Introducing Students for Science
Science has a problem. We want to fix it. However, this problem can’t be solved with clever experimental design, breathtaking data analysis, or late hours in the lab. Why?
Science has an advocacy problem.
In 1945, MIT engineer Dr. Vannevar Bush wrote President Roosevelt a report titled Science: The Endless Frontier. After working tirelessly with other brilliant minds to safeguard the US during WWII, Dr. Bush sought to articulate to Roosevelt the value of science in peacetime as well as war. In his mind, the purpose of scientific inquiry is to probe the boundaries of human understanding in a manner that is uninhibited by government oversight or insufficient funding:
“Scientific progress on a broad front results from the free play of free intellects, working on subjects of their own choice, in the manner dictated by their curiosity for exploration of the unknown.”
However, modern science occupies a playing field that is very different from Dr. Bush’s vision. In an environment where the words “climate change” and “evidence-based” have been removed from federal websites, it is hard to deny that the integrity of science is under grave threat. In an environment where the Environmental Protection Agency is projected to lose eighteen percent of its funding in 2019, it is a worrying reality that robust, transparent research is at risk.
In today’s environment, it is clear that science needs a champion.
To defend the the critical role of science at the intersection of research, policy, and society, it is vital that we empower young minds from a variety of backgrounds. This is what we, the Students for Science youth outreach group, strive to accomplish.
By serving as an entry point into STEM and advocacy for the next generation, Students for Science aims to provide youth with the resources and support network to address the issues of today with facts and scientific vigor. We seek to engage with students and encourage their development as citizens of the world by providing platforms that amplify important scientific issues and present them from a perspective that emphasizes civic responsibility and community engagement. In doing so, we strive to realize science’s social conscience and our belief that support and trust in science are vital to our identity and future.
We seek to achieve our goals in four ways:
- Sharing science advocacy toolkits and action plans targeted for students from diverse backgrounds.
- Publishing Show Some STEMpathy, an open-access blog, to highlight a variety of current science issues, concepts, and research.
- Developing a science advocacy club to equip students with the necessary framework to engage with and advocate for science on a local, state, and national basis.
- Organizing our inaugural Student Advocacy Summit to encourage discourse on policy, science, and advocacy and to empower youth to take a leadership role in their communities.
Our mission is fundamentally non-partisan. The creation of a better future through science is not a matter of leaning left or right, but of looking forward and recognizing the human condition’s role as the engine of scientific progress. Unless we safeguard the institutions and research that seek to better all domains of modern society, we risk our collective future. By enabling youth to serve as community leaders and science advocates, Students for Science embraces the potential of the next generation to enact transformative change motivated by science.
— Sophia S., Pennsylvania
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To learn more about making your voice heard, visit us at our website. To take action, sign and share our petition to safeguard science in our schools, communities, and futures. To be a part of our conversation, join us on Twitter @ScienceTeens, on Instagram at scienceteens, and on Snapchat at march4science.
