One hundred years ago, a science teacher named John T. Scopes was tried and convicted for teaching human evolution in a Dayton, Tennessee, public high school. Eighty years after the infamous Scopes “Monkey Trial,” a federal judge in Pennsylvania ruled that teaching “intelligent design” in public schools violated the U.S. Constitution. Both trials have had a profound effect on science education over the years, and NCSE will accordingly be marking the two milestones in 2025 with a variety of celebrations and educational events.
“As someone who taught evolution in a public school in the Southeast, I recognize how important the outcomes of these landmark trials have been for our ability to provide kids with an accurate understanding of biology and science in general,” NCSE Executive Director Amanda L. Townley said. “And each day we see how fragile these hard-fought gains are as we at NCSE push back and guard against ideological incursions in the classroom. It will be an honor and a privilege for NCSE to shine a spotlight on the 100th anniversary of the Scopes ‘Monkey Trial’ and to recognize the importance of Kitzmiller v. Dover 20 years after the decision was handed down.”
In addition to marking the Scopes centennial and the Kitzmiller v. Dover 20th anniversary, NCSE in 2025 is also catching March Mammal Madness fever, facilitating another My COAST professional development for teachers, launching a fellowship for scholars aimed at tackling science misconceptions, and analyzing the results of a national survey of middle and high school teachers regarding climate change, evolution, the nature of science, and trust in science — all part of a truly exciting year!
Here’s a deeper dive into some of what NCSE has in store for the coming year:
NCSE is partnering with Evolutionary Studies at Vanderbilt University to host a two-day Scopes “Monkey” Trial Centennial Symposium in July 2025, featuring leading scholars in evolution, law, and religion. The symposium, free and open to the public, includes sessions such as “The History of the Trial,” “Evolution Today,” and “Evolution and Religion.” Townley, NCSE Board President Kenneth R. Miller, and former board member Barbara Forrest will be speaking on the theme “Modern Challenges to Teaching Evolution.” Part of their talks will doubtless center on the impact of the Kitzmiller v. Dover federal trial and decision — Forrest and Miller were expert witnesses for the plaintiffs. The symposium, as might be expected, features many friends of NCSE, such as board member Joseph L. Graves Jr. and no fewer than nine recipients of NCSE’s Friend of Darwin award.
Prior to the symposium, NCSE will lead professional development for local Tennessee science teachers leveraging a new set of innovative evolution activities created by NCSE known as Story Shorts. These modular, standards-aligned activities help students overcome common evolution misconceptions.
Along with the two-day symposium, NCSE is also organizing a panel on Scopes and Kitzmiller for Evolution 2025, a conference in June hosted by the Society for the Study of Evolution, the American Society of Naturalists, and the Society of Systematic Biologists. Planning for the Evolution 2025 panel is in the very beginning stages; stay tuned for more information.
Since 2013, science and non-science nerds alike have fervently filled in tournament brackets each year and “watched” as animals battled it out in a complex and fun thought experiment known as March Mammal Madness. According to MMM founder Katie Hinde, associate professor of evolutionary biology at Arizona State University, the event has exploded in popularity, both among the general public and among teachers and students. Last year, for instance, teachers put the MMM bracket in the hands of 830,000 students worldwide.
This year, NCSE is a sponsor of March Mammal Madness. At the National Association of Biology Teachers (NABT) Conference in November 2024, NCSE organized an Evolution Symposium that featured a presentation by Hinde titled “A Lioness Walks Into an Orca: How Stories Enhance Science Education,” as well as one by NCSE Science Education Specialist Blake Touchet and Teacher Ambassador titled “Mystery Mammal Madness: Curious Cases of Convergence.” The session was packed to overflowing with teachers drawn to March Mammal Madness and Hinde.
On Darwin Day, February 12, 2025, Hinde will reprise her talk virtually as part of NCSE’s annual Darwin Day celebration in collaboration with NABT. She’s promised to reveal more clues about this year’s bracket, including the four divisions comprising the 65 combatants in the single-elimination tournament. Then, several weeks later in early March, the full bracket will be released to the public. Hinde dropped some cryptic hints about this year’s bracket theme, saying among other things that it will honor the 100th anniversary of the Scopes trial.
“We’re so excited to be partnering with Katie Hinde and the fabulous folks behind March Mammal Madness this year!” Townley said. “It’s such a great opportunity to provide more exposure for this fun, ingenious tournament, and we appreciate the opportunity to put NCSE’s work and resources in front of even more scientists and teachers thanks to MMM’s popularity.”
We launched our My COAST initiative in 2024 with a very successful inaugural event on Skidaway Island, Georgia. Nearly 30 teachers engaged in hands-on learning experiences about the impacts of climate science on their local ecosystems and research being conducted to understand how the region is changing. They also learned how to use related NCSE climate change activities in workshops led by NCSE’s Science Education Outreach team.
In 2025, NCSE is following up with a second My COAST multi-day workshop in April in Key West, Florida. Partnering with Mote Marine Laboratory and Aquarium, NCSE will again help teachers understand the vulnerabilities and resilience of a coastal area threatened by climate change, but in this case tailored to the specific needs and realities of Key West.
NCSE will also launch its Sound Science Fellowship. Designed to address the ongoing challenges faced by teachers as they navigate issues such as scientific misinformation, evolving educational standards, and societal resistance to critical scientific topics, the fellowship includes seven academics who will engage in research and service opportunities.
Beyond these new initiatives and partnerships, NCSE will of course continue to track and respond to ideological incursions into the science classroom. Just as Maynard Shipley’s Science League of America kept concerned supporters up to date on attacks on science education in the Scopes era, so our weekly Monitor keeps you up to date on attacks on science education a hundred years after the Scopes trial.
With a focus on the Scopes trial and the Kitzmiller v. Dover decision, and with the launch of new initiatives and partnerships, 2025 promises to be a year full of learning, exploration, and continued vigilance.
