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EvoKE 2023 | Bath, United Kingdom

3-5 July 2023

PLENARY SPEAKERS

Eugenics, and the Misuse of Mendel

Adam Rutherford

Geneticist, Popular Science Author, and Radio Presenter

The emergence and translation of Mendel’s discoveries about genetics into English coincided with the rise of eugenics, and provided its most devoted apostles with a biological mechanism to justify their bigotry. An ideological commitment to mendelian pedigrees formed the pseudoscientific basis for mass sterilisation and genocide. We now have a much more sophisticated understanding of human genetics, but this eugenic spectre limps on in our culture, reinforcing a view of biology that is simplistic, deterministic and wrong.

Dr Adam Rutherford is a lecturer in Biology and Society at University College London. His PhD was in the development of the retina, but his work now focuses on the interface between genetics and society, the public understanding of genetics, with a particular focus on the history and legacies of scientific racism and eugenics. He’s written several bestselling books, including A Brief History of Everyone Who Ever Lived, How to Argue With a Racist and most recently Control: the Dark History and Troubling Present of Eugenics. He also presents several radio programmes for the BBC, including the Curious Cases of Rutherford and Fry, and the series on eugenics called Bad Blood.

Circularity in Science Communication and Outreach

Joana Moscoso

Co-founder & Director of Native Scientists and Co-founder of Chaperone

Science communication and outreach have long served as valuable tools for institutions and professionals to engage the public with scientific topics and research, promote learning, build trust, shape public policies, and/or inspire interest in science and scientific careers. Recently, an increasing emphasis on engaging diverse audiences and using innovative communication strategies has expanded the potential of science communication and outreach as tools that promote inclusivity and address societal challenges. Moving beyond the concept of science communication and outreach for inclusion and diversity, we will explore the application of circularity principles in the field, focusing on two programmes that connect scientists and children from the same migrant community and/or hometown. By embracing circularity, the programmes foster a transformative, dynamic and sustainable approach to science education and engagement. They incorporate hands-on activities that address real-world challenges, deepening children’s understanding of scientific concepts and encouraging them to think critically while also sparking interest in science and fostering a lifelong passion for learning. Through the convergence of inclusivity, circularity, and science communication and outreach, we will look into the potential of these innovative programmes to foster an empowered society driven by scientific literacy and curiosity, where knowledge is shared and accessible.

Joana Moscoso believes in science and innovation for the benefit of humankind. This is what led her to become a scientist and a social business innovator. With experience working in the public, private and third sectors, Joana holds a PhD from Imperial College London, is a Marie Skłodowska-Curie Fellow Alumnus, and co-founded two social enterprises. At Native Scientist, she connects children and scientists to promote quality and fair science education. At Chaperone, she gives scientists access to high-quality and personalised career support. She is an author of 10+ international peer-reviewed publications and founded Native Scientist while doing her PhD. Her entrepreneurial skills, ability to mobilise people, and capacity to generate positive social impact have been distinguished multiple times, including the titles Top 100 Women in Social Enterprise (2021) and MIT Innovator Under 35 (2017) titles. More information here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/joanamoscoso/

The Story of Grandmother Fish & How to Engage Young Minds

Jonathan Tweet

Author of “Grandmother Fish”

When creative projects teach evolution to children, what works and what doesn’t? It’s a wickedly difficult concept to get across, but one might succeed by playing on how children love animals, love families, and love play. The story of how the book Grandmother Fish came to be includes several lessons for others who want to make evolution accessible to kids. Questions welcome!

Inspired by his little daughter, Jonathan Tweet worked for 15 years to create GRANDMOTHER FISH, the first book to teach evolution to preschoolers. Macmillan picked the book up and now it is available in Italian, Chinese, and Japanese. Jonathan also created two evolution-themed card games: CLADES and CLADES PREHISTORIC, produced the mobile games CLADES SOLO and CROW SCIENTIST (with John Marzluff), and is consulting with the Science Museum of Minnesota, USA, on an interactive evolution exhibit (in progress). Professionally, Jonathan is a designer of tabletop games, contributing to DUNGEONS & DRAGONS, MAGIC: THE GATHERING, and many other games. His evolution activities for kids are available at grandmotherfish.com, and on Twitter, he’s @grandmotherfish.

Using cases and Avida-ED to Improve Student Understanding of Evolution: Anecdotes and Evidence

Louise Mead

Education Director for the BEACON Center for the Study of Evolution in Action

Improving undergraduate student understanding of evolutionary processes can be daunting.  Students often enter your class with various alternative explanations, as well as misconceptions. A great deal of research has been done (and published) on how best to teach this topic, many studies providing helpful, if not instructive, information.  Over the past six years I have been developing evolutionary case studies, in connection with Avida-ED, a digital evolution software program, to help non-biology STEM majors construct their understanding of evolutionary mechanisms.  We have formally studied student understanding, and allowed students to self-reports what components of the course were most informative to understanding evolutionary processes. In this talk I will share our research as well as the approach I use and what I’ve learned from my students.

Dr. Louise Mead is faculty member in the Department of Integrative Biology and serves as the Graduate Program Director for the department and Education Director for the BEACON Center for the Study of Evolution in Action.  Trained as an evolutionary biologist she has a broad range of teaching, research, and administrative experience. Louise started her career as a high school science teacher, obtaining a M.Ed from the University of Massachusetts and then earned a PhD in Organismic and Evolutionary Biology also from the University of Massachusetts. After spending four years as the Education Project Director for the National Center for Science Education (NCSE), she joined the BEACON Center for the Study of Evolution in Action at Michigan State University.  As Education Director at BEACON for the past ten years, she manages a wide variety of projects focused on interdisciplinary undergraduate and graduate training in the STEM disciplines and teaches courses for the Department of Integrative Biology that integrate experiential and active learning.

ORGANIZING TEAM

Alex Jeffries

Paula Kover

Rana Dajani

Teresa Nogueira

Sofia Radrizzani

Xana Sá-Pinto

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