Hi! My name is Amanda and many years ago I had an experience in science class that would rock my world (literally, but in a bad way) but also lead me into a career of research PLUS fighting for science literacy and advocating for science education!

I grew up in an evangelical ministry family in the rural deep south (Lower Appalachia region of Alabama) in a rich faith tradition. Science denialism exemplified by one of my science teachers led me down a path I didn't realize would become so important.

After years of wrangling with my own experiences and questions surrounding science, faith, culture, and society, I found myself in the field of evolutionary biology conducting research on the very topic my teacher refused to talk about in class.

Conversations surrounding those experiences are what stoked my desire to understand denialism, perceived controversy, and the intersections/divergences of science and society that largely impact people's willingness to listen to science and act based on science literacy.

This is much deeper and wider than just knowing about science, it is about what you are willing to do/not do in response to situations based on understanding and acceptance of scientific understandings.

Plenty of people know a great deal about science, but when the rubber meets the road, they elect to follow emotion or other factors. We see this on the daily with responses to Coronavirus as well as things like climate change, evolution, and genetic modification in organisms.

Why does this matter? Because the choices of the masses impact all of us, therefore we cannot afford to just sit back in judgment of others, we have to work to understand why this is happening and work on ways to open doors and build bridges so that growth can occur.