 Good afternoon and welcome to another episode of Likeable Science. I'm your host, Ethan Allen, here on Think Tech Hawaii. Welcome back to Likeable Science. Likeable Science, as viewers know, is all about why science is meaningful to our lives, why it's a vital and interesting part of our lives, and we're going to really take that into an interesting and different direction today. We're going to be talking about the March for Science. With me today in the Think Tech studios are Dr. Helen Spafford, who is, I guess, the local organizer for the March for Science, and Alicia Wood-Charleson, who is also deeply involved in that. Both have interesting positions at the university in different departments, talking about science communication, entomology. But tell us a little bit, I mean, sort of people will ask me, I'm sure. So what is the March for Science? OK, the March for Science is basically a movement where people are coming together to talk about the importance of science in our society and how we want the science to be, science to continue and to continue to be funded. Yeah, that seems sensible to me, right? We all should want science, right? We've all evidence-based policies. We all understand that one of the true measures of advancement in a society really can be sort of their technological scientific progress, much more so than any other measure in some sense, in terms of objectives. So why is this being organized at this point? Well, I think it's really become an interesting movement in the sense that, you know, there have been a lot of marches for various other things. And so scientists have always tried to reach out to communities and communicate their science. And this is another mechanism to try and get people together and really celebrate science. You know, science is very important in everybody's lives. You know, anybody who has a cell phone or flown on an airplane or been on TV, science really becomes a fundamental part of that. And I think that it's a long time coming that science kind of been sort of pushed out of a lot of what's going on in terms of creating public policy and, you know, some of these other things that are going on in terms of alternative facts. And so really everyone gets coming together to say, you know, we stand up for science. We are advocates for science. It's important to us. And we want to make sure that it continues in our lives. So you see this as part of sort of a pendulum swing, that they're moving, pushing science a little bit out of the mainstream. And now we're trying to get it the opposite way. Science has oftentimes sort of just been kind of understood to be there. I think it's just been a little bit appreciated in the sense that, like, it's not going anywhere. And right now it needs a voice. And so there's a lot of people that feel like they want to stand up for science. Yeah, it makes sense. I mean, science, like all other enterprises, needs resources, right, to run. And if you start cutting away its resources, it doesn't work. It doesn't work. Right. And so can you talk about some of the other people who might be involved or other groups that are supporting this? Well, we have a number of organizations that have endorsed the local March for Science, as well as the organizations that have endorsed at the national level. Locally, we have groups like the Hawaii Alliance for Science, Sierra Club, The Nature Conservancy, Pangea Seed. There's a whole host of them that are coming to the table, as well as some university departments and colleges. And the full list you can see on our website. But every day we're getting more and more endorsements from different organizations. And one of the best things about that is that there's obviously a lot of scientists that are endorsing the March for Science, but a lot of these people aren't necessarily scientists. They're people that appreciate science or advocate for conservation. Or use, you know, better use of public lands. All of those, everybody's coming for their own reason. But we've got a lot of endorsements from people that aren't necessarily scientists, which is great. Excellent. So I was going to ask how, since it's called the March for Science, how do non-scientists get involved? And how are you encouraging their participation? Well, basically, we just want people to recognize how important science is in terms of, you know, when they go to visit the doctor, for example. You know, and the doctor prescribes either medicines or different treatments or even diagnosis. All of that information is really that the doctor is using has been generated through some kind of scientific process. And then when you go to the grocery store and you get food off the shelf, you know, there's science behind all of that as well. And so I think what we're hoping for, you know, sort of the non-scientists to do is to think about how science really impacts on their daily lives and every aspect of it. And then, you know, connect with that in some way and just come and say, hey, yeah, I really want more of this. I want more of these valuable benefits from the cell phone in our hands and to the TV that we sit and watch. Yeah, absolutely necessary. And you see what happens in places where science loses support. Spain, I guess, is a classic example right now. Spain has a big austerity budget cut. And the last several years it's had something like 10,000 to 12,000 and their scientists emigrate. And, you