Sarah Chaffee

Now a teacher, Sarah Chaffee served as Program Officer in Education and Public Policy at Discovery Institute’s Center for Science and Culture. She earned her B.A. in Government. During college she interned at Representative Jaime Herrera Beutler’s office and for Prison Fellowship Ministries. Before coming to Discovery, she worked for a private land trust with holdings in the Southwest.

Archives

NCSE Pushes Unscientific Pro-Darwin Survey

Sarah Chaffee
July 20, 2020
On this episode of ID the Future, Robert Crowther interviews Sarah Chaffee, Education and Public Policy Program Officer for the Center for Science and Culture, on a recent survey conducted by the dogmatically pro-Darwin National Center for Science Education (NCSE), and published in Nature. The NCSE claims that the survey shows that science teachers “advocate evolution” even more now than in 2007. But as Crowther and Chaffe’s discussion suggests, the survey appears gamed to produce a pro-Darwinist outcome, so much so that even teachers who follow the Discovery Institute’s policy of promoting critical thinking skills by teaching biology students both the strengths and weaknesses of modern evolutionary theory could be counted as evolution advocates by the survey. Then too, as Read More ›

An Artist Examines Evolution

Sarah Chaffee
March 29, 2020
We may dispute what Darwin felt or thought in the privacy of his study — but the bulk of his writings fall clearly into advocating for one perspective: naturalism.

The ID Underground and Related Reflections

Sarah Chaffee
January 2, 2019
On this episode of ID the Future, host Sarah Chaffee talks with Center for Science and Culture Research Coordinator Brian Miller about the growing ID underground, based on his recent Evolution News article on the subject. As many as one-quarter of Harvard post-docs in relevant fields privately express sympathy for ID. More and more scientists who don’t agree with ID are at least standing up against common “sound-bite” misrepresentations. Compared to other major paradigm shifts in science history, ID is right on track. Please consider donating to support the IDTF Podcast.

Greg Koukl Talks Heretic: One Scientist’s Journey from Darwin to Design

Sarah Chaffee
December 5, 2018
On this episode of ID the Future, author, speaker, and radio talk show host Greg Koukl, president of Stand to Reason, talks through a review of Heretic: One Scientist’s Journey from Darwin to Design. It’s the autobiographical story, co-written by Jonathan Witt, of distinguished Finnish bioengineer Matti Leisola. His whole perspective on science changed when he asked himself the question Koukl likes to ask: “Do you want the right answers, or do you demand the right kinds of answers — those answers that comport with naturalism, materialism, and physicalism?” Please consider donating to support the IDTF Podcast.

Debate Really Is Good for Science Education

Sarah Chaffee
October 29, 2018
On this episode of ID the Future, host Robert Crowther interviews Sarah Chaffee, Program Director for Education and Public Policy at Discovery Institute’s Center for Science and Culture. With long experience in formal debate, as a student and beyond student years, Chaffee explains how defending views strengthens students’ education. She also corrects a persistent misconception about the Discovery Institute’s science education policy: It’s about more evolution education, not less. Please consider donating to support the IDTF Podcast.

Children of Light — and Water — With Dr. Michael Denton

Sarah Chaffee
October 22, 2018
On this episode of ID the Future, Dr. Michael Denton talks with host Sarah Chaffee about his new book Children of Light: The Astonishing Properties of Sunlight That Make Us Possible. Dr. Denton speaks of the properties of both light and water: From photosynthesis to metabolism to circulation, even from plate tectonics to the hydrologic cycle, both have exactly what it takes — in “amazingly fortuitous” ways — to make complex organic life possible; showing once again that the world is fine-tuned by a designing intelligence. Please consider donating to support the IDTF Podcast.

Octopuses from the Sky: Scientists Propose “Aliens Seeded Life on Earth”

Sarah Chaffee
July 9, 2018
On this episode of ID the Future, host Sarah Chaffee and biologist Ann Gauger discuss panspermia, the topic of a peer-reviewed paper published recently by several very serious scientists. Panspermia tries to sidestep problems in origins biology by suggesting that, to quote the title of an old science fiction movie, “it came from outer space.” And yes, maybe even aliens sent it our way. Maybe (honest — this is a real theory) the first octopuses came here special delivery, as encapsulated embryos falling from the sky. Anything but intelligent design, for these very serious scientists.

Celebrating the Tenth Anniversary of Academic Freedom in Louisiana Public Schools

Sarah Chaffee
June 25, 2018
On this episode of ID the Future, Sarah Chaffee interviews Dr. Wade Warren, zoologist and holder of the C.J. Cavanaugh Endowed Chair in Biology at Louisiana College, on the ten year anniversary of the passage of the Louisiana Science Education Act. This act gave teachers freedom to teach both the scientific strengths and weaknesses of evolution — not including intelligent design or religion — without fear of reprisal. Dr. Warren recalls the reasons he advocated for its passage, and discusses pluses and minuses with the more recent Louisiana state science standards — including some scientists’ strange “discomfort” with some facts, even though they don’t disagree with them.

A Doc Talks Human Blood Flow and Exquisitely Intelligent Design

Sarah Chaffee
May 21, 2018
On this episode of ID the Future, physician Howard Glicksman explains the hugely complex blood flow systems required to keep us clear-headed and alive even while doing everything from gymnastics to simply getting up in the morning. There are various methods the heart and blood vessels use to keep the body properly supplied. It’s also about hormones and nervous-system signaling. Does Darwinism provide a satisfactory explanation for such an intricately coordinated system? Dr. Glicksman argues that it does not, and that a far better explanation is intelligent design.

Dr. Andrew Jones on “Actually Measuring Things Rather Than Telling Stories” in Population Genetics

Sarah Chaffee
April 25, 2018
On this episode of ID the Future, Dr. Andrew Jones tells about his work on population genetics, with host Sarah Chaffee. Using statistical physics methods, by which, as he puts it, “we’re actually measuring things rather than telling stories,” scientists are refuting theories claiming that there could be no original human pair. These methods can show as well that even if evolution were otherwise possible, it would take much longer than the available time could allow.

Academic Freedom Update and Freescience.today

Sarah Chaffee
March 28, 2018
Robert Crowther speaks with Sarah Chaffee, the CSC’s Program Officer in Education and Public Policy, about some recent threats to academic freedom in America, particularly in the area of evolution and intelligent design. The two also discuss a new website, Freescience.today, supporting academic freedom through resources for school board members, teachers and students; stories of academic discrimination; and strategic advice on getting involved to defend the academic freedom of students and educators.