New Jersey Group To Host March For Science In Trenton April 22

Scientists, supporters of science, and advocates for evidence-based policies will march on the state capital on Earth Day.

The New Jersey March for Science begins outside the War Memorial in Trenton on Saturday, April 22, 10 a.m., and concludes at the State House Annex, organizers said on Tuesday.

Marchers are motivated by a range of environmental concerns, including climate change, medical research, education and human rights.

“They are united by a common belief that science can be a powerful tool to improve the nation and the lives of the people living in it,” organizers said in a release. “Participants will use their collective voice to advocate for the continued use of scientific evidence in how our government makes decisions; for the education of the next generation of scientists, and for the protection of the rights of free expression and movement enjoyed by all Americans and which have supported the nation's scientific community.”

It is one of more than 480 satellite marches that will be held simultaneously with the Science March on Washington, D.C. More details on the state march were to be announced on Thursday. The march will include religious leaders.

“My faith is not threatened by science. My confidence in science is not contradicted by my faith. I march as a person of faith and a person of intellect,” said Rev. LL Dubreuil, pastor of the Faith United Church of Christ in Union and member of the NJ March for Science steering committee.

The New Jersey march was initiated by Rutgers University Professor of Physics Matthew Buckley.

“By many measures, New Jersey is seeing the effects of climate change more rapidly than the rest of the nation,” Buckley said. “New Jersey is also a state filled with scientists, with engineers, with doctors, and with teachers. This march is a way for us to make clear that, while we face real problems, we also have the expertise to solve them.”

“The current administration has a difficult relationship with science because it has a difficult relationship with truth, especially when the truth is inconvenient. This becomes obvious when we hear people close to the president talk about 'alternative facts.' You don’t have to be a scientist to know that alternative facts are just lies,” said Abdolreza (Shadi) Tahvildar-Zadeh, professor of mathematics at Rutgers and a speaker at the march. “Scientists on the other hand deal exclusively with the truth, regardless of how convenient or expeditious it may be, because science is factual and evidence-based. That is why it is not just climate science and environmental science that are now under threat, it’s all of science. And that is why it is not just the duty of scientists, but that of all citizens who value the truth, to join the science march and to make their voices heard in support of facts, and against the campaign of lies and deception coming from Washington.”

For more information about the New Jersey March for Science, visit www.njmarchforscience.com.

For more on the national match, visit www.marchforscience.com.

Patch file photo