Greetings,

This website is devoted to scientific inquiry, critical thinking, and support of these skills in education.

My research includes the ambulatory biomechanics and morphological evolutionary relationships of the superorder Xenarthra (ground and tree sloths, armadillos, pampatheres, glyptodons, and anteaters).  In addition, I am researching how students between 3^rd-8^th grade understand science.  I have 20 years experience teaching science to K-12 and adult students throughout the Pacific Northwest.

The Biology Department Graduate Students held Darwin Day Celebration 2007.  As part of our festivities, we developed a petition requesting that books debating evolution versus intelligent design or proposing intelligent design and creation as an explanation in place of evolution be removed from the science section and placed in a more appropriate category.  There is in the Dewey Decimal Classification, for example, category 215 – science and religion – that would be more suitable.   We are asking scientists to sign our petition.  On February 12, 2009, as part of Darwin’s 200^th Birthday Celebration, we will submit this petition to the Library of Congress.  

Update:  February 13 - the petitions are now offline.  Not all who signed the petition received their signature confirmation.  If you are one of those people, I will send you an email asking you to confirm with me manually. if you didn't get a signature comfirmation.  Additionally, I need to remove the joke signatures.  When done, I will submit them to the Library of Congress and to my local libraries.  I will make them available for you to download and submit to your local libraries, also.

During the time that the petitions were open, it generated debate and discussion among librarians.  (One signer sent me some of the librarian listserve discourse.)  For me, that is what was most important - librarians discussing the difference between science and non-science in the science categories to help them better make determinations where to place the books.

Thank you for your signatures, discussion, and telling your colleagues about our petition.