Long time, no see

I’ve been busy since last summer (summer 2021).

Busy living through a global pandemic. Busy being a parent and maintaining my family and friendships. Busy attempting to keep healthy and fit. Busy with science and work. Busy hosting international colleagues and busy with a long-term research visit to Finland. Busy, busy, busy.

I’ve also taken some time to pause and have more offline conversations. About science, about democracy, about the place of women, children, and marginalized communities in this world. These conversations have led me to the same places.

Caption: Photo by Marjan Blan | @marjanblan on Unsplash.

Place 1: The Devil never sleeps, but boy are the rest of us tired

The anti-democracy/pro-misogyny/anti-LGBTQIA/pro-war/pro-violence/pro-bigotry/pro-climate disaster/anti-refugee community/anti-public health (and believe you me - it’s all the same community) seems to have more fuel in its reserves than in recent decades. I say ‘seems’' because everyone is tired. Tired of the COVID-19 pandemic, tired of war, tired of natural disasters, tired of human-caused disasters. It’s ok to be tired. I spent the last 12 months learning when to disconnect, recharge, relax, and come back swinging. Find your formula - you deserve it.

I also say ‘seems’ because I know that while the "forces of evil” community have won some recent battles, this is an ongoing war. By surviving and finding joy and meaning in your life, you are hurting them. Keep that up.

Place 2: The science will not save us, we’ll have to save us

Even when science creates modern-day miracles (like the rapidly developed COVID-19 vaccines), it is the response of the human communities that dictate whether or not we can accomplish the hard tasks in front of us. Refusal to vaccinate has led to high death rates. Either ignoring or refusing to follow and maintain public health measures, combined with anti-vax, has led to vaccine-evasive variants. And of course, the global mass debilitation caused by long COVID.

I ain’t gonna debate COVID protocols with anyone - people and countries have made their choices and I have made mine. But what we can learn from the COVID-19 pandemic is that globally, humans are terrible at risk assessment and exponential math and desperately crave social interactions. Climate solutions for adaptation and mitigation will need new and improved science and technology. But it will also need all of us willing to make the long term and flexible individual, institutional, and governmental changes necessary to reduce carbon emissions and carbon in the atmosphere. Ideally via and supporting our social connections.

And that means acting like we are all in this together. Climate solutions are societal and political solutions. Science (with a capital ‘S’) will have to engage with and support the pro-democracy, pro-human rights, anti-bigotry groups if we plan to have a governing majority. Or a society at all.

Place 3: The wolf is already at the door

Science, technology, and engineering has never been and will never be an industry or discipline divorced from morality and societal pressures. None of us are writing our peer-reviewed papers or grant applications in a vacuum. Neutrality in a time of a global democracy crisis is taking the position of anti-democracy. The anti-science and anti-truth movement is global, organized, and, make no mistake, aimed at you, too.

I often hear a lament about having to live through such difficult times. While I have thought this a few times myself in the last decade, I don’t indulge these feelings. I know that my life has been easier and healthier than my parents, grandparents, and great-grandparents. If fighting these battles now for democracy, climate solutions, human rights, and global stability means my child has a better life, then it will be my honor. Each generation must renew the call for peace and solutions. It is our time.

Closing thought

It’s summer for those of us in the Northern Hemisphere. Take a break. Eat some fresh fruit. Go for a swim. Share an ice cream or cold treat with someone you love. See how many naps and bike rides you can fit into your schedule. The science and the fight will be here when you return. We’ve got work to do.

Next time - some fire science!