The Committee for Skeptical Inquiry has elected ten new fellows for their distinguished contributions to science and skepticism.
They include a political scientist who studies conspiracy theories; a microbiologist who heads a science advocacy group in Brazil; a communications researcher who studies how to present the science about climate change and other contentious issues; a health law professor, a public health professor, and an attorney, all three of whom critique health fads and unproven medical claims; a prominent science teacher who shows others how to teach evolution; and three noted investigators of extraordinary popular claims.
CSI’s mission is to promote scientific inquiry, critical investigation, and the use of reason in examining controversial and extraordinary claims. Fellows are elected for their distinguished contributions to science and skepticism as well as their ability to provide practical advice and expertise on various issues and projects deemed important to the work of the Committee.
Election as a fellow is based upon the following criteria, approved by the CSI Executive Council:
- Outstanding contribution to a scientific discipline, preferably, though not restricted to, a field related to the skeptical movement;
- Outstanding contribution to the communication of science and/or critical thinking; or
- Outstanding contribution to the skeptical movement.
Fellows of CSI serve as ambassadors of science and skepticism and may be consulted on issues related to their area of expertise by the media or by the Committee. They may be asked to support statements issued by CSI and contribute commentary or articles to CSI outlets.
Founding fellows of CSI include noted scientists, academics, and science writers such as Carl Sagan, Isaac Asimov, Martin Gardner, James Randi, Paul Kurtz, Ray Hyman, Philip J. Klass, Sidney Hook, and others. Current fellows include Richard Dawkins, E.O. Wilson, Neil deGrasse Tyson, Elizabeth Loftus, Bill Nye, Susan Blackmore, Steven Pinker, Eugenie Scott, Steven Novella, and Susan Haack. A list of CSI fellows is published in every issue of Skeptical Inquirer magazine and is on our website at /fellows-and-staff/.
Election to the position of fellow is a lifetime appointment. However, if in the opinion of the CSI Executive Council an individual’s behavior or scholarship renders that person unable to continue to qualify for the position of fellow under the criteria listed or to effectively fulfill the role of ambassador of science and skepticism, CSI may choose to remove them from the list of fellows.
The Committee congratulates the ten new fellows for their commitments to science, rational inquiry, and public education.
The new fellows are, with capsule bios:
Jann Johnson Bellamy, attorney, writer for Science-Based Medicine, Tallahassee, Florida
Bellamy, a Florida attorney, does the bulk of her advocacy writing for the Science-Based Medicine blog, where she tracks state and federal bills that would allow pseudoscience in health care. She is one of the founders, and served on the board of, the Society for Science-Based Medicine (SfSBM), dedicated to providing accurate information about complementary and alternative medicine and advocating for state and federal laws that incorporate a science-based standard of care, a task that has since been assumed by the Center for Inquiry.
Kenny Biddle, investigator, writer, podcaster, public speaker, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Biddle is a science enthusiast who investigates claims of paranormal experiences, the equipment—including video—that people use to search for strange things, and the evidence presented for ghosts, UFOs, and cryptids. He promotes science, critical thinking, and skepticism through his blog I Am Kenny Biddle and YouTube channel. He frequently hosts workshops on how to deconstruct paranormal photography and solving mysteries at both science- and paranormal-themed events. He hosts the live Q&A podcast The Skeptical Help Bar, which promotes open discussion between people of different beliefs. He writes the “A Closer Look” column on skepticalinquirer.org.
Timothy Caulfield, law professor, health expert, critic of unproven health claims, University of Alberta, Canada
Caulfield is Canada Research Chair in Health Law & Policy and professor in the Faculty of Law and School of Public Health as well as research director of the Health Law Institute, all at the University of Alberta. He is author of Is Gwyneth Paltrow Wrong about Everything? How the Famous Sell Us Elixirs of Health, Beauty, and Happiness,which has recently been published in a new, updated edition titled The Science of Celebrity … or, Is Gwyneth Paltrow Wrong about Everything? An earlier book was Cure for Everything: Untangling Twisted Messages about Health, Fitness, and Happiness. His A Users Guide to Cheating Death (available on Netflix), a series of one-hour documentary episodes he hosts challenging mass-marketed health trends, received the award for Non-Fiction: Science & Technology at the 2019 RealScreen Summit Awards.
William M. London, professor of public health, California State, Los Angeles
London, whose doctorate is in health education, teaches and writes about the promotion of health-related misinformation, sensationalism, superstition, pseudoscience, fraud, and quackery. He is the “Consumer Health” columnist for Skeptical Inquirer online, the editor of Quackwatch’s e-newsletter Consumer Health Digest, and cohost of the Credential Watch website (a Quackwatch affiliate). He was cofounder and first president of the Ohio Council Against Health Fraud and later served as president of the National Council Against Health Fraud. Until his election as fellow, he was a scientific and technical consultant to the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry. This past year, he has spearheaded the Center for Inquiry’s online Coronavirus Resource Center and “Dubious COVID-19 Treatments and Preventives” webpage.
