September is Early Career Scientist month, a time to celebrate the contributions that students, post-docs, and early career scientists and researchers make not only to the STEM community, but to our broader society as well. This year, our celebrations are tinged with sadness and concern. With federal funding cuts, barriers to acquiring and maintaining visas, threats of deportation for non-citizens, and attacks on science and scientists, early career scientists and researchers face very real challenges to their research and livelihoods. It’s no wonder we’ve been hearing about researchers leaving the US to continue their work in other countries.
To all the students, post-docs, and early career scientists, engineers, and public health professionals: we see you, and we value your work. We value YOU. We share your dreams of a safer, healthier future for our planet and all of its inhabitants. We are fighting for you. And if you’re looking for ways to fight back right now, here are 3 tips for engaging in science advocacy during challenging times. (This is an update to our post from 2019).
Find a like-minded community who supports your advocacy
Advocacy is a marathon, not a sprint. In order to stay energized through the years it can take to reverse bad policies, strengthen regulations, and build relationships with key stakeholders, it’s important that you’re not trying to do everything on your own. Plus, a key way to stay motivated is to find joy in this work—and that often means finding a community who you can take action with.
Check out these organizations and initiatives who are working to support early career scientists interested in advocacy:
- Of course, I hope you’ll join the Union of Concerned Scientists Science Network if you’re not a member already. We provide trainings and opportunities to take action for scientists who want to put their expertise into action in support of science-based policymaking.
- Engineers and Scientists Acting Locally is dedicated to increasing local civic engagement by people with STEM backgrounds. They just launched a free online community geared towards connecting folks in shared geographies or who want to work on similar issues.
- 500 Women Scientists, a grassroots organization with local pods all around the world, works to serve society by making science open, inclusive, and accessible, and transform society by fighting racism, patriarchy, and oppressive societal norms.
- National Diversity in STEM conference (organized by SACNAS), the largest multidisciplinary and multicultural STEM diversity event in the country. This conference serves to equip, empower, and energize participants for their academic and professional paths in STEM. UCS will be at NDiSTEM this year, come say hi at booth 832!
- Scientist Network for Advancing Policy is a coalition dedicated to mobilizing for large-scale initiatives and bridging gaps between scientists, their communities, and the general public. They have more than 20 member organizations, mostly university-based science policy groups, and are excited to expand the network.
- Find local groups in your city or campus that share your values and work on the issues you care about. For me in DC, that’s Free DC as I fight for our rights, but it’s also my local Friends of the Library board, where I help advocate for funding and resources for my local library. You don’t have to only advocate for science (more on that below)!
When you shift from taking action on your own to working with others to build your capacity together, you’re building power. In order to see the transformative change we need on issues like climate change and racial justice, it’s critical that we’re building power for a more inclusive science advocacy movement, and centering the needs of impacted communities as we fight for a healthier and safer planet. To learn more about movement building and power building, and approaches to do this inclusively, check out the resources in our guide, “Strategies and Tactics for Stronger Science Advocacy.”
You’re a scientist AND a constituent
You are more than just your area of expertise or what you wrote your thesis on. You are a scientist, but you’re also a constituent, a community member, along with so many other identities that have shaped who you are and what you want to advocate for. Our partners at SACNAS refer to this as bringing your full self to STEM.
My former colleague Dr. Andrew Rosenberg would often say, “You don’t check your citizenship at the door when you get a PhD.” I believe it’s more important now than ever for scientists to stand up for the facts and truth that are essential for a free and democratic society. How?
First, check out some of those advocacy organizations I mentioned above. But here are some other ways to think about how you show up:
- Check out Science Advocacy 101 to learn about the different “hats” you can wear as a scientist engaging in advocacy. Maybe you want to use your research to strengthen your state’s policy on water use by data centers; maybe you enjoy writing op-eds calling for climate action in your city; perhaps your role is helping community groups understand the complex scientific and legal language in regulations around pesticide usage polluting your waterways. There are different roles you can play as a scientist advocate to put your expertise into action.
- Learn about scientist-community partnerships as a way of improving community access to technical information, and helping communities advocate for the issues directly impacting them.
- Assess your risk tolerance and exposure, and take action safely. Our webinar on “Protecting Scientists Engaging in Advocacy” has guidance and suggestions for how to protect yourself as you engage in advocacy, and ways to engage that have different risk levels. The Anti-Autocracy Handbook: A Scholars’ Guide to Navigating Democratic Backsliding includes even more information about navigating personal risk.
- Know your rights. Whether you’re engaging as a scientist, a constituent, or both, you have constitutional rights. We’ve compiled resources to help you learn about your rights in different circumstances and workplaces, and further resources to protect yourself.
No matter what, if you’re new to a group or an issue, listen first. What’s most needed in the moment might not be technical expertise. It might be showing up to a rally, or getting more signatures on a petition. Be open to ways of participating that allow you to show up first as a concerned community member.
Learn to identify the tactics of bad actors
One of the features of the current political landscape is what I call advocacy whiplash: you feel called to speak out in defense of science and your values, but you’re also overwhelmed, frustrated by our broken systems, and just want to unplug in a forest somewhere. The Trump administration’s tactic of “flooding the zone” is intentionally aimed at exhausting and overwhelming advocates. This is a known tactic that bad actors use to further their agendas of disinformation and disenfranchisement.
Another set of tactics has been aimed at federal scientists and federal workers in particular: spread disinformation about them, harass them, and bully them into quitting.
Being able to identify the tactics of bad actors doesn’t make you immune to their impacts. I can still get overwhelmed by the barrage of BS coming out of the Trump administration. The blatant lies about climate change, the safety of vaccines, and crime rates (to justify taking over the DC Metropolitan Police Department), among other things, fill me with rage. But being able to identify these as tactics does help me see the bigger picture, and often makes me want to fight back even harder (and more strategically).
However you show up, your voice is needed
Taking one small action today is better than waiting for the perfect opportunity to arise tomorrow. Find a friend to join a local advocacy effort with you—these groups are eager for you to show up and will be excited to welcome you. Be brave, and science on!