Robyn Williams: But, you may be thinking, what has science ever done for me? Monty Python had the same problem with the Romans.

[Excerpt from The Life of Brian]

So, if you're losing the argument, just shout 'shut up'.

Here's Jayde Lovell, the resident nerd on The Young Turks Network pretending to be Donald Trump's press secretary at a White House briefing.

Jayde Lovell: Thank you all for coming. Today we are announcing austerity measures for science and innovation. For too long our lead scientists have looked down on us from their ivory towers and laughed at us. They've taken all our funding, and not just from us but from our defence budget…

Aid: And from our bank bailouts.

Jayde Lovell: Yes.

Aid: And from the congressmen's retirement fund. And from the expansion of the prison system.

Jayde Lovell: And what have these scientists ever given us in return?

Audience member: Penicillin.

Jayde Lovell: What?

Audience member: Penicillin!

Jayde Lovell: Oh yes, they did give us penicillin.

Audience member: And birth control.

Aid: Yes, before birth control, Jayde, women used to spend half of their lives pregnant.

Jayde Lovell: Quiet. All right, well, I'll grant you that penicillin and birth control are two things that the scientists have done.

Audience member: And wi-fi.

Jayde Lovell: Well yes, obviously wi-fi, that goes without saying doesn't it. But apart from penicillin, and birth control, and wi-fi…

Audience member: Gluten-free pasta, Xanax…

Audience member: Space exploration…

Audience member: Plant breeding.

Audience member: Yeah, and there's far less food shortages than there were in the past, and more seedless watermelon.

Jayde Lovell: Yes, yes, all right…

Audience member: Don't forget Androids and iPhones.

All: Yeah! Go science!

Jayde Lovell: Shut up.

Aid: Sorry Jayde, but without the scientists, the mathematicians, the engineers, the chemists who dedicated their lives to advancing technology, we wouldn't have the Apple ecosystem.

Audience member: Yes, scientists certainly know how to advance culture.

Audience member: Yes, they do.

Aid: Yes, without computer science we wouldn't have coders who can help us pay back our friends.

Jayde Lovell: All right, all right, but apart from the penicillin, birth control, wi-fi, seedless watermelons, plant breeding, space exploration and Venmo…what has science ever done for us?

Audience member: Electricity!

Jayde Lovell: Oh shut up.

Robyn Williams: Yes, 'shut up', that ultimate sanction. Jayde Lovell from The Young Turks Network, channelling Monty Python via a White House pseudo press conference.

Meanwhile, back at AAAS, the Union of Concerned Scientists in America has set up its stall.

Katherine Catalano: Yes, I'm Katherine Catalano, I'm an outreach coordinator in the Clean Vehicles Program at the Union of Concerned Scientists.

Robyn Williams: And you?

Matt Heid: I'm Matt Heid, senior strategist in the Communications Department at the Union of Concerned Scientists.

Robyn Williams: So the march was on 22nd April around the United States. Then what happened?

Matt Heid: So we saw a lot of energy in the aftermath of the election in 2016, lots of grassroots groups sprang up, lots of energy and action, but what we've seen is a difficulty in translating that energy into real and meaningful action to affect the policy and to bring science back into the policy discussion. So what we are looking at in 2018 in the run-up to the US midterm elections is the opportunity to elevate and highlight the local and grassroots level actions and activities that many of the groups that have sprung up over the past year have taken and are planning on taking over the course of the year to bring science front and centre into the decisions that affect us all.

Robyn Williams: And your efforts are bipartisan, you're not part of the democratic push?

Matt Heid: That's correct, we are a non-profit, non-partisan organisation, we believe that science is a non-partisan issue, that all parties should take into account to make the best decisions possible based on the best available science.

Robyn Williams: And you're nodding. You've been in touch with people directly, haven't you, on the ground.

Katherine Catalano: Yes, I have. We've actually been working with a number of scientists around the country. We flew a couple in last month to Washington DC to come speak to their senators, some who had never done it before. So we are seeing people that are willing to take on those higher-level steps and act in a bigger way. And they were also enthusiastic to get involved in the political process and to make their voice heard and talk about their research with those in Congress. And it was a really exciting, motivating thing to see, and we'd like to build that up more and more this year.

