Hi friends,

I want to start in my childhood bedroom in rural Lugoff, South Carolina: grey medium-pile carpet, sloped walls with tiny duck wallpaper, my saxophone displayed like a trophy. I'm studying AP Bio like my life depended on it. Because as a queer kid in a small Southern town, my brain felt like my way out, and also my way toward the world.

On my wall I had a poster—my talisman—listing species that would go extinct if we did nothing. I was the kid who loved the woods and the more-than-human world so much it hurt. Science, to me, was a verb. Almost spiritual. A way of devoting my life to loving our world.

That love carried me into academia. For a while, it really did feel like I was getting closer to making change. I remember sitting in my advisor’s office and seeing her Nobel Peace Prize—this shiny, impossible object that said: science can matter at the scale of history. I wanted that kind of impact. I wanted to believe that if I just kept doing good work, the world would bend toward care.

And then… you know the part I don’t need to over-explain. The whiplash. The dismantling. The moments where the silence is louder than any argument. The feeling that we’re being asked to keep our heads down and carry on as usual—while our neighbors are harmed, our institutions flinch, and the public good gets sold off for parts.

What I’ve been learning (over and over) is that “doing good work” is not the same as building power. And without solidarity, we are fragile.

So: Scientists in Solidarity is back.

Not as a brand. Not as a content stream. As a place to practice something together: showing up for each other, getting more organized, and making solidarity a habit—especially for scientists and science-adjacent folks who want science to serve people, not elites.

What is the Scientists in Solidarity Action Hour?

A recurring Zoom space where we:

• get grounded (because panic is not a strategy),
• make sense of what’s happening (without doomscrolling alone),
• and take one concrete, doable action together—rooted in solidarity with impacted communities and movements already in the work.

No expertise required. If you’ve been thinking “I want to help, but I don’t know where to put my hands,” this is a good place to start.

Come join the relaunch

Register here: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/wxnDlXzhQHypIwScvcnRNg

When you register, you’ll get the Zoom details and updates about upcoming Action Hours.

If Scientists in Solidarity has been on your mind—and you’re ready for something more relational than a petition and more sustainable than trying to do everything alone—I’d really love to see you there.

With you,
Nic
Scientists in Solidarity

P.S. Want to help shape the Action Hours? Reply to this email—I'm inviting a small leadership team to co-create the space (design, outreach, facilitation support, and more).