Nicholas J. Matzke is the former Public Information Project Director at the National Center for Science Education

National Center for Science Education

The National Center for Science Education is a non-profit organization based in Oakland, California affiliated with the American Association for the Advancement of Science. It is the United States' leading anti-creationist organization, and defends the teaching of evolutionary biology and opposes...

 (NCSE) and served an instrumental role in NCSE's preparation for the 2005 Kitzmiller v. Dover Area School District

Kitzmiller v. Dover Area School District

Tammy Kitzmiller, et al. v. Dover Area School District, et al. was the first direct challenge brought in the United States federal courts testing a public school district policy that required the teaching of intelligent design...

 trial. One of his chief contributions was discovering drafts of Of Pandas and People

Of Pandas and People

Of Pandas and People: The Central Question of Biological Origins is a controversial 1989 school-level textbook written by Percival Davis and Dean H. Kenyon and published by the Texas-based Foundation for Thought and Ethics...

which demonstrated that the term "intelligent design

Intelligent design

Intelligent design is the proposition that "certain features of the universe and of living things are best explained by an intelligent cause, not an undirected process such as natural selection." It is a form of creationism and a contemporary adaptation of the traditional teleological argument for...

" was later substituted for "creationism

Creationism

Creationism is the religious beliefthat humanity, life, the Earth, and the universe are the creation of a supernatural being, most often referring to the Abrahamic god. As science developed from the 18th century onwards, various views developed which aimed to reconcile science with the Genesis...

". This became a key component of Barbara Forrest

Barbara Forrest

Barbara Carroll Forrest is a professor of philosophy at Southeastern Louisiana University in Hammond, Louisiana. She is a critic of intelligent design and the Discovery Institute.- Biography :...

's testimony. After the trial he co-authored a commentary in Nature Immunology, was interviewed on Talk of the Nation

Talk of the Nation

Talk of the Nation is a talk radio program based in the United States, produced by National Public Radio, and is broadcast nationally from 2 to 4 p.m. Eastern Time. Its focus is current events and controversial issues....

, and was profiled in Seed magazine as one of nine "revolutionary minds".

Matzke has written many in-depth pieces and has made frequent posts online, including regularly blogging at The Panda's Thumb

The Panda's Thumb (weblog)

The Panda's Thumb is a weblog on the creation-evolution controversy from a mainstream scientific perspective. In 2006, Nature listed it as one of the top five science blogs. It is written by multiple contributors, including Wesley R. Elsberry, Paul R. Gross, Nick Matzke, PZ Myers and Mark Perakh,...

. He wrote a lengthy paper about the evolution of flagella

Evolution of flagella

The evolution of flagella is of great interest to biologists because the three known varieties of flagella each represent a sophisticated cellular structure that requires the interaction of many different systems....

 and has challenged intelligent design

Intelligent design

Intelligent design is the proposition that "certain features of the universe and of living things are best explained by an intelligent cause, not an undirected process such as natural selection." It is a form of creationism and a contemporary adaptation of the traditional teleological argument for...

 claims that flagella are irreducibly complex.
He co-authored a critique of Stephen C. Meyer

Stephen C. Meyer

Stephen C. Meyer is an American scholar, philosopher and advocate for intelligent design. He helped found the Center for Science and Culture of the Discovery Institute , which is the main organisation behind the intelligent design movement. Before joining the DI, Meyer was a professor at...

's paper that became important in the Sternberg peer review controversy

Sternberg peer review controversy

The Sternberg peer review controversy concerns the conflict arising from the publication of an article supporting the controversial concept of intelligent design in a scientific journal, and the subsequent questions of whether proper editorial procedures had been followed and whether it was...

. He also critiqued Jonathan Wells' book Icons of Evolution

Icons of Evolution

Icons of Evolution is a book by the intelligent design advocate and fellow of the Discovery Institute, Jonathan Wells, which also includes a 2002 video companion. In the book, Wells criticized the paradigm of evolution by attacking how it is taught...

and contributed to NCSE's book Not in Our Classrooms. Less seriously, he co-authored a research parody based on NCSE's Project Steve

Project Steve

Project Steve is a list of scientists with the given name Steven or a variation thereof who "support evolution"...

. He first made a name for himself posting on talk.origins

Talk.origins

talk.origins is a moderated Usenet discussion forum concerning the origins of life, and evolution...

 as "Nic Tamzek".

He is currently a doctoral student in evolutionary biology at the University of California, Berkeley

University of California, Berkeley

The University of California, Berkeley , is a teaching and research university established in 1868 and located in Berkeley, California, USA...

.