LOS ANGELES _ Thousands of scientists, students and activists took to the streets of downtown Los Angeles on Saturday for the March for Science, one of more than 500 such events being held around the world.
After a rally in Pershing Square, the march began at 11 a.m. with participants walking about seven blocks to City Hall, where several speakers addressed the crowd. Afterward, demonstrators returned to Pershing Square for presentations on air quality, dinosaurs and how to spot "alternative facts" on the internet.
The lineup of speakers included celebrity seismologist Lucy Jones, billionaire climate change activist Tom Steyer and Oscar-nominated "Hidden Figures" screenwriter Allison Schroeder. (Steyer's nonprofit group, NextGen Climate America, is one of the primary sponsors of the march.)
More than 500 cities around the world hosted a March for Science on Saturday. The main event was taking place on the National Mall in Washington, headlined by science-enthusiast-in-chief Bill Nye and an array of scientific researchers. There were more than 40 marches In California, including at the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival.
By 9:30 a.m., thousands of marchers had gathered in Pershing Square. Sharon Stricker, 27, who works as a tutor and studied neuroscience in school, said science can bring people from different sides of the political spectrum together.
"We had (President) Trump supporters and Bernie (Sanders) supporters in my house," she said. "But science isn't a conservative issue or a liberal issue. I want to focus on what we can accomplish as a team."
Hayley Casselman, 33, a mental health worker from Culver City, said she was there because of her concern over climate change.
"It's not that I'm worried the planet is going to explode," she said, "but I want the Earth to continue to be habitable and beautiful."
Ryan Erickson, 28, of Crenshaw, held a sign that read, "I like big brains and I cannot lie." He said he was marching because he believes facts and science should dictate policy, and he's worried the Trump administration doesn't agree.
Asked why she was marching, Claudia Kries of San Pedro said, "Why wouldn't I be? I've been at every march since Trump got elected. It's how I stay sane."
Saturday's event fell within the first 100 days of the Trump administration, which has proposed drastic budget cuts for the National Institutes of Health and the Environmental Protection Agency. Top administration officials are openly skeptical of the scientific consensus that climate change is caused by human activity.
About two dozen Trump supporters gathered in front of the L.A. Police Department, across the street from City Hall, to voice their support for the president. Many waved American flags and held up signs that read, "Put America First" and "Stop Your Hate."
With several police officers standing between the two groups, the Trump supporters chanted, "U-S-A, U-S-A!" as the marchers passed in front of them. But the two groups were mostly peaceful and police did not report any major problems or arrests.
Saturday's march drew a diverse crowd of scientists, researchers and teachers, many of whom said they are new to activism.
Andrew and Chelsie Lee came from Pasadena for Saturday's protest. The couple said that beyond voting they aren't particularly politically active. He is an energy efficiency engineer and she is a customer service executive at a food company.
Since Trump's election they have been taking to the streets.
"With all of the things that are happening right now, it is exciting to be a part of something," she said. "Science is such an important underlying part of why we are successful as a nation.'
"As humankind," he chimed in.
Julianne Cuellar, 34, took a break from the march to sit under a tree. Cuellar, who works at an e-commerce company, had never been to a march before the November election. She described herself as being a casual observer of politics.
Trump changed that.
Since his inauguration, Cuellar has been to the Women's March in downtown, a Tax Day march last weekend demanding Trump release his tax returns, and a protest at Los Angeles International Airport against Trump's executive order limiting travel from several Muslim-majority countries.
"I just wanted to be part of a group standing up for facts and truth," she said. "I wanted to demonstrate resistance."
Allison Santos, a 31-year-old marine biologist and research assistant at California State, Fullerton, said she had been so busy earning her master's degree that she only just voted for this first time last November. She said Trump's victory shook her.
"I've never been a part of any type of march," she said in front of City Hall while holding a sign with a drawing of Earth that read, "I'm with her."
Daniel Blackburn, a software engineer from Irvine, held up a neon green sign that summed up how many scientists turned activists feel under the new administration: "We are so mad that even the introverts are outside with people."
Blackburn said he is worried that the U.S. under Trump will fall behind on combating climate change through research or policy.
"We are losing out on valuable time we need to actually take action," he said.
Blackburn is channeling his newfound activism into local politics.
He said he has been calling his congresswoman, Rep. Mimi Walters, R-Calif., repeatedly but said he hasn't gotten past interns or voicemail.
Walters is one of seven congressional Republicans in California who represent districts that Hillary Clinton won in 2016 and that Democrats are targeting for defeat in 2018. Blackburn is keeping a close eye on that race.
"There is a lot of anger at her," he said.
Jeniffer Hernandez, a professor and immunologist at the Keck Graduate Institute School of Pharmacy in Claremont, had never been to a protest before Saturday.
But she said she felt attacked by Trump: because her parents are immigrants from Mexico, because of Trump's comments about assaulting women and because her research lab is funded in part by federal grants.
"I'm outraged. I'm upset," she said. "We need to be out here."
She carried a sign, written partially in the colors of the Mexican flag, that read: "I'm a 1st generation Mexican-American scientist not a murderer, rapist or drug dealer."
But while Saturday's marches made a political point _ calling on elected officials and policymakers to fund science that enhances the common good and to rely on scientific evidence when making decisions on behalf of the country _ they were intended to be nonpartisan.
"Science is not just for us in ivory towers, or for the liberal elite, and it's not opinion," said Alex Bradley, a Ph.D. student at the University of California, Los Angeles and one of the organizers of Saturday's event. "We want to make it known that there are Republicans and Democrats doing science, and we all recognize its value."
