Our Mission

The St. Petersburg Skeptics Society (SPSS) is devoted to using rational skepticism and critical thinking to learn the truth about the world in which we live. Our primary interests are claims of the paranormal, cutting edge science, examples of irrationality by authority figures, and media portrayals of the aforementioned topics.

While claims of a religious nature may also fall under this purview, our organization is not specifically atheist, nor do we promote an atheist agenda. We focus on facts, and whether claims that are made by individuals, groups, or the media are supported by factual evidence.

We meet about once a month for an informal and fun discussion in a “Skeptics in the Pub” format. The SPSS also runs the website Veretics.org, a collection of posts on topics of interest to skeptics in the St. Pete area and beyond.

Authors

Joel Bellucci – Joel is a freelance web designer, visual effects artist, and once-upon-a-time marine scientist who lives in St. Petersburg, FL. He goes to the gym and makes the rest of the nerds look bad.

Trent Faust – Trent has studied astrophysics and planetary science, and is a baseball fan. Aside from these facts, and his gender, he is fairly easy to distinguish from Carl Sagan.  (Though he is looking for a suitably professorial tweed jacket.)

Scott Hamilton – Scott is accountant in St. Petersburg, FL. In his spare time he watches and writes about B-movies.

Bryan McCloskey – Bryan holds a totally not-worthless degree in Evolutionary Biology from the University of Kansas, a Ph.D. in Biological Oceanography from the University of South Florida, and an honorary Doctorate in Smug Biographical Sketches from Pretentiousness U. He enjoys kitty-cats and long walks on the beach.

Chasity Scoggins – Chasity is a girl. She’s also a civil engineer, which means she gets in fewer fights than the other engineers.