As part of the Darwin Day celebrations back on February 12, Biology News Net and Information World Review blog trumpeted the announcement of a new journal to be used against the steadily increasing influence of creationist and Intelligent Design proponents. Evolution: Education and Outreach is expected to launch sometime in December 2007 under the wing of a major science & business publishing conglomerate, Springer-Verlag.
The initial press release said:
Outreach and Education in Evolution, a traditional peer-reviewed journal with non-traditional features, will address these concerns. Each quarterly issue will feature peer-reviewed articles on evolution, “letters from the trenches,” interviews with prominent scientists and educators, lesson plans, critical essays, cartoons, puzzles, reviews on evolution in the media (books, movies, museum openings and exhibitions) and more. The full-color online edition will offer added value, for example chat rooms, teaching resources and blogging opportunities. In addition, Springer has committed up to $10,000 annually in grants and prizes for the best paper, the best lesson plan, etc. The journal, aimed at members of the educational, museum, and scientific community involved in the teaching of evolutionary theory, will be available at a very affordable price.
Springer has finally placed more details online (oddly enough under their Human Genetics Journals pages) including a revised launch date and minor title change. Among the evolutionary luminaries on the ‘Editorial Board’ are: Joel Cracraft, Douglas Futuyma, Ronald L. Numbers, Eugenie Scott, Ian Tattersall, and Carl Zimmer. Editors are Niles and Gregory Eldredge (father & son) with Mick Wycoff as managing editor. ‘Partner Organizations’ include: the National Evolutionary Synthesis Center and UC Berkeley Museum of Paleontology. Global Education Outreach is presumable a partner, although not directly listed as such. The connection appears to be through Dr. Harry Kroto, Nobel Prize winner and an ‘Editorial Board’ member of EEO. (Warning, the GEO website and it’s parent, The Vega Science Trust, make use of the color red in a rather hideous way!)
NOTE: One wonders if Springer’s annual $10,000 in grants and prizes isn’t partly a response to Answer in Genesis’ $50,000 Research Paper Challenge 2007 and AiG’s earlier War of the Worldviews Research Paper Contest?
CP
