Boston -Official theme of the meeting American Association for Science DevelopmentIt was held from February 13th to 15th to form a science tomorrow.
The unofficial theme is “uncertainty.”
AAAS is the largest scientific council in the United States since the second Trump administration began with thousands of scientists, advocates and policy experts. We are supporting research, rubbing public data on online sources, and threatening federal workers’ purification.
Despite the meeting, thousands of employees of the federal government are planning to reduce the government, including scientists from the National Institute of Health, the Disease Control and Prevention and Environmental Protection Agency I was fired as part of it.
“We gathered at the moment of confusion. AAAS CEO Sudip Parikh said in a welcome address on February 13 by AAAS CEO Sudip Parikh. “I don’t want to coat it sugar.”
Joseph Francisco, chairman of the AAAS board, mentioned:
The researchers described their institutions in used words such as “chaos”, “confusion” and “crazy”.
Miles Arnett, who works for a Ph.D., said, “The general meaning is confusing right now. Biotechnology at the University of Pennsylvania. “I went to the panel with the people I recently worked in in the government. Nobody knows coming, ”Arnett says. “Paralysis effect.”
Some attendees are far from working when they talk about their experiences. I didn’t know where I worked before a federal researcher turned his name badge and talked with me. Others refused to reveal their affiliates when they asked questions during the science session.
“I have a lot of people as civilians. I don’t say what I belong. ‘ Washington DC
And in almost all scientific dialogue, the presenters suggested the political situation. In a session on the distrust of Rutgers University’s political scientist Katherine Ognyanova in New Brunswick, “Well, we are kind because we have more wrong information and no guard rails. EMMA Courtney, a biologist of Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory in New York. This conversation ended with the description of mushroom clouds.
In addition to fear of livelihoods and public safety, scientists expressed their fear of the long reputation of US scientific enterprises. Some speakers cited “social contracts” after World War II, when scientists and governments agreed that it would be a good idea for scientists and governments to fund basic research and eventually lead to economic and technology development.
Until recently, the US’s intellectual freedom and opportunities attracted STEM students around the world. But according to the debate held at the AAAS meeting, it can change rapidly.
Nada Salem, who is from Canada at Harvard Medical School and studies bioethics and medical ethics, said, “People come to the United States because of the power of science.” Salem said he is currently listening to more and more international scientists about leaving the United States. “I’m really sad.”
Some American scientists may try to leave the United States. Ph.D. Quantum physics of the Polytechnic Institute in Massachusetts. “As soon as the degree, the first priority is that there are many chances of quantum physics in Europe.
Take action
There is a general agreement that American science is threatened, but there is no agreement on what to do or what to do. It is important to have tolerance for uncertainty act Although it is science, scientists are more difficult for scientists to tolerate.
Among the researchers, there is a temptation to put down the head, continue to science, and do our best to do our best. But many of the meeting attendees expressed their desire for greater coalition and collective action.
Yale’s epidemiologist Greg Gonsalves of Yale Public Health College said in a session on the political decision factors of health, “Your silence will not protect you. From astronomers to animal scholars, “They are coming for all of us and those we serve.”
Talking about how to join and adapt can help you fraud. “The best thing you can do at a scientist meeting is what you say I can do it Zlotak says.
Some efforts are increasing. Concern scientists are collecting signatures Public letter to parliament We oppose the Trump administration’s behavior against science, including the ongoing dismissal and subsidies frozen and the proposed budget cuts. This letter has more than 50,000 signatures so far. More than 80 attendees signed the afternoon of February 15.
Another idea is to track the effects of health, environment, economy, and other political behaviors, says Matt Heid, the communication strategy manager of the Concerted Scientist Association of Mass Cambridge.
Heid said, “Everything that happens now will have an immediate impact, but it will have a medium and long -term effect that will affect all states. Scientists should continue to emphasize whether scientists are censored and scientists are censored.
One urgent example is that CDC’s infectious disease information service, which investigates the development of diseases and health threats around the United States and the world, is facing job cuts even if bird flu spreads.
David Karpf of George Washington University in Washington, a Communication Research Institute urged scientists not to talk about how their attacks affect them. “Please make a statement directly,” he said. It is enough to say the truth. “The danger to individual scientists is relatively low when it says, ‘This is what happened and this is lost.’ ‘Please catch the ridiculous frame you are reasonable and the other person. “
Some researchers are still looking at their words. Administrative order to target language For gender, race and climate change, as well as diversity, equity and inclusiveness.
Dhara Patel, a medical doctor at Harvard Public Health School, studies climate change and racial inequality. When applying for a new subsidy or a subsidy renewal, “What do you say that my project is on? I don’t know what words I should use. ”
She also wants more cooperation among scientists. “Many organizations are trying to fight in their own ways, but they are silent.” For example, efforts to preserve deleted data on the federal website occur at once. She said that it would be useful to centralize the data and work together.
There is a precedent for collective action. In March 2017, after his first inauguration, scientists organized the world March, attended by more than a million people from Washington DC and the world.
“I just asked myself and where are you? What are you all doing? Where are you all? ” JP Flores, a biological student at the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill, says JP Flores.
So Flores decided to start one. He was connected to other graduate students who wanted to organize the march through Bluesky. The group is planning a rally It happens for science March 7 in Washington, DC and other 30 cities nationwide.
Cold Spring Harbour’s S Courtney, one of the co -organizers, said, “I thought there was something that individuals could take, but group behavior is a place where it can actually change.
The group is receiving a lot of support from an individual, but it is having difficulty in receiving the support of institutions and universities and material support. Flores said it was different from last time.
But now the steak is different. In 2017, the prevailing feeling was that science as an abstract entity was being attacked. Current administrative actions are already affecting the daily lives of scientists. Courtney says that the laboratory, where the laboratory depends on the federal subsidies, may be afraid to speak more than before, Courtney says. Students who like her are more flexible.
Courtney said, “It is more personal than the attack on the company and the belief in science. “I think many people have a similar goal in trying to protect American scientific companies from current administrative orders,” she says. “But I think the institutions are having a hard time exploring that uncertainty.”
Deputy Director Cassie Martin, deputy director, reported to the story.
