CU's Stephen Ellner is among signatories to pro-evolution statement

Ellner

Stephen P. Ellner, professor of ecology and evolutionary biology at Cornell, is wearing a special T-shirt to class this week.

He is one of 220 eminent signatories named Steve, including at least seven with Cornell affiliations, to a pro-evolution statement released Feb. 16 at the Denver meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) (See story, Page 1). And Ellner is wearing his "Project Steve" shirt with pride.

The T-shirt, which is bound to become a collector's item, and the statement read: "Evolution is a vital, well-supported, unifying principle of the biological sciences, and the scientific evidence is overwhelmingly in favor of the idea that all living things share a common ancestry. Although there are legitimate scientific debates about the patterns and processes of evolution, there is no serious scientific doubt that evolution occurred or that natural selection is a major mechanism of evolution. It is scientifically inappropriate and pedagogically irresponsible for creationist pseudoscience, including but not limited to 'intelligent design,' to be introduced into the science curricula of the public schools."

The back of the T-shirt is printed with the names of the 220 signatories -- almost all of whom hold Ph.D.s in the sciences, including two Nobel laureates and eight members of the National Academy of Sciences -- and ends with the words: "In memoriam Stephen Jay Gould 1941-2002." The late Harvard geologist, zoologist and popular author was a vocal supporter of evolution education as well as of the National Center for Science Education (NCSE), the advocacy organization that launched Project Steve. NCSE executive director Eugenie C. Scott said Project Steve was a rejoinder to creationists' lists of Ph.D. scientists who support their cause. "We hope that the next time creationists present a list of 'scientific dissenters from evolution,' reporters will ask, 'How many of them are named Steve?'"

Other signatories who earned Ph.D.s at Cornell, as did Ellner, are: Steve Halperin, professor and dean, College of Computer, Mathematical and Physical Sciences, University of Maryland; Steven N. Handel, professor of ecology and evolution, Rutgers University; Stephen Nowicki, Anne T. and Robert M. Bass Professor of Biology, Neurobiology, and Psychological and Brain Sciences, Duke University; Stephen J. O'Brien, chief, Laboratory of Genomic Diversity, National Cancer Institute; and Stephen E. Schneider, professor of astronomy, University of Massachusetts.

Steven Weinberg, the University of Texas professor who shared the 1979 Nobel Prize in Physics with Cornell classmate Sheldon Glashow (both earned bachelor's degrees here in 1954), added: "Of course science isn't decided by manifesto; this statement pokes fun at such efforts. If you want to know whether scientists accept evolution, you should look in the scientific literature. There you find that evolution is alive and well as a central and unifying principle of science."

Ellner said all signatories received the Project Steve T-shirt, which can be viewed at <www.ncseweb.org/steves>, and were encouraged to wear them to class to spark discussions with students.