It was a balmy Friday afternoon for protesters gathered on the green lawn of Klyde Warren Park, their outstretched arms holding up signs.
“Science saves lives!” one sign read.
“America is great because of SCIENCE,” read a second.
“Stand up for science!” proclaimed a third.
The third sign alluded to why the group of about 80 scientists, many of whom are usually clad in white lab coats, braved the 80-degree weather for a demonstration.
Across the United States, scientists organized similar protests Friday under a single call to arms: “Stand Up for Science.”
The demonstration, fashioned after the March for Science rallies in 2017 during President Donald Trump’s first term, aims to “defend science as a public good and pillar of social, political, and economic progress,” according to the flagship website.
The organizers also have specific demands, such as fighting for the end of censorship and political interference in science; protecting and reinstating diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility within government-funded science; and restoring federal research funding.
The nationwide demonstrations come as the Trump administration aims to cut the National Institutes of Health budget by $4 billion.
The cutback, announced early last month and not yet enacted, aims to reduce indirect costs for all NIH grants, capping the costs at a 15% rate. The Trump administration has described those costs as overhead.
The budget cuts are part of a wider overhaul by the Trump administration that has seen layoffs across federal agencies, as well as the shuttering of government programs.
Last month, a federal judge in Massachusetts halted the Trump administration from carrying out the NIH cuts after 22 state attorneys general filed a lawsuit. That block was extended this week and the Trump administration was expected to appeal it, Reuters reported.
Research institutions have said the expenditures are vital to support research infrastructure. This includes buying laboratory equipment and technology and paying support staff.
Local scientists told The Dallas Morning News that, if approved, the NIH cuts would stymie medical discoveries and innovation, stifle economic growth and pause clinical trials.
Ray MacDonald, a former professor at UT Southwestern Medical Center, used to study organogenesis, or how a mass of embryonic cells transforms into bodily organs.
“It feels good [to rally] but it also feels like an obligation on so many different levels,” said MacDonald, 72, who retired from UTSW five years ago. “After a while, you get too angry. You got to try to do something, so I’m trying to get involved.”
As protesters moved toward the sidewalk parallel to Woodall Rodgers Freeway, McKenna Pratt held a sign supporting endometriosis research.
The 23-year-old South Carolina native works as a research technician at the University of Texas at Dallas and recently was accepted into a graduate program at the University of Pittsburgh.
That acceptance is in limbo as the scientist Pratt hopes to work under hasn’t yet secured her NIH funding. Pratt’s voice held steady over the cacophony of passing cars honking in support of the rallygoers.
“I’m here because, at the end of the day, I believe in science,” said Pratt, who spoke for herself and not her university. “It’s my passion.”
For Pratt, who is hoping to pursue a career in science, the uncertainty of NIH funding’s future is hard to contend with.
“I think we’ve grown up in an interesting time where we’ve been exposed to a lot of things, just being the generation that grew up with the internet,” Pratt said. “So it’s this feeling of knowing a lot, having access to a lot, but everything is still up in the air.”
Erin Lauraine, 42, is expecting to graduate with her bachelor’s degree in psychology from UT Dallas next semester. The Oregon native with a braided mohawk and white lab coat talked about her upbringing in a fundamentalist atheist household and how that, surprisingly enough, kept her away from science for most of her life.
Her motivation for rallying at “Stand Up for Science” was simple: It’s a reminder that science is at the heart of humanity.
“I believe every human is a scientist,” Lauraine said. “We know that in our habits. We see it in our lives when we take extra time to water our plants or take a multivitamin. We know these little things add up. So is one single protest going to change everything? No, but is it a small step towards the right direction? Absolutely.”
Miriam Fauzia is a science reporting fellow at The Dallas Morning News. Her fellowship is supported by the University of Texas at Dallas. The News makes all editorial decisions.
