Great Ecology’s Marlene Tyner-Valencourt in the thick of the crowd.

Women in Science! This PhD student’s sign encouraged everyone to ask about her research.

Ecologists and ectobiologists, meteorologists and meterologists, geologists and geochemists, biomedical researchers and mechanical engineers, everything in between, and regular science enthusiasts came out in force on April 22nd in support of the March for Science. Great Ecology’s own intrepid crew in San Diego struck out for the day to march in support of scientific research and science education, revel in the diversity of our local community, and send a message.

What do we want?

Science!

When do we want it?
After rigorous peer review!

What can you expect from a bunch of nerds?

Great Ecology’s Emily Callahan poses after the march with Hunter, a hound for science!

The March for Science was a nationwide march to celebrate science, bring awareness to the need for basic scientific research in all areas, and promote government policy and action rooted in sound science. While the march in Washington, D.C. was the main march, thousands of people turned out for the San Diego march where the pre-march rally included talks from Scripps Institute professors Ralph Keeling, PhD and Lynne Talley, PhD on the impacts of climate change and rising sea levels, a biomedical PhD student who went into his field in the hopes of finding a cure for his daughter’s blindness, and three students from local schools who had won their local science fairs. The youngest of the winners, Ryan Alfonso, summed things up nicely: Even if it’s something small, science can matter. His research into a simple color change for giant balls placed in California Reservoirs to help reduce evaporation is an important step in increasing the efficiency of this effort and conserving a precious resource in the state.

The scientific method is designed to help us answer questions that can make a very real impact the local, regional, and global level.

Great Ecology’s Director of Ecology, Nick Buhbe, poses with his sign for the march

• Science is for everyone no matter how old or young you are;
• Science saves lives and makes the world a better place (“Remember that time you had polio? Me neither! Thanks, Science!”); and
• Scientists and science enthusiasts are ready to march in favor of science education and public funding for the research that makes so many amazing technologies, cures, and advances possible in the world today.

The People’s Climate March (started in 2014) is next on the spring schedule. Whether it’s because you’re interested in adaptation under our changing climate, feel strongly about environmental justice issues related to climate, or because you find the science of climate change fascinating in its own right, there’s a reason to find a march in your city on Saturday, April 29th. We all live on one planet and there’s no escaping our climate, whatever it happens to be. Research into understanding climate shifts and climate adaptation will be keys in the coming decades to protecting our water, our heath, our food, and our way of life.

“I am for encouraging the progress of science in all its branches.” – Thomas Jefferson (Jan 26, 1799)

Post-march, from left to right, Great Ecology’s Marlene Tyner-Valencourt, Nick Buhbe, and Ashley Tuggle