After events across the world on Saturday we asked readers working in or involved in science to tell us why they were taking action

Scientists from around the world took to the streets and organised online in events advocating evidence-based policy on 22 April.



'Evidence not arrogance': UK supporters join global March for Science Read more

The global March for Science started as a small community based in Washington DC after online discussion sparked shortly after Donald Trump’s inaugration in January, but grew to encompass hundreds of satellite groups in cities from New Zealand to South Korea to Switzerland.



Readers in those countries and many more got in touch to tell us why they were taking part – below are some of their stories.



Rachel Treharne is a PhD student in Sheffield and took part in the march in London



I took part because at a time when we so badly need to maintain hard-won momentum on tackling climate change, politics around the world is taking us in the other direction – ignoring clear scientific imperative. In the Arctic regions where I’ve worked, climate change is already having huge impacts. I’m afraid and frustrated that the window of time we have to reduce emissions and minimise the suffering climate change will cause to people is now closing I hope the march has made scientists more visible, and shown that as a community we do have a real passion for reason and truth. It can be hard to know what to believe or who to listen to at the moment. We need to show that science is credible, its based on reason and evidence and that we’re not prepared to let scientific facts be misrepresented to the public.

Former scientist Jennifer Blackman joined the March for Science in Busan, South Korea



Facebook Twitter Pinterest Jennifer Blackman Photograph: Jennifer Blackman/GuardianWitness

I wanted to show support for the March for Science in Washington DC. It is very important to me that science be robustly funded, and that children all over the world get quality STEM education. I’m also concerned about transparency in science – peer-reviewed science should not be censored so am uniting behind the #sciencenotsilence hashtag.



Ian Andrews is a Guardian reader with physics and maths degrees – he took part in Wellington, New Zealand



Facebook Twitter Pinterest Ian Andrews at the march for science in Wellington, New Zealand. We approve of his sign! Photograph: Ian Andrews/GuardianWitness

I probably feel most strongly about representing veganism at the march. If you care about deforestation, water preservation, energy use, greenhouse gasses – you have to be vegan. If you care about animal cruelty, animal welfare, animal exploitation – you have to be vegan. If you care about antibiotic-resistant infection – you have to be vegan. If you care about obesity, heart disease, diabetes and various cancers – you have to be vegan. And for me it’s the science that tells us this.



Nora Comiskey, 65, has taught science for 40 years in both the US and Europe. She marched in Philadelphia



Science cannot be silenced, there needs to be a free flow of information in all fields of science, and funding for education, research, conferences, etc, with no strings attached. The current atmosphere is one of “gag orders” and meddling in how science is taught, disseminated, and used to support verifiable facts that do not always support the agenda of certain factions in a number of countries. In the US this has become especially problematic, with large cuts in national and state funding that will impact health, research, and natural resources.

Its time to make ourselves heard, and I do not believe that “science should not be politicised”, as some say. Science has been politicised since before Galileo. I hope the march sends a message of global cooperation and shared values within the scientific community, and to the public in general that science is not locked up in ivory towers or museums or laboratories. We are part of everyday activities, we are the people on the street.

This reader sent his contribution from Denver, Colorado, via GuardianWitness – a message for Donald Trump



A complicated insult This man's Trump takedown is complicated. Ask a physicist for the derivative of acceleration.

Marta, in Berlin, wants to see real evidence-based change



I wanted to To underline the importance of the scientific method. It is the best tool that we, human beings, currently have to interrogate the world that surrounds us. It poses a question, finds the conditions to test it appropriately, repeats this test rigorously to asses whether the results can be reproduced, and leads to an answer supported by evidence. It is evidence-based, not opinion-besed, and open to feedback. Evidence, fact-checking – and responsible Googling – do matter. Let’s build our society and educational system on these principles.

Here’s a sign from an event in Switzerland, with some more thoughts below



March for Science, Geneva Geneva is home to many international organisations and has more than its fair share of scientists. The speakers at the rally before the Geneva March for Science included: James Beacham, a particle physicist at CERN; Hilal Lashuel, a Molecular Biologist studying neurodegenerative diseases such as Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s; and Mike Sparrow, Senior Scientific Officer of the World Climate Research Programme. I took part in the march today partly for political reasons: politicians need to recognise the benefits of science to society and ensure that policy is guided by evidence, not by lobbyists for vested interests. But also for personal reasons: I have close family members who will dismiss facts in order to maintain their beliefs. I want to affirm that as new information comes to light, we should integrate it into our beliefs: facts are immutable, but beliefs can change.

Maxime Jacquet is a scientist working in Edinburgh



I find that the recent political developments and shift in society’s view on research, its practitioners and its findings, threatens the good relationship between society as a whole a the small portion of it that lives primarily for and from research (not only science).

I hope that by showing others who researchers are, and explaining what we do on the occasion of March for Science, we may be able to initiate a new dialogue that will foster mutual learning and trust. March for Science is an opportunity for all researchers to come together and show others in society that although we all have a different voice and question, we do all believe that the scientific method we apply and the questions we consider are of prime importance to us all.

Lastly, participants of all ages in Bristol, UK



You can share your views and experiences in the comments, below.

