March for Science: Dispatches from Chicago

The Scientist's Kerry Grens is in Chicago, covering the demonstration designed to celebrate the research enterprise and advocate for evidence-based policymaking.

Written byKerry Grens

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Between the shore of Lake Michigan and the skyline of downtown Chicago, thousands of science supporters gathered for the March for Science. Stretching down Columbus Drive, the crowd was silent during speeches before the planned procession, except for intermittent chants of, "Chicago! Science! Chicago! Science!" led by march organizer Kristian Aloma.

Crowds at the March for Science in Chicago, April 22, 2017 KERRY GRENS

A handful of speakers took the stage before attendees headed south on the march route. Although there was a substantial number of anti-Trump signs among the crowds, speeches stuck to nonpartisan topics: respect for data and the importance of diversity in scientific endeavors. "Science is for everyone and is done by everyone," Garry Cooper, the CEO of Rheaply, a company that helps researchers share resources and find collaborators, told the cheering crowd.

Crowds at the March for Science in Chicago, April 22, 2017KERRY GRENS

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Meet the Author

Kerry Grens
Kerry served as The Scientist’s news director until 2021. Before joining The Scientist in 2013, she was a stringer for Reuters Health, the senior health and science reporter at WHYY in Philadelphia, and the health and science reporter at New Hampshire Public Radio. Kerry got her start in journalism as a AAAS Mass Media fellow at KUNC in Colorado. She has a master’s in biological sciences from Stanford University and a biology degree from Loyola University Chicago.
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