Posted on behalf of Roberta Kwok

Zoologists won’t be partying in the streets of New Orleans come 2011. The Society for Integrative and Comparative Biology, an organization with 2,300-plus members, has boycotted Louisiana as a site for its annual conference because of recent state legislation that allows teachers to use “supplemental textbooks” to “help students critique and review scientific theories” (New York Times).

Scientists see this language as code that permits creationism to be taught in public schools. Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal signed the law last June despite protests from state and national science groups (The Times-Picayune).

In a letter to Jindal, the society’s executive committee president Richard Satterlie writes that they have decided against holding their conference in New Orleans largely because of the new law, which “undermines the integrity of science and science education in Louisiana”.

Kyle Plotkin, a spokesman for Jindal’s office, said the group’s decision was “too bad”, as New Orleans is a prime convention site (New York Times). The society will convene in Salt Lake City, Utah instead.