ESF Celebrates Darwin and Wallace Feb. 15

02/13/2018

The College of Environmental Science and Forestry (ESF) will host its annual celebration of International Darwin Day Thursday, Feb. 15, in F. Franklin Moon Library on the ESF campus.

The event will feature posters, created by "Evolution" course undergraduates, that highlight recent research in evolutionary biology.

"Given what active researchers Darwin and Wallace were, the students' work is a fitting tribute," said Dr. Rebecca Rundell, who teaches the class. "Darwin Day is a way of expressing our gratitude for the enormous benefits that scientific knowledge, acquired through human curiosity and ingenuity, has contributed to the advancement of humanity."

Students in Rundell's Evolution course are investigating some of the most compelling research in evolutionary biology from 2017 and 2018 and creating mini-posters to highlight that research. Posters will be on display for three weeks beginning Thursday, Feb. 15, in the library's main reading room. Beginning at 11:30a.m., there will be tea and cookies available during poster viewing.

International Darwin Day is celebrated around the world each year in February to commemorate Darwin's birthday, Feb. 12. The ESF event is the only such observance in Syracuse.

Charles Darwin and Alfred Russel Wallace were the first to describe biological evolution via natural selection in a scientifically rigorous way. In 1859, Darwin published his famous book, On the Origin of Species.