An OU professor and global warming skeptic has gained national attention after several conservative blogs claimed his teaching certification was revoked due to his views.

The online chatter began after the general education certification was removed from a geology course taught by David Deming, associate professor of arts and sciences.

“Deming is a member of several conservative groups and causes,” a blogger wrote on New Media Alliance, a conservative Web site. “None of this is something that will endear him to our increasingly oppressive universities in the U.S.”

A press release posted on several blog sites called for people to protest the change to OU President David L. Boren.

Deming said the information appearing on the Internet is not entirely accurate.

The general education certification was revoked from Deming’s Global Geologic Change course, but he has not lost his teaching certification.

“Sometimes these things get garbled in translation,” he said.

Deming said he believes the decision to remove his course from the list of OU’s general education requirements may have been influenced by his views on global warming.

In December 2006, Deming gained national exposure when he testified before the U.S. Senate Committee on Environmental and Public Works. He told the committee he thought the media was only presenting one side of the global warming debate, and that the public was becoming increasingly misinformed about the facts.

The decision to remove the certification for Deming’s course came from the Provost’s Advisory Committee for General Education Oversight. The committee is made up of members from different OU departments, and it reviews course requests and changes for general education requirements.

The committee notified Deming of the change for the certification of his geology course in an Oct. 8 memo. Members cited change in course content as the reason for denying certification.

Paul Bell, committee chairman and dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, said the committee made the change because it was concerned about major changes to the course syllabus.

“In the case of professor Deming’s course, he initiated a course change,” Bell said. “He basically threw out the old course and started over again.”

Bell said the committee thought the new course requirements no longer fell under the natural sciences category for general education.

“Natural science courses have to meet certain criteria specified in the general education policy,” Bell said. “When the committee looked at this, they concluded it wasn’t a natural science course anymore. It actually looked like a history of science course. The new syllabus and the old syllabus have virtually nothing in common.”

The original syllabus for the Global Geologic Change course included lessons on the structure of the earth, plate tectonics and geological hazards like volcanoes and earthquakes.

The new syllabus rejected by the committee was did not include any of this material but featured additional readings on environmental change. It listed the course’s new name as Global Environmental Change.

In the new syllabus, Deming wrote that the course was intended to “explore the relationship between humanity and the environment from an intellectual and historic perspective.”

Bell said this is the first time that he can remember a course’s content changing so drastically.

“I don’t recall a course that was revised to such an extent that it changed general education categories,” he said. “No one is saying he can’t teach the class. The only issue is whether it meets the criteria for general education and what category is it in.”

Deming said he thinks science courses need to be revised on a regular basis, and the committee should have at least consulted with him before making their final decision.

“From my perspective you can’t teach a course on environmental science, at least you shouldn’t, unless you’re constantly revising the content,” Deming said. “My main objection is the fact that they did this without talking to me or making any attempt to work with me. For them just to take away the certification is outrageous.”

Bell said in order for the course to regain the general education certification, it must be revised to fit natural science specifications or resubmitted in another category, most likely western civilization.

Bell said that as of Monday, Deming had not taken steps to do either.