National Center for Science Education

NCSE is seeking to hire two summer interns — one full-time, one part-time — to work on science education activism projects, with a particular focus on climate change education.

NCSE is pleased to offer a free preview (PDF) of Anthony D. Barnosky's Dodging Extinction: Power, Food, Money, and the Future of Life on Earth (University of California Press, 2014).

Wyoming's House Bill 23 (PDF) was passed by the Senate on a 27-3 vote on February 12, 2015. The bill would allow the state to adopt the Next Generation Science Standards by repealing a footnote in the state budget for 2014-2016 that precluded the use of state funds for "any review or adoption" of the NGSS.

Montana's House Bill 321, which purports to "encourage critical thinking regarding controversial scientific theories" such as "biological evolution, the chemical origins of life, random mutation, natural selection, DNA, and fossil discoveries," was tabled in the House Education Committee on February 9, 2015.

South Dakota's Senate Bill 114 is out of commission, following a February 10, 2015, hearing in the Senate Education Committee.

Utah's new state standards for middle school science education are on hold, reports the Salt Lake Tribune (February 9, 2015) — and evolution and climate change may be the reason.

House Resolution 2002 (PDF), introduced in the Arizona House of Representatives on February 9, 2015, would, if enacted, express the House's recognition of February 12, 2015, as International Darwin Day.

Richard Blumenthal

Senate Resolution 66 (PDF), introduced in the United States Senate on February 4, 2015, would, if passed, express the Senate's support of designating February 12, 2015, as Darwin Day, and its recognition of "Charles Darwin as a worthy symbol on which to celebrate the achievements of reason, science, and the advancement of human knowledge."

Jim Himes

House Resolution 67 (PDF), introduced in the United States House of Representatives on February 2, 2015, would, if passed, express the House's support of designating February 12, 2015, as Darwin Day, and its recognition of "Charles Darwin as a worthy symbol on which to focus and around which to build a global celebration of science and humanity intended to promote a common bond among all of Earth's peoples."

Whereas seven out of eight of scientists say that humans are causing global warming, only half of the public agrees, according to a new report from the Pew Research Center.

Whereas nearly all scientists say that humans and other living things have evolved over time, only two thirds of the public agrees, according to a new report from the Pew Research Center.

"A Billings legislator has reintroduced a bill that would encourage high school teachers to present evolutionary biology as disputed theory rather than sound science and protect those who teach viewpoints like creationism in the classroom," reports the Billings Gazette (January 29, 2015).

The petition to ask the Scottish government to ban the teaching of creationism in the public schools was revived when, at its January 27, 2015, meeting, the Public Petitions Committee of the Scottish parliament decided to forward the petition to the Education and Culture Committee for further action.

As a result of a controversy over creationist encroachments in the public schools in South Lanarkshire, Scotland, and a petition to the Scottish parliament to ban the teaching of creationism as scientifically credible, there are now dueling motions about creationism in the Scottish parliament.

As challenges to the integrity of science education burgeon at the beginning of 2015, NCSE would like to thank its Supporting Organizations for their generous assistance during the previous year.

NCSE is seeking to hire a Director of Community Organizing and Research. The full-time position involves implementing a new NCSE program aimed at facilitating the development of local community groups focused on support of high-quality science education.

South Dakota's Senate Bill 114 is the fourth antiscience bill of 2015, following on the heels of Missouri's House Bill 486, Indiana's Senate Bill 562, and Oklahoma's Senate Bill 665.

Wyoming's House Bill 23 (PDF) was passed by the House of Representatives on a 39-21 vote on January 26, 2015, according to the Casper Star-Tribune (January 27, 2015), and now proceeds to the Senate. The bill would allow the state to adopt the Next Generation Science Standards by repealing a footnote in the state budget for 2014-2016 that precluded the use of state funds for "any review or adoption" of the NGSS.

A Montana legislator, Clayton Fiscus (R-District 46), is preparing to introduce a bill purporting to "emphasize critical thinking in instruction related to controversial scientific theories on the origin of life" such as "biological evolution, the chemical origins of life, random mutation, natural selection, DNA, and fossil discoveries." 

Senate Bill 665 (document), styled the Oklahoma Science Education Act, is the third antiscience bill of the year.