National Center for Science Education

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The NCSE's logo

The National Center for Science Education (NCSE) is a non-profit organization affiliated with the American Association for the Advancement of Science. It defends the teaching of evolutionary biology and opposes the teaching of religious views in science classes in America's public schools. The center is located in Oakland, California. They are well known for coordinating Project Steve.

1 History
2 Staff & supporters
3 Media
4 External links

[edit] History

The NCSE was founded in 1981 and incorporated in 1983, by several "Committees of Correspondence" that had been established to fight the promotion of "creation science" by Christian fundamentalists. In 1987, author and lecturer Eugenie Scott (PhD in Physical Anthropology) became its executive director. The Board of Directors and official supporters, as explained by NCSE, "reflects our scientific roots." The organization's supporters include Bruce Alberts, President of the National Academy of Sciences; Donald Johanson, discoverer of the "Lucy" fossil; and evolutionary biologist Francisco J. Ayala. Also the late Paleontologist and writer Stephen Jay Gould was a long-time supporter.

The NCSE acts as a central information and resource clearinghouse, and helps to coordinate the activities of people fighting creationists. The NCSE also opposes "intelligent design theory or alternatives to evolution" because they are "misleading euphemisms" of creationism.[1] The organization also has a legal advisory panel, and offers free information/literature to parents to share with school officials.

NCSE "is religiously neutral, though it cooperates nationally and locally with religious organizations, as well as scientific and educational organizations like the National Academy of Sciences, the National Association of Biology Teachers, and the National Science Teachers Association."[2] The group has over 4000 members who are "scientists, teachers, clergy, and citizens with diverse religious affiliations."[3]

[edit] Staff & supporters

The NCSE's staff consists of Executive Director Eugenie C. Scott, Deputy Director Glenn Branch, Consultant Josephine Borgeson, Information Project Director Wesley R. Elsberry, Visiting Scholar Alan D. Gishlick, Public Information Project Director Nicholas Matzke, Outreach Coordinator Eric Meikle, Public Information Project Director Susan Spath and Director of Operations Philip T. Spieth. Skip Evans was formerly Network Project Director, but has moved on.

President: Kevin Padian -- University of California, Berkeley
President-Elect: Elizabeth K. Stage -- Lawrence Hall of Science
Past President: Jack B. Friedman -- Nassau Community College
Secretary-Treasurer: Robert M. West -- Informal Learning Experiences, Inc.

Directors:

Brian Alters -- McGill University
John R. Cole -- science writer
Barbara Forrest -- Southeastern Louisiana University
Duane E. Jeffery -- Brigham Young University
Michael McIlwrath -- Uff. Legale Nuove Pignone
Andrew J. Petto -- University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee
Frank J. Sonleitner -- University of Oklahoma, Norman

Founder: Stanley L. Weinberg

Supporters:

Bruce Alberts -- National Academy of Science
Francisco J. Ayala -- University of California, Irvine
Frederick Borsch -- Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadelphia
Stephen G. Brush -- University of Maryland
Sean B. Carroll -- University of Wisconsin, Madison
Johnetta B. Cole -- Bennett College
Joel Cracraft -- American Museum of Natural History
Brent Dalrymple -- Oregon State University
James E. Darnell, Jr. -- Rockefeller University
Richard E. Dickerson -- University of California, Los Angeles
Robert H. Dott, Jr. -- University of Wisconsin, Madison
James D. Ebert† -- Chesapeake Institute of Johns Hopkins University
Niles Eldredge -- American Museum of Natural History
Milton Fingerman -- Tulane University
Douglas J. Futuyma -- University of Michigan
Alfred G. Gilman -- University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center
Laurie Godfrey -- University of Massachusetts
Stephen J. Gould† -- Harvard University
Donald Hornig -- Harvard University
Norman H. Horowitz† -- California Institute of Technology
Clark Howell -- University of California, Berkeley
Duane E. Jeffery -- Brigham Young University
Donald Johanson -- Institute for Human Origins
Patricia Kelley -- University of North Carolina, Wilmington
Philip Kitcher -- Columbia University
Richard C. Lewontin -- Harvard University
Paul MacCready -- Aerovironment, Inc.
Lynn Margulis, University of Massachusetts
Malcolm McKenna -- American Museum of Natural History
Keith B. Miller -- Kansas State University
Kenneth Miller -- Brown University
John A. Moore† -- University of California, Riverside
Dorothy Nelkin† -- New York University
Bill Nye -- The Science Guy
William S. Pollitzer† -- University of North Carolina
Joseph E. Rall -- National Institutes of Health
James Randi -- conjuror
Michael Ruse -- Florida State University
James W. Skehan, S.J. -- Weston Observatory
Frank Sonleitner -- University of Oklahoma
Richard Stucky -- Denver Museum of Nature & Science
Marvalee Wake -- University of California, Berkeley
Mary Jane West-Eberhard -- Smithsonian Institution
Tim D. White -- University of California, Berkeley

[edit] Media

In 2004, National Center for Science Education was represented by Dr. Scott on Penn and Teller's Showtime television show Bullshit! on the episode "Creationism." Dr. Scott offered scientific views about the creationist and intelligent design movements. She noted, "it would be unfair to tell students that there is a serious dispute going on among scientists whether evolution took place. There's not." She further noted that "a lot of the time the creationists... they'll search through scientific journals and try to pull out something they think demonstrates evolution doesn't work and there is a kind of interesting rationale behind it. Their theology is such that if one thing is wrong with the Bible you have to throw it all out so that's why Genesis has to be interpreted literally. They look at science the same way. If one little piece of the evolutionary puzzle doesn't fit the whole thing has to go." Scott then explained "that's not the way science is done."