I would just like to take some time here to share something really meaningful, and it’s something you can get involved in, too! The August Congressional Recess is happening, which means our representatives in the USA will be particularly focused on listening to citizens.

Although it’s a break period for public officials, they often use this time to visit constituents and learn about our concerns. This is a great opportunity to take part in supporting science and advocating for evidence-based policies in our government. (Even if you don’t live in the USA, it’s still good to learn how to support science in general!)

It’s an unfortunate fact that independent science has been facing huge attacks, but you can play a part in making sure science work continues to get done. We rely on scientists to track important issues, such as environmental and health concerns. As we’ve seen, when funding cuts target important scientific agencies, we don’t get the information or support we need to make wise decisions for our communities. For example, the recent parasite outbreaks in the USA came from the removal of monitoring programs for these health threats. Because we weren’t tracking the parasites as closely, we weren’t prepared for the Cyclospora outbreak.

How to Get Started

The Union of Concerned Scientists has a great resource for getting started in advocacy for this recess: Advocating for Science During the August Congressional Recess

You can use this guide to form action plans that make sense for your time and energy levels. Some more intensive actions are going to town halls to directly talk with your representatives, or signing and sending in petitions on important issues. However, you can also make a difference by simply sharing information online through social networks, your newsletter, blogs, or other avenues.

Here are some ideas of things you can do:

Talk with family members about why science matters, and share with them important information on the ways independent science protects our health and planet.

Volunteer to give a presentation online or in your community, where you can share ways science influences your community’s well-being.

Talk with your representatives through email or in-person, letting them know how important it is for them to support science and evidence-based policies.

These are just a few steps you can take, but they make a difference! You can get creative with other ideas to share the message, too. For example, I found making this video presentation was a great way to put across the message on why science matters.

When I have free time, I’ve been sharing some science related posts on how we can advocate, and why science matters, at two sites here: Destiny’s Bluesky and Destiny’s Mastodon. You can read them for information, and hopefully find some useful resources to share among your own friends and family. If you’d prefer not to use social media, I’ll also be putting my posts in a document you can read online: “Supporting Science for August Recess”.

Thanks for giving this newsletter a read, and although times are tough right now for science, I hope it encourages you to do what you can to support the work of scientists and researchers.