| April 14, 2010 |
| 7:00 pm | to | 8:30 pm |
April 14, 2010, 7:00pm–8:30pm
Women’s City Club, 254 E. Fulton St., Grand Rapids, MI, View Map
http://www.cfimichigan.org/
The mission of the Center for Inquiry | Michigan is to foster a secular society based on science, reason, freedom of inquiry, and humanist values.
Presented by Gregory Forbes, PhD, Director, Institute for Evolution Education
Description
While studies demonstrate that many Americans have little or no detailed knowledge of evolutionary theory, almost half of all Americans do not accept evolutionary theory as valid science. However, this lack of knowledge of evolution, and science in general, does not stop anti-evolutionists from making extraordinary claims against evolution theory. This presentation will explore the most common anti-evolutionist claims and the scientific, philosophical, theological and logical responses to those claims.
About the Speaker
Dr. Gregory Forbes serves as the National Course Director for the National Science Foundation’s Chautauqua course on evolution and evolution education and he also serves as the Director of the Evolution Education Institute and as the Evolution Education Specialist for the Michigan Science Teachers Association and is a founding member of Michigan Citizens for Science and he is a Professor of Biological Sciences at Grand Rapids Community College in Michigan.
Dr. Gregory Forbes has a broad education in the biological sciences earning a B.S. in Wildlife and Natural Resources Management from California Polytechnic University, a M.S. in Biological Sciences from California Polytechnic University and a Ph.D. from the Department of Zoology and also the Department of Tropical Environmental Studies at James Cook University in Australia. Dr. Forbes also holds professional certification as a Certified Wildlife Biologist.
Dr. Forbes is a Professor of Biological Sciences at Grand Rapids Community College where he also served as the Director of its Science Education Center. Dr. Forbes served as the Education Director for the Michigan Evolution Education Initiative, a state-wide initiative designed to help teachers to effectively teach evolution. He also serves as the Director of the Institute for Evolution Education, an initiative that expands the Michigan project nationally. Dr. Forbes is the National Course Director for the National Science Foundation’s Chautauqua course on evolution and evolution education for college and university professors and he is the Evolution Education Specialist for the 4,000 member Michigan Science Teachers Association.
Dr. Forbes has 25 years of university and college instructional experience. His instructional and curricular development work has included the development of 22 college and university courses in both the biological and physical sciences at four institutions as well as instruction of wide diversity of courses such as zoology, natural resources management, geology, tropical ecology, marine biology and human anatomy and physiology.
In 2004 Dr. Forbes was awarded the Michigan Science Teachers Association highest award, College & University Science Teacher of the Year. In 2005, Greg was selected as the Civil Libertarian of the Year by the Michigan ACLU for his work in defending the integrity of science education against attempts to introduce non-scientific ideologies into the public classroom. He was also selected as the 2006 Freethinker of the Year by the Freethought Association in recognition of his efforts to promote freethought and in consideration of his work in the legislative arena to safeguard the teaching of science in public classrooms.
Since 1993, Dr. Forbes has served as an Editorial Board member for Skeptic Magazine, an international publication promoting a scientific approach to addressing social, philosophical, and scientific issues with a significant emphasis upon evolutionary thought, education, and inquiry. He also authors a regular column in the Michigan Science Teachers Association’s Journal entitled “Natural Selections; Essays on Evolution and the Nature of Science”. Dr. Forbes has been a featured or keynote speaker at many dozens of scientific and educational conferences. He is also a founding member and current Board member of the Michigan Citizens for Science, a citizens group that works to ensure quality science education in the public classroom.
Additional Details
Meetings are open to the Public
After the meeting, join us at Vitale’s Restaurant, 834 Leonard NE, Grand Rapids, MI to socialize. View Map
Learn about Parking, Accessibility, Child Care and more.
Cost: $6.00 general admission. Free for Friends of the Center.
Contact: Jennifer Beahan, michigan@centerforinquiry.net, 616-698-2342
