standard campaign speech? Why don’t reporters and news anchors press them on whether they’re prepared to base energy, environmental, health and agricultural policy on scientific evidence? Why aren’t candidates announcing up front what kinds of experts they will appoint to head agencies that support research and create science-based policies?
The nonprofit, nonpartisan organization Science Debate has tried to address this problem since the 2008 presidential election. It’s still working to drive discussion on these issues – including providing grants to local organizations with similar goals.
March for Science Iowa is joining in that mission with an event next month.
Read the rest of this entry »
Abby Finkenauer, Des Moines Register, Fred Hubbell, GMOs, Governor's STEM Advisory Council, IASTEM, Jake Porter, Kim Reynolds, March for Science, March for Science Iowa, Mike Fitzgerald, Mike Naig, Rod Blum, Tim Gannon
In Government, STEM on August 8, 2018 at 2:25 pm
Jeb! Bush speaks at The Des Moines Register’s political soapbox at the 2016 Iowa State Fair. Credit: Zach Boyden-Holmes, The Des Moines Register
When it comes to science, Iowa politicians are largely blank slates. Most have only made vague statements about supporting science, protecting natural resources or balancing agriculture and the environment. Few have laid out actual policies on science and issues in which knowledge and evidence play major roles.
The March for Science Iowa group, with which I volunteer, is changing that. We’ve emailed questionnaires to candidates for Congress, governor and secretaries of agriculture and state.
Yes, there are still nearly three months left before the election, but the response has been … nonexistent. A few have acknowledged receiving the email, but no one has provided answers. I’m hoping that within a few weeks we’ll get replies.
In the meantime, we each have opportunities to get answers on our own – while also enjoying a corndog or other food-on-a-stick.
Read the rest of this entry »
Andrea “Andy” McGuire, Cathy Glasson, Charles Aldrich, climate change, Fred Hubbell, Jake Porter, John Norris, Kim Reynolds, March for Science, March for Science Iowa, Marco Battaglia, Nate Boulton, Paul Knupp, Ross Wilburn, water quality
In Government on May 29, 2018 at 7:52 am
March for Science Iowa organizers hope to do this in gathering information from candidates in the June 5 primary election. The photo was taken at the 2017 March for Science Iowa in Des Moines.
Apparently, it’s difficult to get candidates to reveal their views on science, research and evidence-based policy.
Weeks after sending questionnaires to candidates for several statewide Iowa offices and for Congress, March for Science Iowa organizers (including me) have received few responses.
The idea was to gather this information in one place – the MFSI website – so voters can compare stances.
I don’t know if campaigns are too busy, too understaffed or just don’t care, but at the time of this posting, only three Democrats, two Libertarians and one Green Party candidate have responded. MFSI President Kaitlin Higgins has posted their responses on the site.
The questions were designed to be open-ended and without prejudgment. The March for Science Iowa volunteers put them on the site without comment.
Stepping outside my role as a march volunteer, however, I have some thoughts on what the few candidates wrote.
Read the rest of this entry »
An Inconvenient Truth, climate change, Jordan Shaw, Kaitlin Higgins, March for Science, March for Science Iowa, Third Congressional District
In Government, STEM on April 19, 2018 at 7:35 am
Most of the hardy folks at the second March for Science Iowa at the Capitol. Credit: Shari Hrdina, Bold Iowa.
By Thursday of last week, it was becoming clear that the 2018 version of the March for Science Iowa would suffer from the state’s bizarre spring weather. Over the previous few days, the forecasts sank from 60 degrees and sunny to the low 40s and rainy.
Organizers (including your correspondent) hung onto hope that the situation would change, but by Saturday morning it appeared almost certain to be a miserable day.
It wasn’t the best outcome, yet march leaders had already decided that the event’s purpose would endure past a single annual event. They’re determined to give voters the information they might have gotten had the event gone as planned.
Read the rest of this entry »
Andy McGuire, Cathy Glasson, Cindy Axne, climate change, Dan Zumbach, David Young, Deidre DeJear, Eddie Mauro, environment, evolution, FIRST LEGO League, Fred Hubbell, Governor's STEM Advisory Council, Jim Mowrer, John Norris, Jules Ofenbakh, Kim Reynolds, March for Science, March for Science Iowa, Mike Naig, Nate Boulton, Next Generation Science Standards, Paul Knupp, Paul Pate, Pete D'Alessandro, Ross Wilburn, Terry Branstad, Tim Gannon
In Government, STEM on April 9, 2018 at 7:42 am
A pointed sign from the 2017 March for Science Iowa.
Plans are shaping up for the 2018 version of the March for Science Iowa, a more overtly political version of last year’s event, when more than 3,000 Iowans flooded the Capitol grounds.
With elections coming up, organizers (including your humble correspondent) have invited candidates to appear on Saturday (the event starts with the march at around 1:00, followed by candidate forums and speeches at 2:00) to detail their views on publicly supported research, science education and evidence-based policy.
The march is nonpartisan: We want to hear from politicians and candidates from both parties. But it is not nonpolitical: We demand that our elected officials and contenders uphold science.
We invited candidates for governor, the Third Congressional District, agriculture secretary and secretary of state. Most will attend.
But only from one party. Guess which.
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Donald Trump, Iowa Academy of Science, Jordan Shaw, Kaitlin Higgins, March for Science, March for Science Iowa, Shamus Roeder, Trees Forever
In Government, STEM on February 14, 2018 at 7:16 am
Science backers listen to speakers during the March for Science Iowa on April 22, 2017 at the Iowa State Capitol in Des Moines.
