Kostas Kampourakis

I am the author and editor of several books about science. I am particularly interested in the public understanding of evolution and genetics, as well as of nature of science. The books I have written have been very well received, and they are considered to be well-written and accessible to a broad audience. I believe that scholars should do society a service by serving as public intellectuals who educate non-experts on topics, and this is a contribution I would very much like to make through my books. An acknowledgment of this contribution is the 2024 Friend of Darwin Award from the National Center for Science Education for my work on the public understanding of evolution.

I currently work at the University of Geneva. At the Section of Biology I teach two courses to undergraduate students: « Biology and Society » and « Understanding Evolution » (the latter being related to the AGP group). At the University Teacher Training Institute (IUFE) I teach a science education course and a research seminar to secondary science teachers. Finally, I teach the courses “Teaching and Learning Science” and “Genomics & Society” to doctoral students for the CUSO program. For an overview of my publications, see my Google Scholar profile. For some more info about me, listen to this interview.

My latest authored books are Ancestry Reimagined: Dismantling the Myth of Genetic Ethnicities, published by Oxford University Press in 2023, and How we Get Mendel Wrong, and Why it Matters: Challenging the Narrative of Mendelian Genetics, published by Routledge (CRC Press) in 2024. I have also completed an edited collection, titled Darwin Mythology: Debunking Myths, Correcting Falsehoods, which was published by Cambridge University Press also in 2024. Finally, as I enjoy working on books, I have just finished writing another one, titled Trusting Science, which will be published by Oxford University Press in 2025.

I am the Editor of the book series Understanding Life, published by Cambridge University Press. The books in the series are intended for a broad audience interested in the life sciences, and their aim is to address widespread misunderstandings about the respective topics.

In the past, I was the Editor-in-Chief of the Springer journal Science & Education, the founding editor of the Springer book series Science: Philosophy, History and Education, and the founding co-editor of the Springer book series Contributions from Biology Education Research. I have also served as Book Review Editor of the research journal Science & Education, Adjunct Instructor at the Department of Mathematics and Science Education of Illinois Institute of Technology and coordinator for science education for grades K-6 as well as member of the Department of Educational Research and Development of Geitonas School, in Greece, where I also taught biology and nature of science to secondary school and IB DP students.