Matthew C. Nisbet, communication professor and researcher, Northeastern University
Nisbet is professor of communication, public policy, and urban affairs at Northeastern University in Boston and a regular columnist at Issues in Science and Technology magazine. He is a leading researcher in the international fields of science communication and environmental politics. He was editor-in-chief of the three-volume The Oxford Encyclopedia of Climate Change Communication, which was a finalist for the American Publishers’ 2019 PROSE Awards in the reference/science category, and is past editor-in-chief of the journal Environmental Communication. Nisbet’s “The Science of Science Communication” column has appeared regularly in the Skeptical Inquirer since 2016. Starting with the May/June 2020 issue, he changed its name to “The Examined Life,” “providing a skeptical dose of anti-self-help advice.”
Natalia Pasternak, microbiologist, research scientist, president of Brazil’s skeptics group
Pasternak is a microbiologist with a PhD from the University of São Paulo, Brazil, where she studied the molecular genetics of bacteria. In 2018, she became first president of the Instituto Questão de Ciência (IQC; Question of Science Institute), defending the use of scientific evidence in public policies. She even invested her own money in forming the group. She has since been involved in many activities related to the promotion of science, becoming a dynamic and passionate advocate for science and reason in Brazil and taking a leadership role in the world skeptical movement. With mixed messages on coronavirus coming from Brazil’s government and health officials, Pasternak has become a highly visible proponent of science and rationality in that country, including frequent appearances on television and writing a weekly science column in a Rio de Janeiro newspaper. She and Carlos Orsi wrote “Believing the Science Is Not Understanding the Science: Brazilian Surveys” in the March/April 2020 Skeptical Inquirer.
James Underdown, writer, investigator, founder of the Center for Inquiry Investigations Group
Underdown is founder and chair of the Center for Inquiry Investigations Group (CFIIG), which investigates fringe science, paranormal, and extraordinary claims from a rational, scientific viewpoint. A recent notable investigation field-tested flat-earth claims. The CFIIG offers $250,000 to anyone who can prove paranormal or supernatural ability under controlled test conditions. Underdown is also the longtime executive director of the Center for Inquiry West in Los Angeles, where he promotes not just science-based skepticism but also science, reason, freedom of inquiry, and secular values. He is one of the cohosts of the Center for Inquiry’s flagship podcast, Point of Inquiry, and writes the Ask the Atheist blog on CFI’s website. He also runs CFI West’s Carl Sagan & Ann Druyan Theater. In addition to his skeptic credentials, the multitalented Underdown is a writer, lead singer of a rock group, a comedic actor and entertainer, and a frequent host at CFI and CSI events.
Joseph Uscinski, political scientist specializing in conspiracy theories, University of Miami
Uscinski is associate professor of political science at the University of Miami, studying public opinion and mass media with a focus on conspiracy theories and misinformation. He is coauthor of American Conspiracy Theories and editor of Conspiracy Theories and the People Who Believe Them (both from Oxford University Press). His most recent book is Conspiracy Theories: A Primer (2020). He writes newspaper op-ed articles and makes frequent media appearances discussing popular and contemporary conspiracy theories, COVID-19 conspiracy theories, QAnon, and fake news. In Miami in 2015, he organized one of the first international conferences on conspiracy theory research, drawing scholars from ten countries. He spoke at CSICon 2018 and has published two Skeptical Inquirer articles on how to think about conspiracy theories.
Bertha Vazquez, science teacher, director of the Teacher Institute for Evolutionary Science
Vazquez has been a science teacher in the Miami-Dade County Public Schools since 1991. Working with Richard Dawkins, she has been director of the Teacher Institute for Evolutionary Science (TIES), a project of the Richard Dawkins Foundation for Reason & Science, now an arm of the Center for Inquiry. Since its inception in April 2015, TIES has conducted over 200 innovative workshops, in person and online, for school teachers in every state, providing science teachers at every grade level with the content knowledge and resources they need to effectively teach evolution and answer its critics. Vazquez’s vision, energy, and leadership has been instrumental to its success. Thanks to this amazing project, Vazquez was the 2017 recipient of the National Association of Biology Teachers Evolution Education Award.
Mick West, writer, podcaster, investigator, and debunker
West, a science writer and skeptical investigator (and one-time video game programmer), is the creator of the popular website Metabunk, which skeptically examines conspiracy theories, pseudoscience, UFOs, and the paranormal. His 2018 book Escaping the Rabbit Hole: How to Debunk Conspiracy Theories Using Facts, Logic, and Respect examined four of the most popular false conspiracy theories—chemtrails, 9/11 controlled demolition, false flags, and flat earth—using his preferred debunking technique of clear communication based on respect, honestly, openness, and patience. In 2019, he started a podcast, Tales from the Rabbit Hole, to explore these themes via long-form interviews. Being a one-time believer when growing up in a small town in England, West applies that experience and sensitivity to his investigations, interactions, and writings. He now lives in Sacramento, California.