San Antonio scientists to march Saturday in support of facts

San Antonio March for Science organizers came up with a logo that merges scientific tools and concepts with iconic San Antonio and Texas symbols. San Antonio March for Science organizers came up with a logo that merges scientific tools and concepts with iconic San Antonio and Texas symbols. Photo: Courtesy Of Alex Mora Photo: Courtesy Of Alex Mora Image 1 of / 5 Caption Close San Antonio scientists to march Saturday in support of facts 1 / 5 Back to Gallery

As scientists and their supporters march in Washington on Saturday, San Antonio residents will hold their own march to deliver a message about the importance of facts and rational inquiry.

The San Antonio March for Science from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday at San Pedro Springs Park is one of 517 satellite marches planned in nearly every U.S. state and in countries around the world. Local organizers come from diverse backgrounds but say they’re united in support of the scientific method itself as the best way to guide government and inform society.

“Facts are being replaced by opinions or cherry-picked or taken out of context,” said organizer Alejandra Mora, a data analyst based at San Antonio Military Medical Center. She crunches numbers on “anything and everything that has to do with transporting casualties,” trying to improve care for wounded soldiers.

At a meeting at Woodlawn Theatre on Wednesday, Mora and other organizers talked about their experiences navigating a culture increasingly straying from facts. That may be the most common thread running through the small group of scientists, educators and advocates organizing San Antonio’s march.

On Saturday, the march — the first of its kind in San Antonio — will start at 10 a.m. at the park. Marchers will make a loop around Main Avenue, heading back to the park about noon. Along the way, organizer Grace Barnett said, they will walk through a “timeline of scientific discovery” that begins with the ancient Egyptians’ invention of the calendar and the creation of the compass in China.

“Don’t give it away!” joked Katie Benson, another core member of the group.

The event will also feature speakers and displays from local universities and research groups about scientific efforts in San Antonio.

“If we can raise awareness about those and get people excited and wanting to promote that in their communities, to me, we will have accomplished a great deal,” Barnett said.

She and the others say they began meeting in February after local science teacher Matt Poarch saw early news and social media reports about a national march and began organizing such an effort in San Antonio.

“I did not know these people before, and I love them,” Mora said. “I just think it’s great that something so basic, science, and the foundation of it just brought us together.”

The local group insists it’s nonpartisan, even though rumblings of a national march began after the inauguration of President Donald Trump and the Women’s March on Washington, which drew almost half a million people.

The national March for Science also has a San Antonio tie, with researcher Jonathan Berman of UT Health San Antonio serving as co-chairman.

Trump’s campaign, transition and early actions as president have sent fear rippling through the scientific community. Trump appointed Myron Ebell, an economist who denies the science behind global warming, to head his Environmental Protection Agency transition team, then appointed former Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt to run the agency. Pruitt has said he does not believe greenhouse gas emissions are driving catastrophic climate change.

A recent White House budget proposal slashes at least $7 billion to federal scientific agencies and grant programs, including the National Institutes of Health, NASA, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the Energy Department.

Despite all this, none of the San Antonio march organizers mentioned Trump’s name even once at their meeting Wednesday. Instead, they talk about their own experiences.

There’s Julian Chavez, a research associate at the University of Texas at San Antonio studying monarch butterflies and milkweed, the host plant of the caterpillars that become monarchs. Sara Beesley runs the Mitchell Lake Audubon Center in South Bexar County. Barnett coordinates monarch butterfly outreach efforts for the National Wildlife Federation. Benson is a special education teacher at Judson Independent School District.

Barnett remembers someone telling her while she was working on one of her monarch programs that she shouldn’t refer to programs as “evidence-based” because it has a negative connotation.

“That is awful,” she said. “We need to have science be trusted and respected for what it is. … We need to challenge this idea that’s out there now that we have ulterior motives when we share these scientific principles. We don’t. We’re just trying to share the truth.”

More information on the march is available at Marchforsciencesa.com.

bgibbons@express-news.net

Twitter: @bgibbs