More than 50 people rallied for science on Saturday morning in a bid to get celebrate and get its achievements noticed.
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The first Tasmanian March for Science was held at University of Tasmania’s School of Architecture and Design.
Organiser Jin-Oh Choi said the event started in the United States as a way to get politicians and policy makers to realise the importance of science.
“It’s a response from the US because of the Trump administrations, just because of their anti-science mentality,” he said.
Mr Choi believes science has become politicised.
“Science is about making sure we come to evidence and facts. It shouldn’t be used as a political football. It’s not a left wing or right wing thing,” he said.
Mr Choi said the ultimate plan was to have scientists feel comfortable speaking out, with the event aiming to show them support.
“We invited a lot of scientists to come along today, they’re not allowed to come out and speak, they’re being told it’s not good for their professional future,” he said.
“What we want is to try and show them some encouragement (and) that there are people out there on the streets and there are science advocates out there.”
Attendees signed a pledge stating they will continue to work together and share the contributions of science.
After the rally, they listened to guest speaker from the Tasmanian Astronomical Society and Dr Caroline Smith.
The event was one of more than 500 marches in 50 countries. A March was also held on Parliament Lawns in Hobart and in other cites around Australia.
The non-partisan group aims to publicly communicate and fund science.
Mr Choi said the group wants to set up a not-for-profit organisation and get people involved in activities, but also run grassroots events and education programs.
“This isn’t really a once-off, we’re hoping there will be a lot more of these,” he said.
“Science research has to be open. The whole idea of keeping science a secret is not the best thing for science.”
Science is about making sure we come to evidence and facts. It shouldn’t be used as a political football.
- March for Science organiser Jin-Oh Choi