NCSE Evolution and Climate Education Update for 2017/08/25
Submitted by Peter Burns on Fri, 2017-08-25 18:45.
National Center for Science Education
(by NCSE Deputy Director Glenn Branch)
Dear friends of NCSE, NCSE's Science Booster Club program is in the news. And a reminder that NCSE speakers are ready, willing, and able!
SPOTLIGHT ON NCSE'S SCIENCE BOOSTER CLUB PROGRAM NCSE's Science Booster Club program was featured in a story from ThinkProgress (August 24, 2017), which described it as "a way of bringing the science behind climate change and evolution to regular citizens." "The booster club uses volunteers -- often scientists, though anyone can get involved -- who go to local farmers markets, state fairs, science festivals, city council meetings, and other community events and set up booths with hands-on science experiments." NCSE's Emily Schoerning, who heads the program, emphasized its non-confrontational and easy-going approach: "you don't act like you’re doing missionary work... your job is helping people work through some evidence and helping people process their conclusions." Penn State climate scientist Michael E. Mann commented, "I've long said that the solution to the climate problem is going to come as much from the ground up as from the top down," adding, "The more involved people can get at the community level, the better." A further benefit of the program is that it helps to create a friendlier environment for teachers to present evolution and climate change in their classrooms, especially important given the sporadic assaults from legislators and policymakers. There are currently Science Booster Clubs in Iowa, where it was piloted, and California, Indiana, Kentucky, Nebraska, Ohio, Oklahoma, Texas, and Virginia; applications to start a further four clubs are currently under review. For the ThinkProgress story, visit: https://thinkprogress.org/grassroots-climate-education-622470409c4e/ And for further information about NCSE's Science Booster Club program, visit: http://ncse.com/scienceboosterclubs NEED A SPEAKER? As the only national organization that is wholly dedicated to defending the teaching of evolution and climate change in the public schools, NCSE is the perfect place to find someone to speak to your organization or university about issues relevant to evolution and climate education and attacks on either or both. Available speakers include NCSE's executive director Ann Reid, Glenn Branch, Brad Hoge, Stephanie Keep, Steven Newton, and Emily Schoerning. So if you need a speaker, please feel free to visit the speaker information page on the NCSE website or get in touch with the NCSE office. If nobody from NCSE is available or suitable, we'll try to find you someone who is! For the speaker information page, visit: http://ncse.com/about/speakers For NCSE's contact information, visit: http://ncse.com/contact WHAT'S NEW AT NCSE'S BLOG? Have you been visiting NCSE's blog recently? If not, then you've missed: * Glenn Branch considering American Apocalypse's take on Dudley Joseph Whitney: https://ncse.com/blog/2017/08/misunderstanding-sage-lindcove-0018595 For NCSE's blog, visit: http://ncse.com/blog 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. 1904 Franklin Street, Suite 600 Oakland CA 94612-2922 510-601-7203 fax 510-788-7971 branch@ncse.com http://ncse.com Check out NCSE's blog: http://ncse.com/blog 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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