Bertha Vazquez, director of the Teacher Institute for Evolutionary Science (TIES) and a middle school science teacher in Miami-Dade County Public Schools for twenty-seven years, has received the 2017 Evolution Education Award from the National Association of Biology Teachers.
The award recognizes her work both as an outstanding science teacher and as the director of the Richard Dawkins Foundation’s TIES. Since the merger of the Dawkins Foundation with the Center for Inquiry (CFI), TIES is a part of CFI. Vazquez is a tireless campaigner for better ways to educate young people about evolution and as head of TIES conducts teaching workshops around the country. She was named the Miami-Dade Science Teacher of the Year in 1997, 2008, and 2017.