The Fall Technical Meeting 2012 You Should Have Been There

The Fall 2012 Technical Meeting of the Oklahoma Academy of Science was the place to be on November 9. There were more registrants and more presentations than in many recent meetings. The meeting was at the Nigh Center on the campus of the University of Central Oklahoma at Edmond. It is always inspiring to see such a concentration of talent and passion for science in science students and faculty in our state. Some people think that Oklahoma has little science in it. But they would be wrong, and there is no better place to see it than at the Oklahoma Academy of Science. OAS is grateful to UCO for hosting this meeting.

There were many student and faculty presentations, in over a dozen different fields of science, from botany to zoology to engineering to microscopy to engineering.

Below are some photos of people that you may recognize: Craig Clifford, president, and Valerie O'Brien, secretary; Executive Director David Bass explaining the budget; Sheila Strawn, Ken Hobson, and Adam Ryburn.

Vic Hutchison, Professor Emeritus at OU, gave the keynote presentation. Vic is the grand old man of defending science education in Oklahoma. He told us about the work of Oklahomans for Excellence in Science Education, which for many years has worked against creationist legislation in Oklahoma. Vic and OESE have gained national recognition for these efforts. Creationist legislation has so far been cut down whenever it appears, but it sort of seems like hydra-heads, always reappearing. It looks as if the people who oppose evolution the most do not know what it is, because they have allowed "natural selection" and "change through time" to be included in Oklahoma secondary school teaching standards. OESE has sponsored many workshops for teachers, and has recently expanded into north Texas and will soon focus on global climate change as well as evolution. Oklahoma has been privileged to have Vic Hutchison working for us. The final photo is of his presentation.

Posted by Stanley Rice, president-elect, OAS