Nearly a year ago, around 3,000 Iowans gathered on a sunny April day to support science – its role in public policy and improving the human condition – at one of dozens of marches around the world.
The March for Science Iowa, April 22 (Earth Day), united citizens, sent a message to government and provided insights into Iowa-based research. But its organizers say their dreams to continue advocating throughout the year haven’t panned out. Assembling the event left many of them exhausted. I was involved and, like others, the demands of work and family left me little time for activism. (Just look at the recent sparsity of posts to this site for evidence.)
Now, however, two of last year’s leaders are staging a revival, starting with a second event – to coincide, again, with a national March for Science. They’re also working to institute a formal structure that, with luck and hard work, could lead to a more enduring impact.
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Field Museum, glyphosate, Iowa State University, Jordan Shaw, Kaitlin Higgins, Kim Reynolds, March for Science, March for Science Iowa, Michelle Miller, Norman Borlaug, Pat Boddy, Roundup, Shamus Roeder, Tracy Heath, University of Chicago
In STEM on April 27, 2017 at 11:50 am
The science commandments, from a March for Science Iowa participant. He had his wife and child with him, too.
I wasn’t sure what would happen last Saturday. More than 1,300 people were committed via Facebook and more than 900 people followed the @MarchForScienceIA Twitter handle, and we got some press on WHO-TV and in the Des Moines Register. Nonetheless, I couldn’t guess how many actually would show up for the March for Science Iowa at the Capitol.
I contributed (in money and time) to the march and was there to help (my job, with my wife and son, was to man the barricades at each end of Finkbine Drive on the Capitol’s west side). If a thousand people gave up a beautiful Saturday afternoon to support science, I would be thrilled.
As the march started, I stationed myself at the corner of Finkbine and Grand Avenue and used a handheld clicker to count the passing participants. At times it looked like the troop of colorfully dressed, T-shirt-bedecked and sign-bearing activists would peter out, but a new horde would appear. I clicked furiously to keep up.
When the last had gone by, the readout was 2,025. I know I missed dozens more and organizers put the crowd at 2,500, give or take a couple hundred.
It was a great event – an enthusiastic and orderly crowd and a gorgeous day. Participants heard energizing speeches (at least one with some controversy sprinkled in) and educational talks. Organizers already are considering how to capitalize on the momentum.
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climate change, Donald Trump, Environmental Protection Agency, evolution, Governor's STEM Advisory Council, Iowa Legislature, Kim Reynolds, March for Science, March for Science Iowa, Next Generation Science Standards, NOAA, Scott Pruitt, STEM, Terry Branstad, vaccinations
In Government, STEM on March 15, 2017 at 7:13 am
A postcard to President Trump from Deborah Bunka, via the March for Science Iowa Facebook page.
I authored this post, which first appeared on the Iowa Starting Line blog. – TRO
Even before he was elected, commentators and experts noted a strong anti-science streak in Donald Trump’s rhetoric. Now that he’s been inaugurated, they’re calling him the most anti-science president ever. Trump is enacting an agenda that, at best, selectively supports scientific evidence and research.
With the appointment of Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt to run the Environmental Protection Agency, it’s clear that climate change will be downplayed or dismissed in the Trump administration. Pruitt took a moderate stance in his nomination hearings, but now is proudly revealing his anti-science views. Earlier this month he said he disagrees with the overwhelming evidence that carbon dioxide is a primary contributor to global climate change.
Trump and Pruitt are putting their words into actions. The administration has offered a plan to cut the budget for the EPA’s Office of Research and Development by 40 percent. The EPA as a whole would get a 24 percent cut. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), a major climate research agency, also would get a severe reduction. Other proposals under consideration would roll back Department of Energy financing for energy efficiency and renewable energy and for research on reducing carbon dioxide emissions.
Trump’s disdain for sound science goes beyond climate, however, and spans political parties. He’s given credence to the disproven notion that vaccinations cause autism and met with noted anti-vaxxer Robert F. Kennedy Jr. (of the famed Democratic family).
It’s easy to pick on Trump, but in truth his election and views are just the culmination of years of attacks on science, evidence and research – attacks that aren’t solely from conservatives. Now, scientists and those who value research and evidence as a foundation for sound public policy are fighting back.
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climate change, Donald Trump, evolution, Iowa State University, Jordan Shaw, March for Science, March for Science Iowa, Mike Pence, Shamus Roeder, STEM, University of Iowa, vaccinations
In STEM on January 30, 2017 at 7:08 am
A March for Science Iowa comic by designer Miles Greb (@goldrushcomic) via the March for Science Iowa Facebook page. I think the model looks like a dark-haired Scarlett Johanssen.
Jordan Shaw was a lab technician working in food safety a few years ago when one of his supervisors, a researcher working with the U.S. Department of Agriculture, published a study comparing eggs from organic and free-range chickens to standard eggs.
Time published her results: there was little difference in terms of safety or quality between the different eggs.
When the magazine posted the story on line, Shaw was stunned. “The comments on that were just unreal, like ‘you can’t trust the USDA because they’re the idiots who made the food pyramid,’” said Shaw, now a food safety consultant living in West Des Moines.
That made Shaw consider how to help the general public better understand science. “What we’re seeing now, really badly, is that science is elite, it’s liberal, all this stuff, and the problem is our populace just doesn’t understand, honest and truly, what is peer-reviewed science.”
His alarm increased when he read reports that the Donald Trump administration was suspending research grants and communications from key government science offices, especially those associated with the environment.
So Shaw – and others across the state – are taking action. They’re planning an Iowa version of a national march in Washington, D.C., to support science and research.
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Iowa Science Interface 