The April 22nd March for Science promises to be the latest in a slew of large-scale public demonstrations that have taken place across the United States since last November. Associate Professor of Sociology Scott Frickel is working with Dr. Dana Fisher of the University of Maryland in College Park and her students to study this march, interviewing demonstrators about their reasons for participating in an effort to draw broader conclusions about mass mobilizations. Science Magazine writes:

The challenge for researchers is to understand what is driving people to act now and what their actions say about the status of science in today's fractious political culture. "People are always upset about something," Frickel says. "But they start movements when they see the possibility of losing what they have."

The work is supported, in part, by IBES.

Read more from Frickel in the full article, Examine thyself: Researchers set to study the March for Science.