Add your name to the volunteer list, and let us know what you're good at... (or how you can help)


I'll start:

As well as being a Skeptic (I'm on the NZ Skeptics commitee, and I helped organise last year's conference: http://www.stuff.co.n... ), I'm also a magician, and I'm heavily involved in theatre. (Mainly lighting and sound...)

I also volunteer for the Watakere Tramline (SitP in the middle of the Waitaks anyone? :-D), and the North Shore Radio Club (access to, and expertise with, PRS radios and scanners).

I also teach computer classes (mostly to beginners), and I have some mad leet skills on computers (mainly with MS products) and some limited design skills...

SkeptiCol Here,

I'm currently in Health and Safety for Life Technologies, a US based Bio-Tech company. My 'SUPERPOWERS' include,

Enjoy Public Speaking
MS Excel Skills
I can debunk Coca-Cola myths! (not really relevant)
First Aid

really not as impressive or useful as vIQleS, but I am keen to help with what ever I can.

Col

Don't feel bad...

No one's as impressive as me.

This is the volunteer list?

I shouldn't really take on more volunteer work, but I do have some 'skillz' and desire to help.

I can do websites and have data-analysis and data-presentation tools if people have data they want to through up online.

On data analysis (fresh in my mind after listening to the Skeptics Queensland survey results presented by Kylie Sturgess and Dr. Martin Bridgstock), one thing that occurs is the overestimation of the numbers of evangelical / fundamentalist religious people in countries like NZ. The stats actually show that in countries like Australia and NZ, atheists/agnostics are the biggest single group among 'religious' denominations. Fundamentalist religious people make far more noise in proportion to their numbers, and organise far better - to the point of forming political parties or fighting law changes in NZ where they are a small but vocal minority.

Some random facts:

• The number and proportion of people indicating that they had no religion continued to increase in the 2006 Census. In 2006, 1,297,104 people (34.7 percent) stated that they had no religion, compared with 1,028,052 people (29.6 percent) in the 2001 Census
  
• Younger people were more likely to be recorded as having no religion. Over 4 in 10 (43.0 percent) children (aged 0 to 14 years) were recorded as having no religion, compared with over 1 in 10 (11.8 percent) people aged 65 years and over
  

Given that the 1991 & 1996 census have the 'No religion' responses at 20.22% and 25.47%, its not hard to draw a conclusion that at the current rate of progress, people with no religion will be in the majority (at least in NZ) within my lifetime.

Not pushing for volunteers per se...

Just thought it might be a good idea of potentially useful skills and talents...

"What we really need now is someone who can knit a car in less than 45 minutes..."
"Hang on - let me check the Skills thread..."

That sort of thing...

Although I guess, if you want to be pedantic, then yes there would be an implicit understanding that anyone posting here would expect to get called on - if a situation arose in which their particular talent might come in handy...

Hi,

I'm a molecular biologist and have access to most scientific journals that are not readily available to the public.

This comes in useful when researching particularly absurd ideas, and to find articles where remedies/ideas have been refuted by real scientists.

My scientific background is in marine biology, evolution, and molecular biology.

My main 'skeptical' interests lie around the pseudosciences, religion, and education.

let me know if I can be of help.

Colm

Hi all,

I've got a background in psychology - and like Colm have access to journals and primary academic sources, which has been a very useful thing on some occasions!

I'm mostly interested in the alternative medicine side of things (particularly the nonsense that is homeopathy), and the skeptical side of psychology.

Cheers

John

I have a science background (BSc (Hons) in Chemistry) and have worked in the pharmaceutical and natural products industry - so I know a fair bit about that and the regulations associated with it.

I have writing skills (at least I hope, being a journalist), and a keen interest in all things technological.

I can probably fix your computer, point you to websites that will take away half your day and tell you which films you should watch and which you shouldn't.

I could help put together a website, a blog and finally get really angry and pissed off about pseudoscience in New Zealand.

That last one probably isn't too useful, though.

Video production, editing, visual effects, animation, original music.