know, a bunch of the science sort of infrastructure in Spain I gathered is suffering severely now. And plus they're losing a whole generation of their scientists. And that's definitely one of their big fears is that, you know, you might not see it immediately if you start sort of decreasing the funding for science, but it definitely will impact us further down the road in terms of technological development. And, you know, are we really going to be the ones that come up with the new, you know, new novel tools? Yeah, we don't, we never, that's one of the beauties of science. You never know where it's going. You do one thing that seems to have something be focused one way and somebody takes it and runs a completely different way. Literally, everyone can do science. So it's just who, you know, who has the resources and the space to do it. And the U.S. in particular has been, you know, a leader in scientific discovery and innovation. And we would like to see that continue. And locally as well. I mean, the state of Hawaii is a fantastic leader in a lot of these things. And, you know, ThinkTech supports a lot of that. Sure, sure. And so, you know, we always struggle to make sure that people come back and are willing to be innovative and sort of help develop the islands. And that's now becoming true on a national level. Right. So in a sense, you can see, I guess, that the whole controversy over the 30-meter telescope being the same kind of societal pushback against science in a way and, you know, and it's all playing out here in Hawaii as well as other places, of course. Yeah, and the main focus for this particular march is really, you know, the role of science to everybody in that sense of that. Like, you know, it crosses cultures. It crosses, you know, age demographics. It crosses, you know, the ocean, obviously. And so this isn't necessarily about, you know, how those conversations are going on and those conversations are absolutely necessary. And they're very, they're valued in, you know, everything that the March for Science is doing. But it really is kind of a step above that. You know, it's getting kids out playing and making questions and, you know, hypotheses about if I make this piece of dirt wet and this one's dry, like, what does it do? It's about sort of the curiosity and just exploring the world around us. Right, and yeah, I mean, science has had these tremendous impacts. You sort of think of it sometimes as having had a lot of impact in the past and you don't think of it necessarily as the change is going on in our lives. And yet, you know, we live, on average, what, 20 years longer than our grandparents' generation. And yet, among economically-advanced nations, we have severe health problems in our old age. And so, you know, while we've done certain things right, obviously we're not doing other things right in terms of supporting science and its applications. And Hawaii is kind of in a unique place because there is so much knowledge that already exists about the land. And so incorporating all of that into how we practice science, I think is a really unique position. And so we really want to try and make sure that all of those people are included and can sort of come together and talk about how to do that best. Absolutely. The classic ways that the Hawaiian cultures used water and used water very effectively, very efficiently, would use and reuse and reuse their water on the way down, down the stream, this high, and would regulate those very carefully when they flood into the fish ponds and all that. Just very sophisticated systems. A very good understanding of the fact is there's a limited resource that had to be carefully preserved and used wisely. And I think this ties in very well with what the March for Science is really about. It's about bringing people together to initiate and have conversations because science has its power through the sharing of information. I mean, if we as scientists just sit and do our thing in our little labs and just publish or even just give presentations to other scientists, that it loses its power that way. But when we bring the community together to have these conversations and we share our knowledge and understanding with each other, then we really can do amazing things as a species, as a community. Yeah, absolutely. It's unusual to see scientists reaching out this broadly, this way, this unified, and it's great. It's a very positive trend. Scientists are typically not the world's best communicators. They're trained to communicate within narrow bounds, usually they're trained to take down these narrow paths. And so it's great practice for them to come out and try to share more broadly with a public. And I like the examples we're giving about it, all the different ways. And I mean, that's very much fits with the theme of what we're doing. On the screen right now, we're seeing, I guess there are marches for science all around the globe basically here. Yeah, so I believe there's 481 satellite marches now in 44 countries and all 50 US states. Yeah, so basically the kinds of issues that we're seeing in the US, there's obviously support worldwide for those. And because, as you mentioned before, in other countries, people are experiencing the same thing in terms of the decreased funding for scientific research and yet the recognized need to have this continue if we're going to continue to function. Right, right. And