Bertha Vazquez

Bertha Vazquez is director of education for the Center for Inquiry, director of the Teacher Institute for Evolutionary Science (TIES), a program of the Center for Inquiry and a project of the Richard Dawkins Foundation for Reason and Science, and a retired middle school science teacher at the George Washington Carver Middle School in the Miami-Dade County Public Schools. She also manages the educational aspects of Science Saves and Young Skeptics, two other CFI programs.

Vazquez was appointed a Committee for Skeptical Inquiry fellow in 2020, and received the 2023 Friend of Darwin award from the National Center for Science Education (NCSE).

Early life and education
At age 18, Vazquez read The Selfish Gene and became a self-described fan of Richard Dawkins. She went on to obtain an undergraduate degree in biology from the University of Miami and a master's in science education from Florida International University.

Career
In 1989, Vazquez served as an exhibit guide at the Phillip and Patricia Frost Museum of Science in Coconut Grove, Florida. That same year, she began her teaching career in Albi, France.

In 1990, Vazquez began teaching in Miami-Dade County Public Schools. She has taught sixth grade integrated science, seventh grade integrated science, Earth and space science, physical science, and biology. She has also taught French in Miami-Dade County Public Schools. Vazquez's main teaching interest has been in environmental education, and she encouraged her fellow teachers even in non-scientific subjects to incorporate climate change education in their curricula. Her efforts were recognized with the Charles C. Bartlett Award from the National Environmental Education Foundation in 2009.

Vazquez feels passionate about middle-school students learning about climate change especially as she teaches in Florida where they are "seeing the dramatic impacts of a warming planet". She devotes two weeks a year to climate change, assigning her students to not only learn about it, but to seek out and understand why some people don't believe it is caused by humans.

She also worked for the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards (NBPTS) from 2001 to 2009 as a Certification Council Member, Scoring Director, Science Portfolio Trainer, faculty member for the Development of National Mentoring Standards, Renewal Document Development team member, and portfolio development team member.

Vazquez retired from classroom teaching in 2023 and became the Director of Education for the Center for Inquiry.

Teacher Institute for Evolutionary Science
In 2013, she met Dawkins at the University of Miami, where she discussed evolution education with him. This and her belief that teachers learn the most from each other inspired her to conduct workshops on evolution for her fellow teachers.

Dawkins followed up with a visit to Vazquez's school in 2014 to speak to teachers from Miami-Dade County Public Schools. Along with the encouragement of Dawkins and Robyn Blumner, the encounter led to the founding of the Teacher Institute for Evolutionary Science (TIES). Vazquez sees TIES about evolution education and empowering teachers as leaders in their educational communities. Since its inception, TIES has presented over 300 teacher professional development workshops in all 50 states.

Publications

 * The book, On Teaching Evolution, was published in December 2021. Written by members of the Teacher Institute for Evolutionary Science who have tackled the topic of evolution in their classroom for decades, On Teaching Evolution offers practical advice and sample lesson plans for fellow science teachers.
 * In June 2022, Bertha Vazquez translated the book, Breve Historia de 4 Mil Millones de Años: Entendiendo a Darwin, by Maria Jinich.
 * Vazquez, Bertha & Landorf, Hilary & Simons-Lane, L. (2016). Next Door to Old Smokey: Engaging in Scientific Measurements and Public Action. Middle Level Learning. January/February 2016. 12–16.
 * Vazquez, Bertha (2017) Helping Teachers Teach Evolution in the United States, Skeptical Inquirer Volume 41.3, May/June 2016
 * Vazquez, Bertha (17 July 2017). "A state-by-state comparison of middle school science standards on evolution in the United States" Evolution: Education and Outreach. 10 (5)