Supporter News — July 2026
From left, Prosanta Chakrabarty, Anthony Leiserowitz, Michael E. Mann, and Robert M. Zink.
Nature Selecting: A Children’s Book Explaining Evolution, a new special publication of the Louisiana State University Museum of Natural Science, tells the story of Nat, a fish-loving kid with a problem: she has so many toy animals that she needs to select which to retain and which to give away. Fortunately, her favorite, Mr. FishPatrick, offers a phylogenetically sound reason to keep them all!
Nature Selecting was written by Prosanta Chakrabarty, Curator of Fishes, Professor in Biological Sciences, and the Edwin K. Hunter Chair for Communication in Science Research at Louisiana State University — and a member of NCSE's board of directors — and illustrated by his 14-year-old daughter Anjai Noël. NCSE Executive Director Amanda L. Townley is thanked for her review of the manuscript.
Anthony Leiserowitz was named the inaugural JoshAni-TomKat Professor of Climate Communication at Yale University. The new professorship is dedicated to advancing climate communications. A January 2, 2025, press release from the university mentioned, “Leiserowitz is a recipient of the Friend of the Planet Award from the National Center for Science Education.” Leiserowitz is the director of the Yale Program on Climate Change Communication.
Michael E. Mann of the University of Pennsylvania, a former member of NCSE’s board of directors, was among The Explorers Club class of 2025. “Each year The Explorers Club recognizes 50 extraordinary people who are doing remarkable work to promote science and exploration, but remain under the radar and out of the limelight. These 50 individuals are exploring, inspiring, and creating the future — the future of the planet, life upon it, and the boundless possibilities that await us all.”
Robert M. Zink of the University of Nebraska published “Noah’s Ark: A Saga of Science Denial” in Evolution: Education and Outreach in 2025. The article concludes, “[S]cientists have shown repeatedly that claims about the biological reality of the Ark narrative are unsupported by evidence, not just in one aspect, such as the nonexistence of a global flood, but in every aspect ... In other words, adherents to the biological accuracy of the Ark narrative have failed the burden of proof. Nonetheless, those who wish to derive a spiritual message from the parable of Noah’s Ark can do so without requiring it to be scientifically factual, which is fortunate, because it is not.” The Jerusalem Post discussed Zink’s article in a story published on June 25, 2025.
