WHAT: Dr. Daniel Brooks presents Children of Time: Putting Darwinism to Work in a Time of Existential Threat to Humanity as part of the Alberta RNA Research and Training Institute (ARRTI) Speaker Series.
WHEN: Monday, Dec. 21, 2020, 2 p.m.
WHERE: Free online Zoom session: https://uleth.zoom.us/j/97275486531
WHO: Dr. Daniel Brooks is Professor Emeritus, University of Toronto, and Senior Research Fellow of the H.W. Manter Laboratory of Parasitology, University of Nebraska State Museum. He is a Fellow of both the Royal Society of Canada and the Linnaean Society of London.
Most people think of evolutionary theory as describing the origin of species, the title of Darwin’s famous book, and indeed it does that. But in modern biology, evolution occupies a central place in thinking about things that are happening now, from the emergence of new diseases to the response of species to climate change.
“The basic ideas of evolutionary theory are familiar and taught in primary and secondary schools throughout the world. But thinking through the evolutionary implications of rapid environmental change is difficult, since we lack both appropriate historical antecedents and experience in applying the theory of evolution to this new situation on a global scale,” says Dr. Marc Roussel, University of Lethbridge chemistry and biochemistry professor. “Dr. Brooks’ work challenges us to rethink our whole approach to these problems, and to consider radically different approaches to ecosystem stewardship.”
The ARRTI Speaker Series is funded by the RNA Society and Lexogen.
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Contact:
Dr. Marc Roussel, Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry
roussel@uleth.ca
Catharine Reader, Office of the Dean, Faculty of Arts & Science
403-382-7154
catharine.reader@uleth.ca
