Supporters of science and government-sponsored research and development gathered at the Wisconsin State Capitol Friday for the Stand Up for Science rally.
Stand Up for Science is a national movement calling for rallies across the U.S. to defend science as a public good and pillar of social, political and economic progress, according to the Policy Goals on their website.
A press release expressed the concern for future research and scientific findings due to the recent executive orders reducing available funds for a variety of research projects across the country.
The rally began at noon with opening remarks from University of Wisconsin nutritional sciences professor Rick Eisenstein.
Around 1 p.m., protesters began to march around the Capitol building chanting, “science saves lives,” and “Hey hey! Ho ho! Donald Trump has got to go!”
Many people drove by, honking their horns in support for the movement.
Of these rally participants included Wisconsinites Kelly Kearns and Tom McClintock.
McClintock held a sign that said his wife is alive because of the funding towards cancer research at UW.
“Getting rid of some of the science that we currently have is going to cost lives, it’s going to cost the planet,” McClintock said. “My wife, she has cancer, but it’s been treated, and then she may not have survived if it hadn’t been for cancer research.”
Gerald Eggleston, a U.S. veteran from Wisconsin, also attended the rally.
Eggleston talked about the history of science courses he took when he attended UW.
Eggleston said that questioning the legitimacy of science now would undo years of progress.
“If we start breaking the chain now and regressing and taking away parts like erasing pieces from the scientific record, it starts breaking the chain,” Eggleston said. “We’re going to regress, we’re not going to advance.”
Rally participants continued around the Capitol until around 2 p.m., when people began to gather around the front of the building and listen to featured speakers for this event.
The first speaker was Mitch Breunig from Mystic Valley Dairy, who spoke on how potential funding cuts to research could impact the dairy industry.
“As a farmer, I live by the motto, do the best you can until you know better,” Breunig said.“Those research products teach us how to do better.”
Cheryl Stucky, a researcher at the Medical College of Wisconsin focusing on chronic pain, followed Breunig.
Stucky voiced concerns about halted pharmaceutical research, and the inability to then investigate causes of chronic pain. Stucky also touched on how funding cuts could impact her trainees.
“Their training grants are being ripped away, and that is threatening our future, “ Stucky said. “If this group of scientists, these trainings are lost, there will be no one left to teach the next generation of scientists to discover new medicines and therapies.”
One future scientist, Alex Mikesell, also spoke to protesters. Mikesell is a postdoctoral fellow at the UW Campbell lab.
Mikesell described declining funds over the past month and his friends losing career opportunities due to defunding.
“When you slash science, you don’t just cut budgets — you cut breakthroughs, you cut hope, you cut the future, Mikesell said. “So today we stand up for science, we stand up for a future where disease does not get the final word.”
Speakers ended the rally urging attendees, of which there were around 100, to call Wisconsin State Senators and express concern over federal budget cuts.
