This week I'm travelling to the University of Georgia to participate in the week of Darwin Day activities they have going there. It's a great program, full of interesting lectures and events.
I'll be talking about Neandertal genetics on Thursday, February 11, in the Reception Hall of the Tate Center at 3:30 in the afternoon. If you're in the Athens area -- heck, if you're anywhere in Georgia! -- I'd love to see you there!
If you can't make it on Thursday, there will be another really cool lecture Friday at noon, in the same place, by René Bobe, expert in the field of paleoecology and human evolution. His title: "Lucy, I'm Home! Humanity's Six-million-Year Journey". And on Wednesday evening, artist Ray Troll will give his perspective on "An Artists View of the History of Life".
Meanwhile, here in Madison the annual Darwin Day event will be held on Saturday the 13th, in the Microbial Sciences Building. If you weren't there last year, well Microbial Sciences is a really beautiful new building, with a huge atrium and central auditorium. My students and many other biology and evolution-related labs on campus will have displays and posters up for all ages, from 10 to 3:30.
At the same time, a lecture program and panel discussion will be running. The featured lecturer is Jonathan Losos, whose work understanding the incredible ecological diversity of Anolis lizards in the Caribbean has become one of the most important case studies in ecology and evolution today. There will be a workshop for teachers featuring activities centered around these lizards, it's a tremendous opportunity to bring current biology research into education.
