Safeguarding Sound Science

The understanding of evolution has had a profound positive effect on human existence, from medical advancements to conservation biology, as we have heard from so many of our guests this season. Yet, despite this fact, evolution education continues to be threatened today, from the censoring of language in textbooks to the watering down of science standards. How did we get here? What is the current state of evolution education? And how can we ensure that our children have the skills and knowledge they need to succeed in tomorrow's world? Host Mat Kaplan is joined by three science education experts from NCSE: Executive Director Amanda Townley and Science Education and Outreach Specialists Wendy Johnson and Britt Miller. Listen as they provide answers to these and many other questions about the past, present, and future of evolution education. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Maybe not, according to Todd Disotell, a biological anthropologist and science communicator from the University of Massachusetts. Among his many research interests, Disotell studies and teaches about disease ecology: how pathogens of every variety get to be so good at making us sick (hint: evolution is deeply involved), and how our bodies fight back. Join host Mat Kaplan for this enlightening, and sometimes sobering, look at those masters of adaptation: pathogens. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In the flop of a movie, Waterworld, Kevin Costner's character (spoiler alert!) develops gills as an adaptation to a flooded planet altered by climate change. This plays into the all-too-prevalent misconception that as the Earth warms, we humans don't need to worry — we'll simply evolve and adapt. In this episode of Safeguarding Sound Science, host Mat Kaplan talks with Libby Cowgill, associate professor of anthropology at the University of Missouri, Columbia, and NCSE Executive Director Amanda L. Townley about human evolution in response to climate. Cowgill's broad areas of study include Late Pleistocene human evolution, human growth and development, and human adaptation to climate. Cowgill discusses her current research in which she and her team test underlying assumptions about human body form in relation to different environments. To that end, she's "baking, steaming, and freezing people" and collecting a trove of data as a result. Both Cowgill and Townley help us understand the science behind adaptation and natural selection and why we humans will not evolve gills, or any other incredibly complex adaptation, as a rapid response to climate change. All the more reason to act now to mitigate global warming. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

You know the t-shirt, right? The one that shows the progression from a monkey to a human? In this episode of Safeguarding Sound Science, we talk with two renowned paleoanthropologists, Jeremy DeSilva and Briana Pobiner, to find out why that image is in fact a viral misconception. DeSilva and Pobiner study the real ancestry of homo sapiens, a story that continues to unfold in Africa and elsewhere around the world. It’s a story that’s as dramatic, as exciting, and as complex as the very best detective novels. DeSilva, an associate professor of anthropology at Dartmouth University, studies the locomotion of the very first apes and our own, earliest human ancestors, known as hominins. Pobiner is a Research Scientist and Museum Educator in the Human Origins Program, part of the Department of Anthropology at the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of Natural History. Together, they share their understanding of how we came to be who we are today. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The second season of Safeguarding Sound Science from The National Center for Science Education examines the everyday impacts of evolution, the grand theory that informs our understanding of all life on this planet. Host Mat Kaplan talks with scientists, researchers, and other experts as they dispel common misconceptions about evolution, discuss its sometimes invisible importance in our day-to-day lives, and marvel at the wonders of ongoing scientific discovery that help us piece together more of the evolutionary puzzle. Tune in beginning Oct. 1. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Though climate change represents a clear and present danger for all of us, it is young people who will suffer the most if we don't mitigate global warming. And they understand this. Nearly 70% of 16-25-year-olds are extremely worried or very worried about the climate, according to a recent global study. Faced with this mounting crisis, young people are raising their voices and actively engaging in solutions. Meet three such people in this week's episode: Cindy Le, Leilina Patel, and Jariel Ramos, all members of the Action for the Climate Emergency Youth Advisory Board. They're joined by Kelly Lê, Executive Director of Grades of Green, a nonprofit organization that supports schools in fostering environmental literacy worldwide, and NCSE's Amanda L. Townley. Host Mat Kaplan discusses with our guests their paths towards climate activism, their efforts to create systemic change, and the ways they maintain hope in the face of the climate crisis. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In a warming world, poison ivy is becoming bigger and itchier. That's the kind of personally relevant message that resonates with everyone, and helps make the impacts of climate change hit home, according to Edward Maibach, award-winning climate communicator and director of George Mason University's Center for Climate Change Communication. And who better to convey those messages than trusted sources, such as TV weathercasters? So says Bernadette Woods Placky, a close colleague of Maibach's and Chief Meteorologist and Vice President for Engagement at Climate Central, whose mission is to communicate climate change science, effects, and solutions to the public and decision-makers. They work with broadcast meteorologists, journalists, and other influential voices. Join host Mat Kaplan as he explores the strategies employed by Woods Placky and Maibach to generate greater understanding of the perils of a warming planet and what can be done about it. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Award-winning journalist Katie Worth spent time in schools around the country talking to teachers and students as she attempted to understand the landscape of climate change education in US schools. She chronicles what she discovered in her book, Miseducation: How Climate Change is Taught in America's Schools. Join host Mat Kaplan as he discusses the state of climate change education with Worth and Oklahoma science teacher Melissa Lau, whose perspective is included in Miseducation. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Scientists nearly unanimously agree that the planet is warming at an unprecedented rate, and that humans are the cause. We see evidence of climate change in the increased frequency and intensity of catastrophic weather events, glacier melts, and rising sea levels. Yet climate change denial persists, hampering efforts to combat this crisis. Why? Join host Mat Kaplan as he explores the current state of climate change denial and its roots with renowned climate scientist Michael E. Mann, author of The New Climate War, and National Center for Science Education Deputy Director Glenn Branch. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices