It’s that time of year again.

That time when graduation speeches and career advice flood Tweeterville and broadcast news.

If you were queen of the universe, what would you say to the Class of 2016?

Work hard? Follow your dreams? Eat breakfast?

In June, our students passed me the baton, voting me Outstanding Professor.

I encourage them to think.

To question.

Critique.

And offer evidence.

It’s not enough to have an opinion.

Every fool has an opinion.

Ask for–and offer–evidence. Support your claims.

The intellectual Hippocrates of Kos was alleged to have said:

“There are in fact two things, science and opinion; the former begets knowledge, the latter ignorance.”

So I’m a big believer in evidence.

My advice to the Class of 2016 mirrors what I teach every single day:

Demand the evidence.

Today’s blog is for all my students. Every. Single. One. 

#Classof2016

#nativescience