Large 'Darwin Day' Event Coming To Palouse

SPOKANE, WA - From International Darwin Day: The Humanists of the Palouse, a chapter of the American Humanist Association, along with the Secular Student Alliance at the University of Idaho, will host the 7th annual Darwin on the Palouse on Friday, February 9, 2018. Darwin on the Palouse is the nation's premier International Darwin Day event celebrated each year to honor humanity, science, reason, and the birthday of revolutionary naturalist Charles Darwin.

This year's event features two speakers, Dr. PZ Myers and Hannah LoRene Smith, with special musical guest Shelley Segal.

PZ Myers is a biologist at the University of Minnesota, Morris. He is a graduate of the University of Washington, with a BS in Zoology, and earned his Ph.D. at the Institute of Neuroscience at the University of Oregon. He runs a popular blog at freethoughtblogs.com/pharyngula, and can be reached on Twitter as @pzmyers.

Hanna LoRene Smith is a Ph.D. student at the University of Idaho, College of Natural Resources, interested in understanding coupled human and natural systems that support the resiliency of forest-based communities in the Pacific Northwest. Her research approaches social-ecological systems from a place-based perspective, focusing on youth involvement and sustainable funding for protection of Central Idaho.

Shelley Segal is an Australian singer-songwriter whose first single, folk protest song ‘Saved’, has become an anthem for grass-roots secular activists. With her “Mercurial voice and eclectic sound” (The Brag) she creates a space for her listeners to engage with ideas, to question and to reflect on the everyday – to see its layers, its depth, its meaning. An artist, an activist and an explicit storyteller, Shelley Segal uses her music not only to express the way she sees the world, but to create the world that she wants to see.

The event will be held at the Kenworthy Performing Arts Centre at 508 S Main Street, Moscow, Idaho, 83843, starting at 6:30 pm PST on Friday, February 9.

International Darwin Day was founded in 1993 by Dr. Robert Stevens to promote public education of evolution and honor the contributions of scientist around the world. Darwin’s discoveries and his pivotal book, On the Origin of Species, have laid the foundation for the principles of evolutionary biology and left a lasting imprint on the public consciousness.

More information about Darwin on the Palouse can be found here. More information about International Darwin Day can be found at DarwinDay.org.

Photo by William White via Unsplash