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Members of the Portland March for Science steering committee met at Tom McCall Waterfront Park on April 14 to walk the route and prepare for the Earth Day event.

(Eder Campuzano/Staff)

Earth Day in Portland will look a lot like a political demonstration.

That's because the Rose City's iteration of the international March for Science is taking a few pages out of a book penned by January's Women's March. The route, for example, is the same 44-block span of downtown Portland that between 80,000 and 100,000 demonstrators walked after Inauguration Day.

And much like the January event, the science march is a response to policies and political attitudes that gained traction with the election of Donald Trump as president.

"Our institutions are being undermined and we're here to defend them," said Sumi Malik, a transportation planner for CH2M and one of five organizers who gathered at Tom McCall Watefront Park on Friday afternoon to survey the site and hang flyers in the vicinity.

Those institutions may be federal programs in the Trump administration's crosshairs like the Environmental Protection Agency to local efforts like K-12 funding for science programs.

"Without these sorts of things, people's health is in danger," organizer Alex Conley said.

The Portland March for Science will take the same route as the Women's March, which spanned 44 blocks of downtown.

The members of the group that joined Conley and Malik under the Morrison Bridge found each other in a Facebook group that started in February.

Their professions range from a self-described store clerk who does a bit of writing on the side to an assistant dean at Oregon Health and Science University.

When organizers needed guidance, they turned to the folks who put together the women's march.

Everything from the route to the layout of the booths and stages that will pepper the Portland waterfront on April 22 was in some way inspired by the January event. Science march organizers anticipate a crowd of 10,000. (They hope it's a conservative estimate.)

Like the women's march, it'll be difficult to get an accurate figure for attendance. That's why the crew has a few tricks up its collective sleeves.

"We're scientists. We have drones," said Jackie Wirz, march organizer and assistant dean of graduate studies at OHSU.

Organizers are crowdfunding $30,000 for the permits and other associated costs for the march. The permit to reserve parts of Waterfront Park was $3,000 and other expenses cascaded from there.

The Xerxes Society for Invertebrate Conservation is a non-profit that the steering committee chose to move funds through. In addition to direct donations, proceeds from merchandise also provide funding for the event.

The day will kick off with a rally near the Morrison Bridge at 10 a.m.

Six speakers, including Reps. Suzanne Bonamici and Earl Blumenauer, will present and a variety of booths will provide interactive displays for children and adults alike. The activities will continue when the march begins at 11 a.m.

The 44-block walk should take approximately 90 minutes, organizer Curt Waltman said. At 12:30 p.m., the stage will host half a dozen or so bands.

The event wraps up at 3 p.m., when Waltman says a host of volunteers will swoop in and clean up Waterfront Park.

"We don't want to leave a trace," he said. "After all, we're also conservationists."

Even after the March for Science wraps up, the steering committee plans to keep advocating for rigorous research. That's why they've set up Portland Science Advocates, a non-profit that will continue the march's mission in the area.

For now, the organization is primarily concerned with the Earth Day event and maintaining its blog.

Waltman says the current political climate — particularly the rise of phenomena such as fake news and alternative facts — has energized the scientific community to be more active. Thorough research, he says, is being discounted as opinion far too frequently.

"Science is not partisan. Facts are not partisan," he said.

For Wirz, the assistant dean from OHSU, it's also about putting a face to a community that's often perceived as monolithic.

"Listening is something that we haven't taken enough time to do," she said.

If you go: The Portland March for Science starts under the Morrison Bridge at Tom McCall Waterfront Park at 11 a.m. on April 22. A rally featuring various speakers will begin at 10 a.m. The event lasts until 3 p.m. and is free and open to the public.

--Eder Campuzano | 503.221.4344

@edercampuzano

ecampuzano@oregonian.com