Robyn Williams: And what sort of things are the scientists concerned about or asking for?

Katherine Catalano: Well, I personally work in the clean vehicles program, so they came in and flew in to speak to their Congress members about fuel efficiency standards, which in America right now they are under threat of being rolled back in both Congress and in the regulatory process. So they came to talk about the importance of fuel efficiency to consumers insofar as paying less for gas, the importance to climate change, it's actually one of our most effective climate change policies in America right now at reducing emissions. So that's one thing, but we have programs all across UCS where people are getting excited about and concerned about climate change, energy issues, food and agriculture issues. There has still been a fair amount of engagement this year, even in just lower level actions and people wanting to get more involved.

Robyn Williams: Hence your map. Come and look at the map. You've got a few dots beginning across the country, obviously on the east coast there's more. So it's taking off where?

Matt Heid: So the goal and what we are trying to do is capture not the fact that it's taking off in any one location but that it's a nationwide effort and energy that has taken place over the past year, and one of the challenges is because it has been so localised that there has been a lack of a common platform to highlight their efforts as well as to better connect each of these with each other to make the biggest difference possible. So we are really hoping to demonstrate the broad collective sweep of action across the entire country, not just in any one area.

Robyn Williams: Well Katherine, one of the things that was said last year, just before the march, was that the scientists are supposed to talk to people about why science is important for them. Everybody, in other words. Have you had much encounter with non-scientists, ordinary people around the country?

Katherine Catalano: Yes, so we have seen a lot of support for that and a lot of our members do really agree that this is a universal issue that people should care about, it should be included in the policy process. And more and more people have been joining that network as well and getting excited to be involved.

Robyn Williams: One of the problems might be that scientists are such nice people, they don't get angry enough or motivated enough, they want to stay quietly behind their benches doing their work. You're nodding.

Katherine Catalano: Yes, scientists talked about the importance of them advocating for their research and they are just kind of like, can't you do that for me? They are sometimes a little more nervous about breaking into that, which is why we provide training and webinars and really try to help people through the process. So we try to help overcome that barrier.

Robyn Williams: Yes, I was just thinking whether there is one big voice. Obviously the Science Guy is around, and Alan Alda and a few other people like that. Is there any one or two main figures leading the march?

Katherine Catalano: Science Guy is actually on our advisory board, so it's nice to add his voice to our work. But in general this is more of a collaborative effort. We work with coalitions of other science groups and advocacy groups, and yes, I don't know that one voice is necessarily taking shape right now, but we like it that way…

Robyn Williams: What's your own background, by the way?

Katherine Catalano: My background, I studied science in undergrad. I studied mechanical engineering and then environmental science. And then for my masters I went into public policy, various political realms, until settling here where I feel like my experience is really being put to good use.

Robyn Williams: And you?

Matt Heid: My background is in science, I came into this work as part of my concern around the global warming issue and its effect both on the environment as well as people.

Robyn Williams: Well, now we are at the end of winter. What's the program for the year, what happens next?

Matt Heid: So we are looking to the run-up and the inevitable crescendo of the year with the mid-term elections, so we are starting to look towards the next chapter in the American political process. We are now closer to the mid-terms then we are to the 2016 elections at this point, and so I think generating focus, energy and momentum towards that is paramount to making sure that science is brought back into the political process rather than being sidelined and ignored.

To elaborate on a point that Katherine was making, it's not that people don't recognise the value of science. We've seen message research time and time again that everybody loves science, understands that it's an important thing. The key thing that people don't necessarily recognise is that if science is so great, why would anybody sideline it or ignore it? And what we are seeing is the sidelining and abandoning of science and science advice across the current administration. We are really trying to get people to recognise and galvanise to make sure that it's not forgotten and sidelined from the political process.

Robyn Williams: Good luck and thank you.

Katherine Catalano: Thank you.

Robyn Williams: Thank you Matt.

Matt Heid: Great, thank you for taking the time.

Robyn Williams: Matt Heid and Katherine Catalano from the Union of Concerned Scientists, both at the AAAS meeting in Austin, Texas.