Pasadena Mayor Terry Tornek Set to Deliver Kickoff Welcome at Pasadena March for Science Today

Pasadena Mayor Terry Tornek will be welcoming participants in the March for Science starting at 8 a.m. in Pasadena during the world wide Earth Day celebration on Saturday, Caltech postdoc scientists organizing the event said.

Other speakers including Pasadena-area representatives Judy Chu and Chris Holden with deliver remarks on the lawn near Caltech’s Beckman Auditorium before the march takes to the streets at 8:45 a.m.

The Pasadena event, one of over 425 marches happening around the world on Earth Day, will also shift its ending rally from the Pasadena City Hall to Memorial Park, with Mayor Tornek leading the group of speakers. The organizers said they are expecting other City Hall officials and community leaders to speak at the ending rally.

March for Science will be part of a worldwide event intended to counter a “mischaracterization of science as a partisan issue,” according to the organizers.

A large March for Science Rally and Teach-in will happen at Washington, DC that day. Worldwide, over 50,000 volunteers have indicated they will be joining marches in their countries and localities, and the number is growing every day.

“There has been a lot of different groups around the world that has been organizing events for this Earth Day to celebrate science, and we wanted to do an event that’s similar,” said Dr. Tara Mastro, a member of the Caltech Postdoctoral Association organizing committee.

The Pasadena march will start with a rally at Caltech’s Beckman Lawn at about 7:30 a.m. where speakers are expected to emphasize the March for Science theme, “Science not Silence,” sounding a call to support and safeguard the scientific community in the face of recent policy changes that have caused heightened worry among scientists.

From Caltech, participants will march on to Memorial Park where the rally will continue at the Bandshell. After the rally, an outreach event by the postdoc scientists and other interested organizations will follow, featuring science booths for both adults and children.

Organizing committee member Dr. Jason Marshall said the March for Science isn’t an official Caltech activity, although many in the Caltech community are joining.

As of Wednesday, Caltech professors Jonas C. Peters, Director of the Resnick Sustainability Institute, and Mary Kennedy, Vice Chair of the Caltech Officers of the Faculty, have confirmed they will be speaking at the rally, according to a post on the Pasadena March for Science Facebook page.

Assemblymember Chris Holden also sent word Thursday he will be speaking at the initial rally at Caltech.

The March also welcomes tech companies and other organizations that may want to share appropriate scientific information and technology. The companies will be allowed to set up information booths at Memorial Park, the organizers said.

Caltech’s postdoc association has opened a Facebook page for the event, www.facebook.com/MarchForSciencePasadena. Inquiries may also be sent through marchforsciencepasadena@gmail.com.

For more general information about March for Science, visit www.marchforscience.com.