Ann Reid, executive director at the National Center for Science Education in Oakland, California, will present the University of Southern Indiana’s eighth annual Shaw Biology Lecture at 7 p.m. Wednesday, March 20, in Mitchell Auditorium, located in the Health Professions Center on USI’s campus. The presentation, titled “The Enduring Power of Evidence,†is free and open to the public.
As NCSE executive director, Reid leads an organization dedicated to expanding access to accurate, effective science education on topics at the center of cultural controversy—primarily evolution and climate change. NCSE works directly with teachers to provide them with the skills and confidence they need to cover these topics effectively. Reid is often the public face of the organization, giving talks at colleges and universities around the country, and writing commentaries that have appeared in such publications as the Los Angeles Times and EdWeek.
Reid’s talk will focus on evolution and climate change. She will explore how science uses the past to predict the future, as well as address her work on the genome of the virus causing the 1918-1919 influenza pandemic.
In addition to her presentation on Wednesday, March 20, Reid will talk with classes on Tuesday and Wednesday, March 19-20. She is particularly interested in talking with faculty and students in STEM and communication courses, as well as students preparing to teach these courses in public and private middle and high schools.
Reid previously served as a director at the American Academy of Microbiology in Washington, D.C., as the senior program officer on the Board of Life Sciences, on the National Research Council and as a research biologist at the Division of Molecular Pathology at the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology in Rockville, Maryland.
The Marlene V. Shaw Annual Biology Lecture is underwritten by an endowment in the USI Foundation. For more information, contact Marlene Shaw at mshaw@usi.edu.
