2025 Life Logs, Day 66: Stand Up for Science
Date: Friday, March 7, 2025
Weather: Sunny and Very Windy, Winds 25-30 NW; High Temp 42, Low 32 degrees F
Location: At Home on Lakeview Avenue with My Shadow, Falmouth, MA
A few hundred people gathered in Marina Park in Woods Hole this afternoon to Stand Up for Science. The Cape Cod Times reported 600 were in attendance, but I have no idea if that number is accurate. All I know is that there was a seat of scientists and people who support science in attendance.
And we were not alone. As President and CEO of Woods Hole Research Center, Max Holmes, reminded us in his remarks, there were Stand Up for Science rallies all over the US and around the world today. Hundreds gathered in the Boston Commons, with smaller gatherings in Philadelphia, in Chicago, in Atlanta, and on and on. But the largest gathering of thousands was in Washington, DC. Obviously, many people in this country believe in the absolute necessity of keeping science alive.
Heather spoke to the gathering in Woods Hole representing the Falmouth Select Board and her 28 years as a student and employee in Woods Hole. It was certainly another ‘proud mama’ moment
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The keynote speaker was John Holdren, former President of Woods Hole Research Center and Senior Science Advisor to President Obama. There were other scientists who spoke, plus a sprinkling of politicians. US Representative Bill Keating and Thomas Moakley, who is our newest and youngest State Representative, both spoke to the group. I don’t remember who said that those of us in Woods Hole might have the windiest conditions for any of the rallies today, but whoever said that, I think they might have been right. Starting around 11 am, the wind ramped up to 25-30 miles an hour with higher gusts. Thankfully the temperature was in the 40’s, so it was cold, but not freezing.
The scientific institutions in Woods Hole have 2,000 employees. One of those institutions is NOAA. I know specifics the weather today thanks to NOAA. I learned tonight that a week or so ago there were not enough NOAA employees to send up weather balloons in Alaska. The data gathered by these weather balloons is needed to forecast the weather accurately. Today in Albany, New York, and in Gray, Maine, again, there were not enough NOAA employees to send up those balloons. That is just one little, but very essential task being affected by the DOGE reduction in staffing. And I read that on Monday, more cuts are expected to NOAA nationwide. What kind of disaster is going to have to happen to make it clear that these indiscriminate government cuts have got to stop? My sign today said, SCIENCE—Defend not Defund. Defend is what we all need to do.
Midge Frieswyk and I went to the rally together, and Christina Brodie joined us. We all came back to my house afterwards, where we had planned to just have tea. But when I realized none of us had eaten lunch, I served dinner leftovers as an impromptu lunch. It was easy and stress free, and I think all three of us appreciated the time together to decompress and process together what is happening in our world these days.
I can’t end without relaying one more little tidbit of information. Today the AP released a list 26,000 documents and photos that the Defense department is going to delete from websites due to their connection to DEI in some way. But one of the items is a photo of the Enola Gay, the first plane to drop an atomic bomb. What does that have to do with DEI? They searched for the word ‘gay’ and that is why it is being deleted. A famous plane named for the pilot’s mother is being deleted from a website because of its name. This seems unbelievable, but it is true. What is next?
