Zack Kopplin

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 Nobel laureate chemist, Harry Kroto, Kopplin gathered the support of 78 Nobel laureate scientists, who endorsed the repeal effort.[10] The repeal is also supported by many other prominent scientists including Kenneth Miller.[11]

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]

Kopplin played a major role in convincing the Louisiana Board of Elementary and Secondary Education to adopt new life science textbooks. After the new textbooks were adopted, the Baton Rouge Advocate wrote an editorial calling the high school senior "the newest giant-killer in state education policy."[12]

Kopplin spearheaded a campaign to prevent attempts by Louisiana legislators to reverse the board's decision.[13]

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.[14] Kopplin worked with MSNBC's Melissa Harris-Perry Show to expose over 300 creationist voucher schools nationwide.[15]

In 2013, Kopplin, along with Louisiana-based investigative journalist Lamar White, launched Second Giant Leap for Humankind, a political action committee which advocates for $1 trillion in new funding to be appropriated to scientific research and development and also an end to denialist legislation.[16] Kopplin wrote an open letter to U.S. President Barack Obama asking him to support the Second Giant Leap campaign.[17]

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. 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]

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]