March for Science Denver

Thousands took to Denver streets on Saturday attending the March for Science. The protesters gathered to support the use of science in formulating public policy and to denounce proposed cuts to federally funded research programs.

The crowd first heard statements and then marched through downtown streets many carrying signs some with images of the earth saying “I am with her.” One marcher was dressed as a caveman to illustrate where we’re headed if we continue to reject science. “Cavemen are confused about science, but I think we should get beyond being cavemen.”

KGNU’s Weston Eckloff spoke to several people participating in the march including a group from the WIN conference which just took place in Denver (Western Institute of Nursing.) “As doctorally prepared nurses we do science in our daily life, we see the importance of it for health and for society and that’s why we’ve come here to support it.”

After the march, speakers at Civic Center Park included Kevin Fitzgerald, staff veterinarian at the Alameda East Veterinary Hospital; Lupita Montoya, an engineering professor at the University of Colorado; Erin MacDonald, space science communicator from World Space Week, and Jennifer Ackerfield, assistant curator at the Colorado State University Herbarium. Governor John Hickenlooper’s speech was interrupted by anti-fracking protesters who chanted “Hickenlooper don’t frack our future.”

Hear some of the speakers here: