I am very pleased to announce that I have become a Fellow of the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry, commonly known as CSI (and formerly known as CSICOP). CSI is one of the foremost skeptical organizations in the country and the world, and it is both humbling and an honor to be a part of it.

I was chosen along with other 15 other people, many of whom will be familiar to regular readers, including Skeptic Dictionary creator Bob Carroll, Steve Novella, Harriett Hall, Massimo Pigliucci, UK Skeptic’s Christopher French, Seth Shostak, and my fellow astronomer Jay Pasachoff. You can get the full list at the CSI announcement.

I’m also very happy to note that another of the new Fellows is one James Randi! Randi helped create CSICOP, but left years ago due to personal reasons when Uri Geller (boo!) sued both him and CSICOP. Randi has maintained a cordial relationship with the group over the years, and I know he’s personally very happy to be a part of CSI once again.

I’ve received a few emails from folks asking if my leaving the JREF to do TV work would take me away from doing skeptical outreach. It will be impacted, of course, but I hope this announcement lets you know that I will continue to do what I can to make this world a more reasonable place. I could no more stop doing that than I could stop blogging, or stop breathing, or stop being amazed at how wonderful our Universe is.

My thanks to the good folks at CSI, and to all of you who support me!