How scientists are standing up to US policy changes

What started as a simple Bluesky post—“ Get in dorks, we’re going protesting ”—transformed into 32 official Stand Up for Science rallies last month, as well as over 100 related events across the US and abroad. On March 7, an estimated tens of thousands of students, scientists, and science supporters gathered, protest signs in hand, to collectively advocate for three key policies : an end to political interference in science, the restoration and expansion of scientific funding, and the protection of diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives. Some say they demonstrated to pressure their congressional representatives to push back on recent executive actions by the Donald J. Trump administration, such as firing probationary federal workers from science funding agencies and slowing the federal grant peer review process . Others hoped that it would persuade local lawmakers to commit to supporting scientific research at the state level. Meanwhile, several participants told C&EN