Thursday, March 28, 2024

Prominent professor speaks about evolution

October 16, 2001

A prestigious Harvard professor will be on campus tonight to discuss the importance of evolution.

Stephen Palumbi, a professor of biology, will be discussing the dramatic acceleration of evolution of pest and disease organisms and why it’s necessary for people to be alerted.

The lecture, “The Social and Economic Impact of Rapid Evolution: Why Ignoring Evolution is Educational Malpractice,” is the second in a series coordinated by the Lyman Briggs School. It will be at 7:30 to 9:30 p.m. in Big Ten B room at the Kellogg Center. It’s also the second one dealing with the issue of evolution.

Robert Pennock, associate professor in the Lyman Briggs School, said Palumbi is widely recognized for his research on the rapid evolution caused by humans.

Pennock said Palumbi’s book, “The Evolution Explosion: How Humans Cause Rapid Evolutionary Change,” discusses the effects pesticides have on insects.

“His book looks at how humans make evolution go faster in biological organisms, and why it is that we need to do better, so we don’t make mistakes,” he said. “One example is antibiotic resistance, which causes the bacteria to become more powerful.”

The first lecture in the series involved state Rep. John Hansen, D-Dexter, who spoke about two legislative bills dealing with teaching evolution in schools.

There will be two more lectures this semester, including one by Robert Huggett, MSU vice president for research and graduate studies. Another five lectures are scheduled for next semester. Dates and times have not be confirmed yet.

Discussion

Share and discuss “Prominent professor speaks about evolution” on social media.