Susan Gerbic (born 1962) is an American studio photographer who became known as a

scientific skepticism Scientific skepticism or rational skepticism (also spelled scepticism), sometimes referred to as skeptical inquiry, is a position in which one questions the veracity of claims lacking scientific evidence. In practice, the term most commonly ref ...

activist, mostly for exposing people claiming to be mediums. A columnist for ''

Skeptical Inquirer ''Skeptical Inquirer'' (S.I.) is a bimonthly American general-audience magazine published by the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry (CSI) with the subtitle "The Magazine for Science and Reason". The magazine initially focused on investigating clai ...

'', she is the co-founder of Monterey County Skeptics and a fellow of the

Committee for Skeptical Inquiry The Committee for Skeptical Inquiry (CSI), formerly known as the Committee for the Scientific Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal (CSICOP), is a program within the U.S. non-profit organization Center for Inquiry (CFI), which seeks to " ...

Life and career

The youngest of three children, Gerbic was raised as a

Southern Baptist The Southern Baptist Convention (SBC), alternatively the Great Commission Baptists (GCB), is a Christian denomination based in the United States. It is the world's largest Baptist organization, the largest Protestantism in the United States, Pr ...

Salinas, California Salinas (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Salt pan (geology), Salt Flats") is a city in the U.S. state of California and the county seat of Monterey County, California, Monterey County. With a population of 163,542 in the 2020 Census, Salinas is ...

. Her father was born in

Euclid, Ohio Euclid is a city in Cuyahoga County, Ohio, United States. Located on the southern shore of Lake Erie, it is an Inner suburb, inner ring suburb of Cleveland. The population was 49,692 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the fo ...

, to parents from

Slovenia Slovenia, officially the Republic of Slovenia, is a country in Central Europe. It borders Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the south and southeast, and a short (46.6 km) coastline within the Adriati ...

; he served during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

and after the war went to live in Salinas.Gerbic, Susan (March 2, 2018)
"Skeptical Adventures in Europe, Part 5"
''

''. Gerbic attended Fremont Elementary, El Sausal Junior High School, School details. Susan Gerbic Voice.ogg. and Alisal High School in Salinas, graduating in 1980. She became an

atheist Atheism, in the broadest sense, is an absence of belief in the existence of deities. Less broadly, atheism is a rejection of the belief that any deities exist. In an even narrower sense, atheism is specifically the position that there no ...

in her junior year. After high school, she studied at

Hartnell College Hartnell College is a public community college in Salinas, California. Established in 1920 as Salinas Junior College, Hartnell is one of 115 schools that constitute the California Community Colleges, one of the three higher education systems i ...

, also in Salinas, obtaining AAs in general studies in 1993 and history in 1998, while working and raising two sons. In 2002, she was awarded a BA in Social & Behavioral Studies by

California State University, Monterey Bay California State University, Monterey Bay (CSUMB or Cal State Monterey Bay) is a public university located in Monterey County, California, United States. The main campus is situated on the site of the former military base Fort Ord, spanning the ...

. Gerbic worked at Lifetouch, a portrait studio in JC Penney in the Northridge Mall in Salinas, from 1982 for 34 years, including as manager. She retired in 2016 when the studio closed.

Activism

Guerrilla Skeptics

Much of Gerbic's activism has consisted of organizing

sting operation In law enforcement, a sting operation is a deceptive operation designed to catch a person attempting to commit a crime. A typical sting will have an undercover law enforcement officer, detective, or co-operative member of the public play a rol ...

s against people claiming to be mediums. She and a group of volunteers calling themselves "Guerrilla Skeptics" would set up fake Facebook profiles, then visit mediums claiming to be receiving messages from the subjects of the profiles. Gerbic's team would record the session and post the evidence online. In 2010, Gerbic founded "Guerrilla Skepticism on Wikipedia" (GSoW), a group of editors who create and edit Wikipedia articles that reflect

.Plait, Phil (May 23, 2013)
Bad Astronomy' on the Front Page of Wikipedia Today. Literally"
''

Slate Slate is a fine-grained, foliated, homogeneous, metamorphic rock derived from an original shale-type sedimentary rock composed of clay or volcanic ash through low-grade, regional metamorphism. It is the finest-grained foliated metamorphic ro ...

