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Standing up for science About 150 people march from Garfield Park to ScienceWorks to show support for science-based policies. [MAIL TRIBUNE / JAMIE LUSCH] Sunday Apr 23, 2017 at 12:01 AM By Nick Morgan For the Tidings Despite the cancellation, well over 100 people showed their support for science-based polices from the sidewalk in Ashland. In solidarity with Saturday's March for Science rally in Washington, D.C., close to 150 people gathered near Garfield Park and waved signs such as "Science is a candle in the dark" and "My children are polio-free" before walking together to a "Scientists Speak Up" event as part of an Earth Day celebration at ScienceWorks. Among marchers in the scientific community was microbiologist Rick Colwell, a professor at Oregon State University's College of Earth, Ocean and Atmospheric Sciences in Corvallis. While carrying cardboard signs saying "Science not Silence" and "Science ... an armada in the right direction," he said he was in the area for the Oregon Shakespeare Festival's production of "Mojada: A Medea in Los Angeles," but "would've been in a march no matter where we were." Demonstrators outside the scientific community included Frances Dunham of Ashland, who marched with her husband, Allan. She said she believes public policy should be drawn from the best scientific evidence available, and said she's concerned when she sees politicians dismiss science pointing to climate change. "It's just not rational to ignore it," Dunham said.  On the ScienceWorks lawn, Southern Oregon University environmental science student Parker Flickinger of Ashland carried a sign saying "Learn the science, thrive in the future" which also contained the seven steps of the scientific method. Flickinger said that in an era when people are trusting emotions and dismissing logic and reason, he felt compelled to stand up in favor of science-based policies. Science has long been an important part of Flickinger's life, he said. He remembers attending ScienceWorks' grand opening in 2002, and said both his parents are scientists, "so it's in my blood." Flickinger added, however, that he believes it's possible to be in favor of science without being against religion or spirituality. "Religion is like letters and science is like mathematics, they're both important," Flickinger said. Retired park ranger Amelia Bruno of Ashland said she also believes spirituality "goes hand-in-hand" with science, particularly for her when she's in nature. "Science is not something to be hated," Bruno said. "It's not the enemy." Bruno believes more people would be proponents of science-based organizations if they better understood their effects. As an example, she mentioned asthma's relationship to pollution in contrast to her concerns about proposed cuts to the Environmental Protection Agency.  "If you could just connect science to what affects people," Bruno said. At the Scientists Speak Up event at ScienceWorks, Klamath Bird Observatory founder John Alexander said he aimed to "humanize" science and spoke in favor of publicly funded programs such as KBO.  "What we do every day is we do science and we communicate science," Alexander said. "So we're here to stand up for federal budgets and the philanthropy that together maintain a powerful and vital role for science that are in the public's interest." Another speaker, Southern Oregon University chemistry professor Anna Oliveri, spoke about the late University of California Berkeley scientist Clarence Patterson, who spearheaded research proving that using lead in gasoline had harmful health effects, despite lobbying and protests within the oil industry. The average American's lead levels have dropped more than 80 percent since leaded gasoline was phased out, she said. "We are here to stand up to those lobbying powers that are greedy and have opinions because facts are greater," Oliveri said. — Reach reporter Nick Morgan at 541-776-4471 or [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter at @MTCrimeBeat.