By Kiran, Simran, and Svara Jayasinghe
On Saturday, April 22, thousands of people gathered to march for science in downtown San Diego. Among them were three girls, their Mom and Dad. That group, was our family. We drove from our house to the Mission Valley mall and then took the Metro train to downtown and walked about two blocks to the place where the march started.
Several individuals made speeches before the march started. Scientists from the Scripps Institute of Oceanography spoke about their reasearch on measurements of carbon dioxide in the air, and their work on seeing how much the ocean is warming because of increased carbon dioxide levels. Three middle schoolers presented their award winning science fair projects to the crowd. One girl talked about permeable concrete to help water drainage, and another on preventing water evaporation from storage reservoirs. After the speeches, we marched from the Civic Center to the Waterfront Park near the Maritime Museum.
The march took about an hour. They estimated that about 15,000 people participated in the march. It was loud because people were chanting various slogans. There were a sea of signs, and we had a lot of fun reading them. It was really exciting to be around so many people interested in science. When we finally reached the waterfront park, we listened to several additional speakers who talked about the importance of science and its impact on society. One of the speakers was my dad’s student, Sharon Patray, from the university where he works. She talked about her life experiences as a refugee, and as a marine and how science has helped her succeed in life. She said that she will be starting her Ph.D. at the Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland. Overall, it was an inspiring experience and we learned that science has an impact on almost everything!