Scientist Rebellion Turtle Island kicked off the ESA conference week with a lively, friendly social mixer on Monday evening. Hosted by Altar Society Brewing and Coffee Co., Scientist Rebels left the white lab coats back at the convention center (mostly) and spent the evening talking with new friends and having some fun. We discussed our hopes, fears, and fields of study over beers and ciders, and experimented a little with what has time again proven to be one of the more essential aspects of climate activism: community.
After everyone had a chance to participate in the eating, drinking, and good company, ecologists and Rebels were invited to try the Scream Pillow. Each volunteer held a pillow with a fresh pillowcase (and liner, for hygiene) which read “SCREAM AT THE MACHINE.” Each was read an infuriating fact about the causes of climate change by a scientist. After being read this fact (for example, “Wells Fargo invested $30.4 billion in 2023 alone for extracting fossil fuels”), volunteers were welcome to scream and swear into the pillow. What started as a practice of frustration, release and healthy anger expression transformed into an exercise of righteous fun, and participants lined up to use the Scream Pillow.
At Monday’s mixer, Scientist Rebellion Turtle Island showed that it’s not only important to get to know our fellow ecologists, scientists and activists–it’s important to have fun together as well. And of course, one of the ways to do all those things is by joining Scientist Rebellion, where we know that we have to take care of each other to make any kind of progress. The drinks, socializing, and laughter carried on long after the official ending time for the mixer (but what’s an official ending time to a Rebel?).