it's, you know, it is stuff that you can't take that short term view of it. I mean, if you think about that, this whole thing just passed you when they found you found gravity waves, right? I mean, that started back in the 1980s. They started trying to get these machines together to do that and took them years and years and years before they finally got all the funding, all the right teams, the right people, the right political will. And got the equipment to work. Right, right. Yeah, and so it's amazing. So, you know, raising, sort of raising the profile of science, raising this recognition, what do you sort of see it as a longer term goal then? Well, we definitely have, locally, we're focusing on some very particular connections that we're trying to make. And so one of the things that has really, we've benefited from already is the organizers are making connections with other local science advocacy programs. And so those are connections that might not have been made without kind of this grassroots effort. And so we can continue to support them in whatever ways they need as after the march is going on. And then also, you know, bringing this community together so people can start a network and really feel like part of a community that supports science and is willing to advocate for science. We really encourage people to go home and talk to your neighbors, you know, talk to your ohana and especially start talking to your local representatives. One of the end goals for this is really to try and get knowledge-based decision-making back in public policy. And if we can accomplish that, even at the regional or state or local level, then I think we will have been successful. Excellent, excellent. Well, I had Senator Glenn McKay on likable science a while ago. I have to try to drag him back on here and talk about that. Yeah, I think that's time. Yeah, but I mean, you're right. It's, you know, polls of the American public show very few of them can name a living scientist who they know, or at least they claim this. I find it hard to believe, but... And so we encourage people to come because there will be a lot of scientists there and we'll all be wearing martial science shirts, but we look like everybody else until you listen to us talk and it's hard to understand anything we say sometimes. But yeah, we are just normal people and I think that's where the disconnect gets lost, is that we do go into the lab and wear the lab coat and the glasses, but when we come out, we're just normal people. And we go to the grocery store and yeah. And people often don't think, they think of science as very divorced from sort of the rest of the world and it isn't. Science is a product of the culture it lives in, right? At the same time, it shapes that culture and so there is a very deep and two-way interplay here and people don't typically understand that. I believe science sort of exists as this entity unto itself that sort of has its own life. Well, we do encourage people to come because one of the activities or events that we're having at the March for Science rally is a Meet the Scientist table. So we're actually going to have a rotating schedule of scientists from different disciplines come and sit at the Meet the Scientist table and so if you want to meet an entomologist, I'll have a time there. And we've got stickers to hand out so there's no reason not to come. Cool, excellent. Well, this sounds like a fun event. Let's get into more of the details of it after our short break we're gonna take here. So we'll be back in about one minute. I'm your host Ethan Allen here on Likeable Science. Helen Spafford and Alicia Wood-Charleson are with me today and we're talking about the March for Science. Hi, I'm Cheryl Crozier-Garcia, the host of Working Together on Think Tech Hawaii. Join us every other Tuesday from 4 p.m. to 4.30 when we discuss the impact of change on employees, employers, and the economy. Hello, this is Martin Despeng. Please join me on my new show, Humane Architecture, like the one in the back that you see of our architect, David Rockwood. The show is gonna be on Tuesdays, 5 p.m. here on Think Tech Hawaii in downtown Honolulu. See you then. Thank you for watching Think Tech. I'm Grace Cheng, the new host for Global Connections. You can find me here live every Thursday at 1 p.m. where we'll be talking to people around the islands or visiting the islands who are connected in various aspects of global affairs. So please tune in and aloha, and thanks for watching. And we're back here on Likeable Science here on Think Tech Hawaii. I'm your host, Ethan Allen. With me today are Alicia Wood-Charleson and Helen Spaffer, both from the University of Hawaii here at Manawa, both helping to organize the March for Science, which we're talking about. And right before the break, we're talking about you're gonna meet the scientist table, which sounds like fun. A lot of people probably won't have met an entomologist before, and I know from talking to some of your students, you've got, they're doing some of the string just researched around, and people met people studying sea slugs and all the fun things they study. So what other kinds of activities are there? Well, there'll be some different informational booths. We're going to have some face painting. And... It's like science face painting? I believe, yes, there's gonna be science-themed face painting. And then we're also going to have some