DATE: February 13, 2008
CONTACT:
Dr. Michael Childress, (864) 656-6198
mchildr@clemson.edu
WRITER:
John Gouch, (864) 656-3859
jgouch@clemson.edu
Clemson to host evolutionary developmental geneticist Dr. Sean B. Carroll
CLEMSON — Sean Carroll, professor of molecular biology and genetics from the University of Wisconsin will be the featured speaker for Clemson University’s 2008 Charles Darwin Week celebration.
His lecture, titled “The Making of the Fittest: DNA and the Ultimate Forensic Record of Evolution,” will be 7:30 p.m. Monday, Feb. 18, at Brooks Center Auditorium. The lecture is free and open to the public.
Carroll is the acknowledged leader in the field of evolutionary developmental biology or “Evo-devo.” An investigator with the Howard Hughes Medical Institute and a member of the National Academy of Sciences, his research has centered on the genes that control animal body plans and play major roles in the evolution of animal diversity. Evo-devo has revolutionized evolutionary biology by exploring the shared genes and processes that build organisms as different as fruit flies and people.
Carroll has authored or co-authored more than 100 scientific papers and a number of texts and popular books including “Endless Forms Most Beautiful: The New Science of Evo Devo” and “The Making of the Fittest: DNA and the Ultimate Forensic Record of Evolution.” A reception will follow the lecture around 9 p.m. and Carroll will be available to autograph his books. Both books will be for sale to the public at the event, with proceeds going to the undergraduate Biological Sciences Club.
Carroll’s lecture culminates a week-long series of activities sponsored by Clemson’s undergraduate BioSci Club and Biological Sciences Graduate Student Association to promote education and public awareness of the contributions made by Charles Darwin.
Activities at Clemson are part of “an international recognition of science and humanity” involving hundreds of groups and universities across the United States and the world held annually around Darwin’s Feb. 12 birthday.
Carroll’s lecture is sponsored by: Calhoun Honors College; Presidential Colloquium: Rutland Institute for Ethics; Clemson Experiment Station; the colleges of Agriculture, Forestry and Life Sciences and Architecture, Arts and Humanities; the School of Nursing; SC LIFE; Greenwood Genetic Center; and the departments of biological sciences, genetics and biochemistry, and philosophy and religion.