March for Science: Denver likely to see more than 10,000 people march

DENVER – The wave of activism created by millions of women who marched across the world after the election of President Donald Trump had a rippling effect on scientists who are also taking to the streets by the thousands next month, including here in Denver.

So far, more than 12,000 people said they’re interested in participating in the march to be held at Denver’s Civic Center Park on April 22, otherwise known as Earth Day.

Scientists and non-scientists alike will be marching “to celebrate science and the role it plays in people’s lives,” according to the movement’s website.

The nonpartisan group of organizers added the march will strive to also hold politicians accountable so that policy makers enact “evidence-based policies in the public interest.”

Organizers have pointed to policies enacted by the Trump administration since he took office -- most recently an executive order which drastically changes the role the U.S. plays in the fight against climate change -- as reasons for marching and rallying together.

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“This is not a partisan issue. People from all parts of the political spectrum should be alarmed by these efforts to deny scientific progress,” Caroline Weinberg, a medical researcher who is helping organize the march, told Scientific American. 

Still, some in the scientific community fear the march will eclipse the overall message and instead be misconstrued as a way of protesting Trump and his administration by the general public.

“Trying to recreate the pointedly political Women’s March will serve only to reinforce the narrative from skeptical conservatives that scientists are an interest group and politicize their data, research and findings for their own ends,” coastal ecologist Robert Young wrote in an opinion piece for the New York Times.

The movement, which sprung following the president’s “gag order” on several governmental departments back in January, now boasts around 840,000+ members on their official Facebook group.

A total of 44 countries will partake in the March for Science with nearly 400 rallies scheduled to take place that day. 

Denver is not the only city in Colorado that’s participating in the March for Science. People from Aspen, Avon, Breckenridge, Carbondale, Colorado Springs, Estes Park, Fort Collins, Grand Junction and Gunnison will also be marching.