March for Science banners, blank ones, where people can come and actually write on the banner why they are supportive of science, why they are there and why they care. Oh, okay, that sounds good. Yeah, so it'll start at 3 p.m., and I think they had a sort of informational fire up there. It starts at 3 p.m. on the corner of University in Dole on a big lawn just as you come up to UH. And then there's, we start at 3 p.m., there'll be speakers, and then at 4 p.m. we'll do a march. We'll have an opening protocol, and then we'll march. And then Hilo is also having two events. One is gonna be on Friday afternoon evening, and one will be on Saturday the 22nd association with the Mary Monarch Festival. And Kauai and Maui also have events that are up there, and all this information is available on our website, which is at the top. March for Science, Hawaii. I did that. All right, looks great. And there's the root for marching. Yeah, that's the route. So we're coming down from the university corner there on Dole and University, and coming down to University and doing a loop, and then back up. Looks great. Looks great. Should be fun. And we're expecting a goodly crowd, I hope with a lot of the range of demographics here, right? Yeah. It'll be interesting to see who we can. And there's a lot of other Earth Day events going on. That day, which is probably why we moved it to 3 PM. And so I think we're going to try and go to all those Earth Day events and recruit and stuff as well. Remind people that when you're done, you can come and hang out. But yeah, we're expecting, I don't know, but our estimate's about 1,000 or so now? 1,000 to maybe 3,000. We're not sure. Sure, not very hard to predict. Great, great to see them in Hilo, collaborating on the Mary Monarch Festival. Yeah, we're really excited about that. That's a great way to help link it to a well-established event. Excellent, excellent. And so what kind of follow-up is going to happen? I mean, you can't just march and then like, OK, we're done. And we'll walk away, right? Do something beyond that. We're still working on the plans for the follow-up. But again, because through this event, we've made connections with other groups and other organizations and other people in a way that probably hasn't happened before. And so our plan is to build this network of a communication network among these different groups where we can keep the conversation going. And there may be other events that we plan in the future or communications that we send out to encourage people to advocate for science. So yeah, it just really just depends on how many people come and how many people indicate that they want to continue to subscribe basically to. And we're using science tools for this kind of networking now, right, this Slack. Say a few words about Slack. So I guess as a communications person, I suppose that's my job. So Slack is basically an online forum where you can invite anybody in and you can have channels in Slack for different topics. And it's a great way for people to keep informed about everybody's conversations without having to go and ask for an email to be forwarded or to be CC'd on anything like that. And so it's a nice, very transparent open communication platform that we're using. But we're also really pushing a lot of social media. We're on Twitter. We are on Instagram. And so please definitely come find us there. And that seems to be doing quite well. We're having people host why they march for science all the way up until they march for science because everybody's very passionate about this. And we're getting lots of pictures of beautiful sunsets and sceneries in Hawaii and people marching for just those we think to sell. That's good. Yeah, and there are. Every day, we see more and more reasons that we should be supporting science, right? There's more and more discoveries come out that just open up the doors and say, hey, we need to figure this one out. I mean, the recent connection that's being the correlation between air pollution levels and the onset of dementia that's just being now sort of recognized. Clearly, it's a huge issue and needs to be looked at very closely and to see what the causative agents really are, what length exposure begins to have the bad effects, other ways to reverse this, can moving to cleaner air. Help, yeah. Well, and we're starting to see some of the consequences when we don't pay attention. All the corals and the Great Bear Reef are really on this for their second year taking a huge hit because the temperature is increased. And so they're starting to be some serious consequences for not paying attention. And so we really need to have a voice now for science. On the Great Bear Reef, didn't we just lose our first definite mammalian casualty to climate change? There was a little vole-type animal that was up. Only lived on a few little reef islands and now it's gone because there's just not quite enough island left. Yes. And that's happening with people on islands, as you know. Space spent a lot of time on a lot of South Pacific islands. The ecology is changing in big time. And we need more research, more resources for this to figure things out. More students getting engaged in it. And I think it goes beyond that as well, though. And this is part of where the March of Science really does have an important sort of launching point is that we do need the continued support for science and actual