Darwin’s legacy focus of Voyages of Discovery lecture

GREENVILLE, N.C.  —   In celebration of the 200th year since Charles Darwin’s birth, the Voyages of Discovery Lecture Series at East Carolina University will present a talk on the scientist’s legacy. 

Eugenie C. Scott, an internationally recognized expert on the creation/evolution controversy, will speak on “Darwin’s Legacy in Science and Society,” on Tuesday, Jan. 27, at 7 p.m. in Wright Auditorium. 

Scott’s lecture is the 2009 Sallie Southall Cotten Lecture, which is delivered annually at ECU by a woman of distinction.

The author of “Creationism vs. Evolution: An Introduction,” Scott is also the executive director of the National Center for Science Education, a pro-evolution nonprofit science education organization with members in every state. She holds a Ph.D. in biological anthropology from the University of Missouri, and honorary D.Sc degrees from McGill University, Ohio State University and several other institutions. 

An outspoken advocate of the separation of church and state, Scott serves on the National Advisory Councils of the Americans United for Separation of Church and State and the American Civil Liberties Union. She has consulted with the National Academy of Sciences, several State Departments of Education and legal staffs in both the United States and Australia. She is co-editor, with Glenn Branch, of “Not in Our Classrooms: Why Intelligent Design Is Wrong for Our Schools.”

The lecture is free for ECU faculty, staff and students. Tickets for the event are available through the ECU Central Ticket Office in Mendenhall 328-4788. For more information, please contact John Tucker, director of the Voyages of Discovery Lecture Series, at 328-1028. 

The Department of Biology is celebrating the bicentennial of Darwin’s birth on Feb. 12 with various events. 

From 4 to 6 p.m., middle school science teachers and high school biology teachers will participate in free workshops. Tours of the Howell Science Complex on the ECU campus will take place between 6 and 7:30 p.m., beginning outside Room B103. 

At 7:30 p.m., in B103 Howell Science Complex, ECU biologist Jason Bond will discuss “Spiders, Biodiversity and the Future of Life.” To conclude the event, the winning donation in the spider-naming event will be announced, immediately followed by a reception with beverages and hors d’oeuvres, including edible insects.