Zack Kopplin
Zack Kopplin | |
---|---|
Born | Zachary Sawyer Kopplin July 20, 1993 Baton Rouge, Louisiana, U.S. |
Occupation | Activist |
Zachary "Zack" Sawyer Kopplin[1] (born July 20, 1993)[citation needed] is an American political activist, journalist, and television personality from Louisiana. Kopplin has campaigned to keep creationism out of public school science classrooms and been involved with other separation of church and state causes. He has opposed school vouchers because they provide public money to schools which may teach creationism. As a high school student, he organized seventy-eight Nobel laureate scientists in a campaign against the Louisiana Science Education Act, a creationism law. He is also involved with science funding policy and curriculum and textbook policy. His new campaign calls for a launching Second Giant Leap for Humankind, calling for Barack Obama to invest $1 trillion in research and education.
Kopplin has been interviewed on HBO's .
Personal life
Kopplin was born in
Zack Kopplin graduated from Baton Rouge Magnet High School of Baton Rouge, Louisiana in 2011 and from Rice University in Houston, Texas in 2015.
On NPR's Science Friday, Kopplin stated that he was born with anosmia, meaning he does not have a sense of smell.[6]
Education activism
Louisiana Science Education Act
As a senior at Baton Rouge Magnet High School, in Louisiana, he launched a campaign to repeal the Louisiana Science Education Act, which has been described by the international science community as a creationism law.[7] Kopplin ran his campaign through his RepealCreationism website.[8]
Kopplin joined with Louisiana State Senator Karen Carter Peterson, a Democrat from New Orleans and chair of the Louisiana Democratic Party who sponsored two attempts to repeal the Louisiana Science Education Act. Peterson vowed to keep sponsoring bills, “until we defeat this law.”[9]
With the help of
Kopplin gathered the support of major science organizations behind the repeal including the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the largest science organization in the world with over 10 million members. He also gathered endorsements from the Clergy Letter Project and the New Orleans City Council.[11]
Science textbooks
Kopplin played a major role in convincing the
Kopplin spearheaded a campaign to prevent attempts by Louisiana legislators to reverse the board's decision.[13]
School vouchers
Kopplin has also played a role in the discussion over education reform in America. He has identified and exposed a number of the schools in Louisiana's school voucher program using creationist curricula or teaching creationism.
Second Giant Leap
In 2013, Kopplin, along with Louisiana-based investigative journalist
Kopplin debated Wall Street Journal editorial board member Stephen Moore on the return on investment for funding science while on HBO's Real Time with Bill Maher.[citation needed] After Kopplin pointed out that Moore was not a scientist, when Moore questioned National Science Foundation grants, the clip was picked up by Upworthy and went viral.[18][19]
Michele Bachmann
According to the Huffington Post, Kopplin challenged Michele Bachmann to back up statements she made about Nobel laureate scientists supporting creationism. Kopplin made his challenge on the basis of the Nobel laureate scientists who supported his anti-creationism campaign.[20] The New Orleans Gambit followed up on this question while she was in New Orleans.[21]
Awards and recognition
Kopplin is the
See also
- Academic Freedom bills
- Barbara Forrest
- Science education
References
- ^ "Graduates And Valedictorians - Baton Rouge Magnet High School". The Advocate (Louisiana). June 4, 2011. Retrieved 2013-04-17.
- ^ Real Time with Bill Maher: Episode 277, HBO, April 5, 2013
- ^ 19-year-old activist fighting to protect education from creationism Archived 2013-06-03 at the Wayback Machine, MSN Now, January 16, 2013
- ^ "Rice student tackles church/state issues". News.rice.edu. 2012-08-22. Retrieved 2013-04-17.
- ^ "Book of Memories". Vincentfuneralhome.com. Retrieved 2013-04-17.
- ^ Heist, Annette (April 12, 2013). "The Teenage 'Troublemaker' Fighting for Science". National Public Radio.
- ^ "News Release - "AAAS Writes Louisiana's Speaker of the House, Reiterating Opposition to Anti-Science Education Efforts"". AAAS. 2008-06-20. Retrieved 2012-08-04.
- ^ "Repeal Creationism". Repeal Creationism. Retrieved 2012-08-04.
- ^ "Repeal of LSEA Gains Steam". Karen Carter Peterson. 2012-04-20. Retrieved 2012-08-04.
- ^ "Summer Interview Series (Part One): Zack Kopplin « CenLamar". Cenlamar.com. 2011-07-11. Retrieved 2012-08-04.
- ^ a b "Endorsements and Letters | Repealing the Louisiana Science Education Act". Repealcreationism.com. Retrieved 2012-08-04.
- ^ Evolution vs. Creation Archived 2017-02-23 at the Wayback Machine, The Gambit, March 08, 2011
- ^ Creationism and revisionist history threaten to invade our classrooms, The Guardian, Zack Kopplin, May 20, 2013
- ^ Deanna Pan (2012-08-07). "14 Wacky "Facts" Kids Will Learn in Louisiana's Voucher Schools". Mother Jones. Retrieved 2013-04-17.
- ^ Kopplin, Zack (January 16, 2013). "Creationism spreading in schools, thanks to vouchers". MSNBC.
- ^ Dvorsky, George (January 15, 2013). "How 19-year-old activist Zack Kopplin is making life hell for Louisiana's creationists". io9. Archived from the original on January 19, 2013. Retrieved January 22, 2013.
- ^ Kopplin, Zack (January 28, 2013). "President Obama, Please Call for a Second Giant Leap for Mankind". Huffington Post.
- ^ Mordecai, Adam. "College Kid Forced To Remind Know-It-All Economist That He's Actually Not A Scientist". Upworthy.
- ^ Plait, Phil (April 10, 2013). "Wall Street Journal Editorial Board Member Gets Schooled on Science Funding". Slate.
- ^ "Michael Zimmerman, Ph.D.: Michele Bachmann's Stance on Evolution Demolished by High School Student". Huffingtonpost.com. 31 May 2011. Retrieved 2012-08-04.
- Gambit Weekly.
- ^ "Master Educator, Young Activist, Honored By". NCSE. 2012-03-05. Retrieved 2012-08-04.
- ^ "First Amendment award for Kopplin". NCSE. Retrieved 2012-08-04.
- ^ Woodward, Alex. "The 50 New Orleans Newsmakers of 2011 | News | Gambit New Orleans News and Entertainment". Bestofneworleans.com. Retrieved 2012-08-04.
- ^ "Doonesbury Comic Strip, July 10, 2011 on". Gocomics.com. Retrieved 2012-08-04.
- Slate.com. Retrieved 2013-04-17.
- ^ Kelly, Alex. "Truthdigger of the Week: Zack Kopplin". truthdig.com. Retrieved 2012-12-23.
- ^ Harris-Perry, Melissa (2012-07-07). "Melissa Harris Perry on MSNBC". Facebook.com. Retrieved 2012-12-31.
External links
- Moyers & Company: “Zack Kopplin: Keeping Creationism out of Public Classrooms”
- TEDxLSU Lecture "The Cost of Teaching Creationism" May 1, 2013