NCSE Evolution and Climate Education Update for 2013/06/21
Submitted by Peter Burns on Fri, 2013-06-21 13:57.
National Center for Science Education
(by NCSE Deputy Director Glenn Branch)
Dear friends of NCSE, Congratulations to Bill McKibben. A reminder that you can help NCSE's archives. And two voices from evolution from the Sooner State.
CONGRATULATIONS TO BILL MCKIBBEN NCSE offers its belated congratulations to Bill McKibben on winning the Sophie Prize, "established to inspire people working towards a sustainable future," for 2013, in recognition of his efforts to combat climate change. According to a press release dated May 27, 2013, *** "This planet desperately needs a global mobilizer for change. Fighting immensely powerful interests[,] McKibben has shown that mobilizing for change is possible. This brings hope," the Sophie Prize jury writes in the jury statement. In the past few years McKibben has been animating and mobilizing a global movement based on the conviction that if we are to stay below [2 degrees Celsius; 3.6 degrees Fahrenheit] of warming, we can emit [no more] than 565 more gigatons of carbon dioxide. Fossil fuel corporations have more than five times that amount in coal, oil[,] and gas reserves. *** McKibben will receive the award, along with $100,000, in Oslo, Norway, on October 28, 2013. The founder and chair of the board of the international climate change campaign 350.org, McKibben is a member of NCSE's Advisory Council. For the press release, visit: http://www.sofieprisen.no/Articles/736.html For information about 350.org, visit: http://350.org/ A CHANCE TO HELP NCSE'S ARCHIVES NCSE's archives house a unique trove of material on the creationism/evolution controversy, and we regard it as part of our mission to preserve it for posterity -- as well as for occasions such as Kitzmiller v. Dover, where NCSE's archives helped to establish the creationist antecedents of the "intelligent design" movement. And we are beginning to amass a similar trove of material on disputes over climate change education. We cordially invite you now to help NCSE's archives keep up-to-date by purchasing books for NCSE through our wish list at Amazon.com. And it's not just books -- of needed hardware, software, and office equipment are welcome, too! All of these donations are tax-deductible. We're pleased to report that 213 items have been purchased already, and we thank the donors for their generosity. You can view the catalogue of books in NCSE's archives at LibraryThing. For NCSE's wishlist at Amazon.com, visit: http://www.amazon.com/gp/registry/wishlist/39U1UMFQ22WED/ For NCSE's catalogue at LibraryThing, visit: http://www.librarything.com/catalog/NCSE TWO OKLAHOMA DEPARTMENTS OF BIOLOGY ADD THEIR VOICE FOR EVOLUTION The chorus of support for the teaching of evolution continues, with statements from two biology departments at universities in Oklahoma. The Department of Biology at the University of Central Oklahoma's statement in part reads, "Evolution is defined simply as the change in allele frequencies (genetic makeup) in a population through time. ... The theory of evolution explains the mechanisms that lead to these changes. ... The theory is modified as new information is acquired through these tests; however, the overall theory of evolution continues to be upheld. Support for this theory comes from a variety of disciplines (e.g., paleontology, morphology, genetics, molecular biology, ecology, developmental biology, and biogeography). The theory of evolution is the unifying theory in biology and the fact of evolution is not controversial in the scientific community." The Department of Biological Sciences at Southwest Oklahoma State University's statement reads (in its entirety), "Evolution is supported by overwhelming scientific evidence and is accepted by the vast majority of scientists. It is fundamental to understanding all areas of biology, including medicine and conservation. Therefore the Department of Biological Sciences at Southeastern Oklahoma State University teaches evolution throughout the biology curriculum. We are in accordance with the American Association for Advancement of Science's statement on evolution. We are a science department, so we do not teach alternative hypotheses or philosophically deduced theories that cannot be tested rigorously." Both of these statements are now reproduced, by permission, on NCSE's website, and will also be contained in the fourth edition of NCSE's Voices for Evolution. For the UCO Department of Biology's statement (PDF), visit: http://biology.uco.edu/biopage/Evolution_Statement.pdf For the SOSU Department of Biological Science's statement (PDF), visit: http://www.se.edu/st/biology/ And for information on Voices for Evolution, visit: http://ncse.com/voices Thanks for reading. And don't forget to visit NCSE's website -- http://ncse.com -- where you can always find the latest news on evolution and climate education and threats to them. -- Sincerely, Glenn Branch Deputy Director National Center for Science Education, Inc. 420 40th Street, Suite 2 Oakland, CA 94609-2509 510-601-7203 x305 fax: 510-601-7204 800-290-6006 branch@ncse.com http://ncse.com Read Reports of the NCSE on-line: http://reports.ncse.com Subscribe to NCSE's free weekly e-newsletter: http://groups.google.com/group/ncse-news NCSE is on Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter: http://www.facebook.com/evolution.ncse http://www.youtube.com/NatCen4ScienceEd http://twitter.com/ncse NCSE's work is supported by its members. Join today! http://ncse.com/join
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