Protest sign at “March for Science,” Washington DC 2017.  Photo credit: Molly Adams [wikimedia commons]

I’m very happy to share this piece that was recently published in Nature magazine.

 

Now is not the time for despair.  Scientists must mobilize against political interference.

Resistance is rising against the assault on science, the environment and marginalized communities by the administration of US President Donald Trump. Battles are starting to play out in courts, but these cannot be the only sites of resistance. A broader, more inclusive defence of science is needed.

I have felt the impacts of political assaults. In 2017, after Hurricane Maria hit my homeland, Puerto Rico, and killed thousands of people, the first Trump administration denied the death toll and delayed the provision of US$20 billion in disaster aid. And, last month, a programme I run at the University of Pittsburgh in Pennsylvania — to help undergraduates from all backgrounds gain research experience — was among thousands of US National Science Foundation grants branded as promoting “woke” diversity propaganda by Republican Senator Ted Cruz…

Read more in this PDF version or on Nature.com (with links, but partially paywalled).