Commentaries

When Will Americans Trust Science Again?

By John Richard Schrock

Published October 25, 2013 at 5:48 PM CDT

Not that long ago, Americans put more faith and trust in science. Parents would get their kids vaccinated. Communities fluoridated their water. People got their flu shots. It was routine.Commentator John Richard Schrock says that's not the case anymore... and that has him wondering why.

Commentator John Richard Schrock knows a thing or two about science. He's a professor of Biology Education at Emporia State University, where he trains future biology teachers.

Commentaries

John Richard Schrock

Schrock attended Indiana State University in Terre Haute, where tuition was $8 a semester hour in 1964, completing a bachelor's degree in biology teaching and a master's in science education. He began teaching in Kentucky before he graduated from I.S.U., and completed his degrees during summers. Schrock taught five years in Alexandria, Kentucky middle and high schools and two years at the I.S.U. Laboratory School before going overseas to teach at Hong Kong International School for three years. Schrock completed his Ph.D. in entomology working on insect ecology and systematics at the University of Kansas and, upon graduation, worked for the Association of Systematics Collections for three years. When the A.S.C. moved to Washington, DC, Schrock took the position at Emporia State University, directing biology teacher training. He was on the state biology committee and closely involved in the Kansas evolution debates of 1999. He writes a weekly Kansas newspaper column on education, produces public radio commentaries, and appears monthly on Kansas television.

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