Executive Director at National Center for Science Education

Amanda L. Townley, Ph.D., became Executive Director of NCSE in 2023. She is an award-winning researcher and advocate specializing in science teacher education, evolution education research, and science literacy-focused public outreach. Townley is a deeply engaged advocate of science for all and "hands-on, minds-on" science teaching and learning, supporting the accurate and comprehensive teaching of science across levels of study. Prior to joining NCSE, she was an Associate Professor of Middle Grades and Secondary Science Education at Georgia Southern University in Savannah, Georgia. Her research centered on the intersections between science and society, specifically the acceptance and rejection of evolution and climate change, misconceptions and misuse of the nature of science in anti-science movements, and the impact of the perceived conflicts between scientific understandings and culture on science literacy. 

I’m an atmospheric scientist. I study climate change, one of the most pressing issues we face today.

I don’t accept global warming on faith: I crunch the data, I analyze the models, I help engineers and city managers and ecologists quantify the impacts.

The data tells us the planet is warming; the science is clear that humans are responsible; the impacts we’re seeing today are already serious; and our future is in our hands. As John Holdren once said, “We basically have three choices: mitigation, adaptation, and suffering. We’re going to do some of each. The question is what the mix is going to be. The more mitigation we do, the less adaptation will be required, and the less suffering there will be.”

https://www.katharinehayhoe.com/

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