Facts are Facts: Marching for Science

April 24, 2017

On Saturday, April 22, Dickey Center Associate Director for Programs and Research Melody Brown Burkins, PhD, spoke to a crowd of thousands at the New Hampshire statehouse in Concord about the connection between facts and government policy. 

“We’re standing up not only for science but good government,” said Burkins, speaking at the March for Science, a worldwide movement to demonstrate support for science and its importance to society. Burkins is also an Adjunct Professor of Environmental Studies at Dartmouth. 

Burkins talked about growing up with a passion for science and her experience working in Washington, D.C., where she witnessed the importance of ensuring the best science was available to elected officials.

I saw first-hand how access and attention to independent scientific data could both inform and shape responsible policy.

“Our work has just begun,” she told the crowd. “Our voices local and global must continue to be heard, letting our elected officials know that we demand support for good independent science and honest governance.” 

She spoke along with Dartmouth assistant professor of earth sciences Erich Osterberg, a climate scientist, who stressed the need to get past the “false debate about whether climate change is real so we can have the real debate about what are we going to do about it.”

Links to news:

• 4/21/17 Concord Monitor:  March for Science draws thousands to State House on Earth Day
• 4/21/17 NHPR: Demonstrators Celebrate Facts and Fear Funding cuts at Concord Science March
• 4/22/17 Union Leader:  Hundreds gather in Concord and worldwide in celebration of science, Earth Day