Politics

Why Seattleites marched for science

by / April 22, 2017
Science March overview

Marchers head to Seattle Center on their way from Capitol Hill.

On a drizzly Saturday in Seattle, thousands of scientists, supporters and enthusiasts gathered at Cal Anderson Park and marched to the Seattle Center on the 47th Earth Day.

The March for Science was created as a reaction to President Donald Trump’s anti-science rhetoric, including his repeated denunciations of climate change as a hoax, and the proposed budget cuts to the federal Environmental Protection Agency, the National Institutes of Health and the Department of Energy's Office of Science.

At a pre-march rally at Cal Anderson, various scientists and politicians, including Governor Jay Inslee and Seattle Mayor Ed Murray, spoke about the significance of science to a crowd.

During the Emerald City’s march, we asked protesters one simple question: why are you marching for science today?

Here are some of the people and their responses:

Saritha
Saritha (right) with her husband, Sharath, with child (they didn't want to give family names): “We’re both in the sciences. I’m a trained microbiologist, he’s a computer science guy, and I think science is intellectual curiosity and it fuels our ability to think, and that’s the most critical thing.” All photos by Nick Turner

 

Please support independent local news for all.

We rely on donations from readers like you to sustain Crosscut's in-depth reporting on issues critical to the PNW.

Donate

About the Authors & Contributors

Tess Riski

Tess Riski

Tess Riski is an editorial intern at Crosscut and a junior journalism major at Seattle University, where she serves as the news editor at her school newspaper, the Spectator. Born and raised in south King County's Des Moines, she likes reporting on crime, education and local politics. After graduation, she intends to work as an investigative reporter and mesh her two passions: writing and sleuthing around.