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Speakers extol role of science in life

March for Science-New Ulm

Staff photo by Kevin Sweeney Megan Benage, one of the speakers at the March for Science, talks to an appreciative crowd at Hermann Heights Park during the March for Science event in New Ulm Saturday.

NEW ULM — March for Science supporters in New Ulm didn’t actually march on Saturday, but their appreciation for science was nonetheless evident.

In the bright sunshine in Hermann Heights Park, the crowd nodded and clapped as speakers talked about the benefits of science in their everyday lives, from the cars they drove up in (“Thanks, design engineers,” said organizer Megan Benage) to the food they eat, to the effective health care they receive.

After the speakers, the crowd joined in to clean up the park and pull some buckthorn.

Benage and other speakers also talked about the benefits of evidence-based decision making, critical thinking and the need to support sciences.

Benage said she grew up in a home where “Facts were facts, opinions were opinions, and critical thinking was not only encouraged, but demanded.”

She recalled exploring state parks with her mother and other family members and wanting to pick up every rock she saw and take it home. When her mother told her the rocks didn’t belong to her, that other people should be allowed to enjoy them as well, it drove home the message that “this beautiful planet, the one we’re standing on, the one we call home is a gift to us, it’s one of the greatest gifts we have ever been blessed with… and it’s not ours alone — we can all have the gift if we’re willing to share it.”

Other speakers, from sponsoring groups, spoke about science in their lives and careers.

Sustainable farmer Brooke Knisley said she and her husband use science in their farming to build rich healthy soil, which allows them to grow healthy food. Each day they learn something new about the land, and they rely heavily on the University of Minnesota’s researchers and scientists who discover new facts and information that they can apply.

Desirae Hertling, a New Ulm High School senior who is planning to attend South Dakota State University to become a wildlife biologist, said she is concerned about the future for science, when she hears about the federal budget cuts proposed by the Trump administration for the Environmental Protection Agency and the National Institute of Health. She said thousands of EPA workers would lose their jobs, which involves protecting and preserving the environment. She also worries about what kind of job opportunities may be waiting for her when she graduates college.

“But I’m not giving up my dream,” she said.

Benage read a message from Dr. Nate Groebner, who as a doctor at New Ulm Medical Center works with science every day.

“I think a lot of people think that science is a collection of difficult to understand ideas and obscure facts. Or they think it’s equations, like E=MC2. But it’s not a collection of obscure facts, it’s not robots, it’s not rocket ships and it’s not the Internet. They are the fruits of science.

“Science is a way of learning about the world, and the idea behind science is very simple. Science is about figuring out what the world is really like, carefully observing it, coming up with ideas about what it is really like, and carefully testing those ideas to see if they are correct. This is what makes what we call science so powerful. Science is fundamentally about learning how things actually work.”

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