Mrs. Peebles holds a B.S. degree in biology and chemistry from the University of Arkansas at Monticello, and an M.A. degree +30 in science education from Louisiana State University. She has taught biology (and various other science classes) in middle and high school for 21 years, has taught Science Methods and Current Issues in Science Education for the LSU College of Education, and currently serves as a science learning team leader mentoring alternative certification teachers for the Teach Louisiana program. She has received the Louisiana Outstanding Biology Teacher Award, the Tandy Technology Award, and an Access Excellence Fellowship. She is active with the National Association of Biology Teachers, having served as Regional Coordinator for the southeast region, Louisiana OBTA director, state director, Awards committee chairman, and is currently serving for the third time on the national board. She is a member of the Louisiana Science Teachers Association, and will receive an award at their spring meeting for her contributions to science education in Louisiana. She is a founding member of the Louisiana Coalition for Science, which seeks to prevent the intrusion of intelligent design and other religious attacks on evolution into the classroom. Mrs. Peebles testified before the Louisiana senate and the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education regarding the Louisiana "Science Education Act" and its implementation.

On why she feels it is important to discuss evolution today.

"This is a time of challenge for science education. Legislation has been introduced in many states to ostensibly allow "critical thinking" in science class. Of course, critical thinking is already taking place in science class, and is mandated by national and state science standards. This legislation does not come from teachers or scientists, but from religious groups who are seeking to challenge evolution under the "disguise" of critical thinking. The general public does not realize the risk involved from this "foot in the door". Evolution is THE unifying principle in biology, and these efforts to undermine it could produce a significantly poorer understanding of the nature of science. 0ur students deserve the best science education possible to prepare them for a science-filled future." 

Patsye Peebles' View of the Key Moments in Evolution

Pivotal Moments in evolution would of course have to include the publication of The Origin of Species in 1859. Other pivotal moments for me as a teacher were several court cases that made it clear that evolution and only evolution should be taught in science class. One important case was the 1987 ruling in Edwards vs Aguillard, which struck down the Louisiana Creationism Act and clearly showed it as an attempt to teach religion and limit the teaching of evolution. Another would be the Freiler vs Tangipahoa Parish Board of Education in 1997 because the court recognized that "intelligent design" is just another iteration of "creation science", that neither is really science, and that evolution is not religion. Kitzmiller et al vs Dover in 2005 was another pivotal case for teachers because it clearly established that intelligent design is not science, and it is not allowed in science class.