How to Keep Fighting for Science in Dark Times
Inspired by the Kamala Harris interview during her book tour stop in DC
For many months, I have witnessed in disbelief the dismantling of the scientific establishment by this administration, through data, interviews, and stories shared by dedicated researchers doing this work day in and day out. This has felt like many years in just a few months. At the same time, I have to hope that we will rise from this chaos and that each of us can make the difference we want to see right where we are.
And this is because, having spent the past year in Congress has made it clear that people who have passion for what they do and get up every day and keep doing it despite the circumstances are the real heroes. I have been so fortunate to count myself among public servants helping to support science in that role and I am grateful to everyone who contributed to making this the best year of my career so far.
Over the past few weeks, I have oscillated between moments of despair and hope, with the latter diminishing day by day through witnessing what is happening to our research enterprise and those who drive it. I have also reflected a lot more on what Congress could do to make sure we don’t lose this fight. Because we can’t stop.
And tonight, thankfully I was reminded of the hope and dare I say joy that I feel when advocating for the scientific community, and why we have to keep doing it. This came from hearing former Vice President Kamala Harris speak at the Warner Theatre in DC on tour for the book 107 days detailing her 2024 presidential campaign.
While many articles will be written about her book tour, I would like to share some reflections from her interview this evening - mainly because I want to keep this message of hope alive for as long as possible and for us to be able to return to this place again and again. And when she discussed that “not defending science is personal” due to her late mother’s work with NIH research, it was a good reminder of why we are doing this and that we can’t stop defending scientific research.
There are many reasons for this, but one is certainly future generations who are looking to us to make change now. And I suppose this is where my advocacy spirit and that of public service come together. In Kamala’s interview, she emphasized that time was the greatest barrier during her presidential campaign, which was incredibly short.
And yet, it was full of passion, drive and ambition as she noted that, given the short time, she wanted to make sure she did all she could every single day. This is a good lesson for all of us to ask ourselves - is there more we could be doing to defend what we care about and do it better on a daily basis?
Her message was clear on not giving up the fight for democracy, but these ideas also apply to defending science every day. She recounted that we each have inside ourselves a light that we can’t let be extinguished, which she mentioned before - and this is not a new idea, but I feel is much needed now as we strive to fight for our scientific future and that of America.
And she described that the book was titled “107 days” as a reminder of the hope and joy that we felt during the campaign days, which is certainly something I personally experienced - the idea that I could witness the first ever female president was exciting, but also the positivity in her campaign was contagious.
I don’t intend to make this post political, but merely to make sure we don’t forget the joy we once felt, even though we are now in very different times for science. And often these times are when we need to fight harder, and we can’t give up.
Another useful reflection was to fight for the right things, and to find our community who can help achieve these goals. This could include supporting advocacy groups, or running for office, both of which could help advance science especially when critical agencies such as National Science Foundation are impacted.
This requires rolling up our sleeves today, tomorrow, in the days ahead, and into the future, as we seek to rise brick by brick from the shambles that we are in now. The message of rebuilding was strong, in that we need to remember our own power, and continue fighting for what matters. That of course applies to science.
She swiftly addressed audience questions coming from students and young leaders contemplating their future, with the response to believe in the power of the collective and bring in those on our side who can help us succeed. This includes public servants in government roles, who are doing the job for the right reasons and whose work makes a difference including in defending scientific research.
Finally, she reminded us that, while we fight for a good cause, and the fight can take longer sometimes, we should not forget to have joy and optimism that will carry us through these dark days, because “they can’t defeat our spirit if we don’t let them.” Not a new idea, but one that I think will help us continue the fight for science.
So while this post was a summary of my takeaways from her interview, there is a broader lesson here for science. I want to leave you with the idea that what you do matters, that you have allies who can help, and that we will rise from all of this. In the meantime, let’s keep defending science with the necessary grit to do this, while remembering to maintain joy and optimism along the way.
And while she covered broad points, my takeaway is that all these principles apply to defending science which we must keep doing for years to come. It came full circle for me in that she started the interview discussing how scientific research played a large role in her upbringing combined with her public service career - and also because science is integral to American leadership and drives societal change.
As a final note, while these are my own reflections and not an official summary of her interview, the points she made in defending science strongly reflect my own values of fighting for the enterprise and to never stop doing it no matter what, and especially when things get dark. That is when we need to remember that light inside of us and let it guide our steps forward into the future. I encourage us all to consider how to best do that for the scientific enterprise and for our country.