The Evidence Collective elects Dr. Raven Baxter as a member

Members of The Evidence Collective, a network of scientists, clinicians and communicators, elected Dr. Raven Baxter on March 4, 2026. She serves in its Expert Network, the tier that supports the group's steering committee.

The collective, a program of Your Local Epidemiologist, fills its ranks by nomination and vote. "Members are internally nominated and then voted on by all current TEC members," its structure page says. The Expert Network is "a group of voted-in members that supports the steering committee by providing specialized knowledge, rapid response capability, surge capacity, and quality control."

Three weeks before her election, Baxter took part as an invited creator in the collective's Faith, Facts & Trust convening. The full-day gathering met on February 11 in Sterling Lecture Hall at Yale's Sterling Memorial Library. "Both Christian faith influencers and science communicators convened to build relationships, find common ground, and collaborate on strategies to strengthen public trust," the collective wrote of the event. A member of the American Association for the Advancement of Science's Dialogue on Science, Ethics, and Religion program facilitated the day.

The program for the convening, billed as a gathering for faith-based and science content creators. Photo: The Evidence Collective

The convening came as measles spread across the country. By February 12, the U.S. had 910 confirmed measles cases. South Carolina's outbreak neared 1,000 cases, and a state senator introduced a bill to end religious exemptions for the measles vaccine. In Spartanburg County, religious exemptions covered nearly 10% of students. A Pew Research Center report published January 15 found confidence in scientists still below pre-pandemic levels.

Your Local Epidemiologist later tied the Yale day to measles conversations in Christian communities. "It's not every day that science communicators get to sit at the same table with Christian faith leaders, but a few weeks ago, that's exactly what happened," its February 27 newsletter said.

Epidemiologist Dr. Katelyn Jetelina, who started Your Local Epidemiologist in 2020, co-founded the collective with Dr. Jess Steier of Unbiased Science. Immunologist Dr. Elisabeth Marnik is executive director. The network publishes prebunk and debunk briefs on breaking health topics, runs trainings and holds in-person convenings. Its funders include The Pew Charitable Trusts, the Vaccine Integrity Project at CIDRAP, Arnold Ventures and Schmidt Sciences.

A molecular biologist, Baxter is known to millions online as Dr. Raven the Science Maven.

The collective's mission and values are on its website.