Darwin Day Celebration Tomorrow

Although Darwin Day is on Monday, the UW will be celebrating tomorrow.

The 198th anniversary of Charles Darwin's birth will be celebrated on Saturday, February 10, 2007, the University of Wisconsin-Madison campus.

The morning session will feature three talks: "Irreducible Complexity and the Human Eye" by Janette Boughman (Zoology) and Elliott Sober (Philosophy), "DNA and Human Evolution" by Bret Payseur (Genetics), and "An Introduction to Evolutionary Medicine" by Michael Muehlenbein (Anthropology, UW Milwaukee). The talks and question periods will run from 9:00 a.m. till noon in the Humanities Building, room 3650.

After lunch, activities move to the Geology Museum, Weeks Hall, for an afternoon of displays that will explore how evolution is important to medicine and agriculture, as well as a variety of other evolutionary topics (including the age of the earth, sexual selection, convergent evolution, why flowers are beautiful, farming and pharmacy in ants, evolutionary trees, transitional fossils, biogeography, and human evolution). Presenters for the displays include faculty, staff, and graduate students from the departments of Agronomy, Anthropology, Bacteriology, Biochemistry, Botany, Geology and Geophysics, History of Science, Horticulture, and Zoology.

All of the day's events are intended to be engaging for the public. Questions and discussion will be welcomed. Refreshments will be provided throughout the day.

Free supplemental materials for teachers are planned.

All events are free and open to the public. Parking is available throughout campus (262-8683). The Humanities Building (morning session) is located on the NE corner of University Avenue and Park Street. The Geology Museum in Weeks Hall (afternoon session) is located on the SW corner of West Dayton and Charter Streets. For information, please contact Prof. Dana Geary at dana@geology.wisc.edu or 263-7754; Mara McDonald at mamcdona@wisc.edu or 263-8941; or Brooke Norsted at brooke@geology.wisc.edu or 262-1412.

Also see http://www.evolution.wisc.edu/events.php , or
http://www.geology.wisc.edu/news_events/DarwinDay2007/

Sponsored by THE UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN-MADISON COLLEGE OF LETTERS & SCIENCE, COLLEGE OF AGRICULTURAL AND LIFE SCIENCES, THE GEOLOGY MUSEUM AND THE DEPARTMENT OF GEOLOGY AND GEOPHYSICS, AND THE EVOLUTION COORDINATING COMMITTEE.