core research. But these kinds of problems that we're facing now, suggest to that we as the scientific community and the community at large need to say, well, these discoveries, they're important. But we need to not just know about them, but we need to do something about them. We need to implement change in how we operate as a society in order to take advantage of this information that has been generated. And that's where this connection between science and policy is really important. And that actually brings the other research-related issues is to bring in the knowledge that already lives out there in a broader community from other cultures and be sure that gets incorporated, because that's going to, to a large extent, shape how a policy gets implemented, if it is successful or not, as if it is congruent with cultural values and cultural norms. Absolutely. Yeah, it's quite a problem. People do get that divorce between science and culture, but it's, there is a very close relationship. And so what, what are you going to be doing at the M.R.? Oh. I'm running around. Yeah, lots of running around. Lots of running around. I think I'm going to be probably mostly doing the social media component of it. We're hoping to have some television stations there, potentially even Jay Fidel has come down from Think Tech. So we've got some people that are willing to talk to them and I'm just going to go around and just push all the social media. We will have Facebook Live event going. And then we also have the Science Communicator, Zohana, which is a registered independent organization at the UH at UH Manoa that I'm part of. They'll have a table along with what's called the SOS Miley Mentoring Bridge, which is really trying to link local students in community colleges in that sort of transfer to the UH system, kind of like have them bridge and have a community that they can sort of fall back on. So we'll be there hanging out and we'll have stickers and all sorts of stuff. Excellent, excellent. Again, those are great ways to help enlarge that community of students and getting a broader representation of the diversity that we have in this country involved in science, which is so critical, because science isn't, it's not just a game for one little segment. Oh, it's literally for everybody. Yeah, yeah. Oh no, it really is. Absolutely, we need to be sure people understand that. So this sounds like it's going to be a great venue to help raise that awareness. And yeah, I mean, I can envision all kinds of things you could be doing, I mean, even something like juggling, right, there's a lot of science in juggling, right? Yeah, there's a lot, yeah, there's a lot of gravity. Would you like to come and do it? I do not juggle, I juggle, very badly. I think we'll have over 20 different tables and booths of people doing activities and, you know. Excellent, excellent. I should think about some water activities to do. Well, we'd love to have you, yeah. That's true, that's true. I could do the classic water balloon with the flame under it, you know, you put a flame on a water balloon and it does not break. Well, okay. Come down to the science communicators on a table and explain to everybody how that works. That would be fantastic. We'll try to do it then, that sounds like a good idea. So again, to review this for people where it's going to be on the date is. April 22nd. I had that Saturday and at 3 p.m., 3 to 6, basically, they're at the university and I'm doing that loop that you showed earlier, but with parallel events in Hilo and on the other islands, too. Oh, they're right there. Yeah, so that's an image from the actual March for Science National and you can see we've all registered as being satellite marches. Oh, okay, okay. And there's the formal flyer again. Very good that it's being done on Earth Day. Very good congruence events there. Any last words that you wanna urge people to join in or inspire them in some way here? Yeah, we'd love to have you come. But we're also looking for volunteers. So anyone who is interested in volunteering and helping out with the event and making it a great success, we would love to have you do that. If you go to our website, you can find a volunteer button and then just fill in the form and we'll be in contact with you there. Yeah, looks like there are a great variety of different roles to play. So I'm very, very simple and others are a little more challenging, perhaps, for some people. But there will be people who will help you through all of it. Yeah, we've got a good group of sort of coordinators that meet every week and have been going through the process of permitting and logistics and all that. So we definitely have some good people that are gonna help us run this. It's not just Helen and I. No, there's a whole team of us. There's a team that we're here for. We're very committed and passionate about it. Yeah, there's dozens and dozens and dozens of names here of people. So that's wonderful. Well, I look forward to hearing more about this, learning more about it. I will push it here on subsequent issues of likable science here. Thank you. Up to and including the day and then we'll have to be there on the day. Well, we'll see you there with your balls. Or play me in water room. Yeah, we'll sign you up. Sounds good. Well, thank you very much, Helen. Thank you very much, Alicia. Thank you. Good to have you here. Aloha. Aloha. And we hope you'll join us