''. ''

The New York Times Magazine ''The New York Times Magazine'' is an American Sunday magazine included with the Sunday edition of ''The New York Times''. It features articles longer than those typically in the newspaper and has attracted many notable contributors. The magazi ...

'' reported in February 2019, in an interview with Gerbic, that GSoW had 144 editors who had worked on nearly 900 Wikipedia pages.

Awards and honors

* "In the Trenches" award at the

's 2012

Skeptic's Toolbox The Skeptic's Toolbox was a four-day workshop devoted to scientific skepticism. Founded by psychologist and now-retired University of Oregon professor Ray Hyman, it was sponsored by the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry. Annual workshops focused o ...

workshop * "James Randi Award for Skepticism in the Public Interest" at The Amaz!ng Meeting 2013 * 2017 Award from

James Randi Educational Foundation The James Randi Educational Foundation (JREF) is an American grant-making institution founded in 1996 by magician and skeptic James Randi. As a nonprofit organization, the mission of JREF includes educating the public and the media on the dange ...

(shared with "her team of 'guerrilla skeptics) * Appointed

fellow A fellow is a title and form of address for distinguished, learned, or skilled individuals in academia, medicine, research, and industry. The exact meaning of the term differs in each field. In learned society, learned or professional society, p ...

of the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry, February 2018 * 2019 Balles Award for Critical Thinking,

Center for Inquiry The Center for Inquiry (CFI) is a U.S. nonprofit organization that works to mitigate belief in pseudoscience and the paranormal and to fight the influence of religion in government. History The Center for Inquiry was established in 1991 by ...

* 2022 National Capital Area Skeptics Philip J. Klass Award for outstanding contributions in critical thinking and scientific understanding

Personal life

Gerbic married Robert Forsyth in 1983."Marriages". ''The Californian''. 3 November 1983, p. 15. The couple had two sons, and the marriage ended in 2002. As of August 2018, Gerbic was in a relationship with the mentalist Mark Edward. Last Chemo Today

In 2013, Gerbic discovered she had

breast cancer Breast cancer is a cancer that develops from breast tissue. Signs of breast cancer may include a Breast lump, lump in the breast, a change in breast shape, dimpling of the skin, Milk-rejection sign, milk rejection, fluid coming from the nipp ...

.Norstrand, Dave (July 5, 2014). "Working during cancer treatments". ''The Californian'', pp. 1C, 8C. By December that year, Gerbic had completed

chemotherapy Chemotherapy (often abbreviated chemo, sometimes CTX and CTx) is the type of cancer treatment that uses one or more anti-cancer drugs (list of chemotherapeutic agents, chemotherapeutic agents or alkylating agents) in a standard chemotherapy re ...

, and by March 2014, radiation treatments. Gerbic continued to work throughout the treatment, and her follow-up

mammogram Mammography (also called mastography; DICOM modality: MG) is the process of using low-energy X-rays (usually around 30 kVp) to examine the human breast for diagnosis and screening. The goal of mammography is the early detection of breast cancer ...

revealed no cancer. She said the experience had made her tougher. File:James Randi on JREF Gerbic prize 2017.webm,

James Randi James Randi (born Randall James Hamilton Zwinge; August 7, 1928 – October 20, 2020) was a Canadian-American stage magician, author, and scientific skeptic who extensively challenged paranormal and pseudoscientific claims.#Rodrigues, Rodrig ...

announcing Gerbic has won the JREF prize for 2017 File:Susan Gerbic European Skeptics Congress 2017.webm, Gerbic speaking about GSoW, 17th European Skeptics Congress,

Wrocław Wrocław is a city in southwestern Poland, and the capital of the Lower Silesian Voivodeship. It is the largest city and historical capital of the region of Silesia. It lies on the banks of the Oder River in the Silesian Lowlands of Central Eu ...

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

File:SusanGerbicAtQEDcon2014-1.jpg, Gerbic (second left) at QEDcon 2014 with Michael Marshall, Eran Segev and Samantha Stein

Life and career

Activism

Guerrilla Skeptics

Awards and honors

Personal life

See also

References

Further reading