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Send to friendTop researchers specializing in evolutionary biology will discuss their latest findings at the Life Sciences Institute’s eighth annual symposium “Evolutionary Biology: 150 Years after the Origin” on Tuesday, April 28, 2009. This year’s Symposium theme was selected in honor of the 200th anniversary of the birth of Charles Darwin and the 150th anniversary of the publication of his “On the Origin of Species.” Alan Walker, PhD, Evan Pugh Professor of Biological Anthropology at Pennsylvania State University will kick off the meeting as the honorary Mary Sue & Kenneth Coleman Life Sciences Lecturer. Dr. Walker is one of the world's foremost experts on the evolution of primates and humans. His research involves searching for primate and human fossils in rocks dated from about 30 million to 1 million years ago and conducting laboratory analyses of the fossils to extract as much environmental and behavioral information from them as possible. He pioneered the study of living primates as a basis for the analysis of fossils and was one of the first to use scanning electron microscope studies of enamel microwear on teeth to understand the diets of extinct mammals. Dr. Walker is a research associate of the National Museum of Kenya and has had many collaborative field programs with the Museum, the latest being at Allia Bay, east Lake Turkana. He was named a MacArthur Fellow (1988), is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences (1996) and a Fellow of the British Royal Society (1999). He will be introduced by U-M President Mary Sue Coleman. The full-day program also includes noted researchers: D. Graham Burnett, Christian Gauss Fund University Preceptor and Associate Professor of History, Princeton University; John Doebley, Professor of Genetics, University of Wisconsin-Madison; David Queller, Harry C. and Olga K. Wiess Professor of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Rice University; Joan Strassmann, Chair and Harry C. and Olga K. Wiess Professor of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Rice University; Antonis Rokas, Assistant Professor in the Department of Biological Sciences, Vanderbilt University; Daniel Weinreich, Assistant Professor of Biology, Brown University. LSI’s annual symposia feature recent developments in areas of interdisciplinary science. They are designed to encourage the exchange of ideas and to provide the opportunity for students and scientists alike to interact with and learn from prominent scientific leaders. University of Michigan President Mary Sue Coleman and her husband, Kenneth Coleman, made a leadership gift in 2004 endowing a variety of efforts across the University. The Institute serves as Michigan’s hub for collaborative biomedical research on human health problems. The meeting, which is open to the public, will run from 8:45 am to 5:00 pm in the Biomedical Sciences Research Building Auditorium on the University of Michigan campus. In celebration of the Darwin anniversaries, the Life Sciences Institute is co-sponsoring a special event with the Exhibit Museum of Natural History, Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, ADVANCE program, Museum of Paleontology, Women in Science and Engineering, and Women's Studies. This event will feature Claudia Stevens, playwright and performer, performing Blue Lias, or The Fish Lizard's Whore, at the Residential College Auditorium, 701 East University, in Ann Arbor on Sunday April 26, at 7 p.m. The event is free and open to the public. A donation of $10/person ($5, students) is requested. Creator of unique and complex interdisciplinary pieces, Stevens prides herself on her solo performances as a musician-actor. Her plays encompass themes ranging from crime and art to hate crimes and reconciliation, drawing heavily from literature, history, and issues of identity. Download the Symposium poster here. The Symposium schedule of speakers and topics is: 8:45 Welcome by Alan Saltiel Mary Sue Coleman Director of the Life Sciences Institute 9:00 - 10:00 The Mary Sue and Kenneth Coleman Life Sciences Lecture "The human body as an evolutionary patchwork" Alan Walker, Ph.D. Evan Pugh Professor of Biological Anthropology and Biology Penn State University Introduced by U-M President Mary Sue Coleman 10:00 - 10:15 Break - Refreshments will be served in Seminar Rooms ABC 10:15 - 11:10 "The Arborescent Bush of Life" Antonis Rokas, Ph.D. Assistant Professor in the Department of Biological Sciences Vanderbilt University 11:10 - 12:05 "Evolution Under Domestication: Evidence from Maize and Other Crops" John Doebley, Ph.D. Professor of Genetics University of Wisconsin-Madison 12:05 - 1:30 Lunch Break - Please note that lunch will not be provided. 1:30 - 2:25 "Who Selects? Charles Darwin, Natural Man, and Natural Selection" D. Graham Burnett, Ph.D. Associate Professor, Department of History and Program in History of Science Princeton University 2:25 - 3:35 What can sociobiology tell us about social amoebae? Joan Strassmann, Ph.D. Chair and Harry C. and Olga K. Wiess Professor of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology Rice University What can social amoebae tell us about sociobiology? David Queller, Ph.D. Harry C. and Olga K. Wiess Professor of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology Rice University 3:35 - 4:30 "Predicting Evolutionary Trajectories in Principle and Practice" Daniel Weinreich, Ph.D. Assistant Professor of Biology Brown University 4:30 Reception with Speakers - Refreshments will be served in Seminar Rooms ABC
