Darwin Day Events at A-State Features Exhibit, Panel Discussion and Presentation
JONESBORO — The third annual Darwin Day series of events will take place at Arkansas State University from Saturday, Feb. 8, through Friday, Feb. 14.
“Our theme this year is biodiversity and we have several events that focus on biodiversity in Arkansas and around the world,” said Dr. Drew Sweet, assistant professor of evolutionary biology.
An anthotypes workshop will be held from 2 until 5 p.m., Saturday, Feb. 8, in partnership with Bradbury Art Museum, located inside Fowler Center. Registration is required at bradburyartmuseum.org/event/anthotypes.
An anthotype is made by using crushed plant material and using the color from the pulp to create a print on physical objects.
From Monday, Feb. 10, through Saturday, Feb. 22, there will be an exhibit at the A-State Museum, adjacent to the Dean B. Ellis Library, called “The Grandeur of Life: Artistic Depictions of the Natural State.” This exhibit will feature artistic depictions of nature submitted by A-State students, faculty and staff.
From 4 until 5 p.m. on Wednesday, Feb. 12, a panel discussion will be held in the A-State Museum, room 157. The topic will be “Endless Forms Most Beautiful: Looking at Evolution from Perspectives Within the Sciences and Liberal Arts.” This discussion will focus on variation and change and will feature faculty from different fields.
A presentation will take place in the A-State Museum auditorium from 5 until 6 p.m. on Thursday, Feb. 13. This presentation, “Darwin, Biodiversity, Evolution, Speciation, Collections, and Open Data,” will feature Dr. John Bates, curator of birds at the Field Museum in Chicago.
“Bates will talk about the importance of museums and conservation for preserving and understanding biodiversity. He has traveled around the world to learn about biodiversity. The audience can expect an engaging presentation from a world-renowned ornithologist from one of the world’s largest natural history museums,” Sweet added.
From noon until 1 p.m. on Friday, Feb. 14, Bates will present an academic talk in the Arkansas Biosciences Institute regarding his research on biodiversity.
BAM is located at 201 Olympic Drive, the A-State Museum is at 320 University Loop West, and ABI is at 504 University Loop West.
For more information about any of the planned events, one may contact Sweet at asweet@AState.edu 
