Keynote Speakers

We are fortunate to have two wonderful keynote speakers for Skepticamp 2012: Elyse Anders and Hemant Mehta.

Elyse Anders: Vaccinate Your Damn Kids

Elyse "MoFo" Anders is the bad ass behind the Women Thinking Free Foundation, and a science and critical thinking organization focusing on women and women's issues; and the superhero in charge of the Hug Me! I'm Vaccinated campaign, a vaccine advocacy and education project; as well as a podcaster emeritus, Skepchick, writer, and pants-less activist-extraordinaire who takes on multi-national corporations from her living room. As mother of two, Elyse is heralded as the anti-Jenny McCarthy. She's not the hero you deserve, but she is the hero you need.  No, Elyse is not Batman.  

Hemant Mehta: The Math Problems You Never Did in High School

Hemant Mehta graduated from the University of Illinois at Chicago with degrees in Mathematics and Biology. While there, he also helped establish their first secular student group, Students WithOut Religious Dogma (SWORD). He earned his Masters in Math Education at DePaul University and currently teaches high school math in the suburbs of Chicago.

He has worked with the Center for Inquiry and the Secular Coalition for America, received scholarships from American Atheists and the Freedom From Religion Foundation, and now serves on the board of directors for Foundation Beyond Belief (a charity organization targeting non-theistic donors) and is the former chair of the board of the Secular Student Alliance (which creates and supports college atheist groups nationwide).

Hemant has appeared on the front page of the Wall Street Journal and his book, I Sold My Soul on eBay (WaterBrook Press), was released in 2007.

His blog, the winner of the 2011 Bloggie award for Best Weblog About Religion, can be read at FriendlyAtheist.com.

Hemant Mehta is the chair of Foundation Beyond Belief and a high school math teacher in the suburbs of Chicago. He also authors the Friendly Atheist blog. In 2006 Hement "sold his soul" on eBay by offering to go to the worship services of the winning bidder's choosing. Hement eventually chronicled his visits to nine different churches in four states in the book I sold my soul on eBay.

Sarah Hamilton: Nobody is going to read your research paper in Comic Sans: How art can bring science to the masses

Born-again science enthusiast, kerning skeptic messages one letter at a time while MacGyvering clever ways to promote science through art and graphic design. Self-appointed ice cream connoisseur and snarksmith.

Ron Stephens: Facilitated Communication

Ron is a husband, father of 5, and graduate of North Central State College. He currently works and in health care as a computer technician, and is the co-founded and president of Mid Ohio Atheists.

Cambridge Boxterman: Mortician Superstitions: Undertaking the Truth

Cambridge is a soon-to-be baccalaureate of the Cincinnati College of Mortuary Science. She is currently serving her practicum at a local funeral home and is looking forward to, one day, getting paid to work. In her spare time, she enjoys volunteering for Camp Quest Ohio, petting kitties, and generally being less creepy than most people would think.

Andy Luttrell: The Science of Magic and Psychic Illusions: Psychological and Neural Principles that Make Conjuring Work

Andy is a graduate student at OSU working on a doctorate in social psychology. His interest in psychology was first piqued when he discovered the exciting world of magic and illusions, a world that illustrated how deception and trickery could be used for fun but also for taking advantage of the innocent. This involvement in magic led Andy to discover the skeptical movement and to consider how people can come to believe in such extravagant claims on the basis of flimsy evidence. In 2010, he was awarded a James Randi Educational Foundation Critical Thinking Educational Scholarship Award, and he continues to promote critical thinking through psychological research and communication of science to a general audience.

Brett Nuckles: What Being a Journalist Taught Me About Being a Skeptic

Brett Nuckles is a working journalist living in Columbus, and one of the dimwits clinging desperately to the dying newspaper medium as it takes its last gasping breaths. Brett has worked for Suburban News and currently the Columbus Dispatch covering community news, local government and schools. He’s interested in the media and skepticism and where the two cross paths – or more likely, where they don’t.