About Darwin Day at UTK

Darwin Day in Knoxville, Tennessee is a volunteer-run event dedicated to informing the public about evolution and its importance as a unifying concept in all of biology. Our goal is to disseminate factual information, in the context of a non-confrontational and rational discussion based on empirical evidence without pre-conceived ideological agendas or uncritical faith in the opinions of scientists, politicians, or clerics. In a state with past and recent legislative efforts to introduce faith-based ideologies into the science classrooms of public schools, these efforts are particularly important.

We sponsored the first Darwin Day event on February 12th of 1997, the 188th birthday of Charles Robert Darwin. Since this first Darwin Day, the annual celebration has grown to include an annual keynote speaker, a teacher's workshop, and other events.

Please browse our site to learn more.

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Board of Directors

President: Matthew Valente
Ph.D. Student, Department of Geography, UT Knoxville
Website: http://web.utk.edu/~mvalente/
Email: mvalente <at>utk<dot>edu

Vice President: Patrick Hudson
Ph.D. Student, Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, UT Knoxville
Website: http://web.utk.edu/~phudson2/Welcome.html
Email: phudson2 <at>utk<dot>edu

Secretary: Amy Turmelle
Ph.D. Student, Department of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology, UT Knoxville
Website: http://eeb.bio.utk.edu/turmelle.asp
Email: turmelle <at>utk<dot>edu

Treasurer: Premal Shah
Ph.D. Student, Department of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology, UT Knoxville
Website: http://web.utk.edu/~pshah1/Premal%20Shah/About%20Me.html
Email: pshah1 <at>utk<dot>edu

Public Relations: Amy Turmelle
Ph.D. Student, Department of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology, UT Knoxville
Website: http://eeb.bio.utk.edu/turmelle.asp
Email: turmelle <at>utk<dot>edu

Faculty Representative: Dr. Andrew Kramer
Professor and Head, Department of Anthropology, UT Knoxville
Website: http://web.utk.edu/~akramer/
Email: akramer<at>utk<dot>edu
- As a paleoanthropologist my research focuses on reconstructing human evolution. My work has taken me around the world: from Java, Indonesia, to Africa - from Europe to the Middle East. I've used the information gathered during these travels to address important questions, such as:
- When did humans split from the common ancestor we share with the apes?
- Where and how did modern humans first evolve?
- How can an extinct species, often represented only by fragmentary bones and teeth, be recognized in the fossil record?

Founder: Dr. Massimo Pigliucci
Professor, Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, SUNY, Stony Brook
Author of Common Misconceptions About Evolution
Website: http://www.rationallyspeaking.org

Please Join Us!
Please join our group by registering with the Darwin Day listserv using this link:

http://listserv.utk.edu/archives/darwin-day-tn.html

After signing up you will receive email updates about the organization. You will also be able to participate in online discussions about evolution, science, and education.

You can also join us on Facebook, by joining the Darwin Day at the University of Tennessee group, or becoming friends with Chuck Darwin.

Donations

While there is no cost for membership, donations are greatly appreciated. Please make checks out to "Darwin Coalition" and send to:

Premal Shah, Treasurer - Darwin Day
Dept. of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
569 Dabney Hall
University of Tennessee - Knoxville

Sponsors

We are grateful to our many sponsors for current and past events:

Dept. Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
Offices of the Provost and Chancellor
Dept. Physics and Astronomy
Dept. Microbiology
Division of Biology
Dept. Anthropology
College of Arts and Sciences
Dept. Psychology
Dept. Biochemistry, Cellular and Molecular Biology
Dept. Earth & Planetary Sciences
College of Education, Health, and Human Sciences
UT/ORNL Graduate Program for Genome Science and Technology

This site is maintained by Amy Turmelle (email under "Darwin Day Home"). This page last updated 13-February-2009.


Science, Evolution, and Creationism ...

Read this FREE online! Full Book \| PDF Summary