EvoKE webinars are free, open to all, and held monthly.
In 2026, sessions will alternate to increase accessibility across our international community.
Find webinar announcements and information on our social media, and rewatch past webinars on EvoKE's YouTube channel.
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The Webinar Collection
Building a Learning Progression for Evolution Education
Patrícia Pessoa, Isabell K. Adler, & Georgios Ampatzidis
The EvoKE Board
Date Presented: 6 July 2026
Read more about the webinar
This EvoKE Webinar will be a little different from our usual format.
Instead of inviting a guest speaker, we are inviting the EvoKE community to take part in a collaborative working session that aims to initiate the development of a publication on a learning progression for evolution education—from preschool through secondary education. During this interactive session, participants will have the opportunity to discuss key questions such as:
How can we foster children’s understanding of evolution from the earliest years?
What might a meaningful learning progression for evolution look like across different age groups?
Which evolutionary concepts are appropriate at different stages of development?
How can we support teachers in bringing these ideas into the classroom?
This session is open to researchers, educators, teacher educators, curriculum developers, and anyone interested in evolution education. Whether you have extensive experience in the field or are simply interested in contributing to this collaborative initiative, your perspective will be highly valued. Our goal is to establish an international working group that will continue collaborating beyond the webinar and develop a joint publication proposing a learning progression for evolution education from preschool through secondary education.
We hope you will join us and help shape the future of evolution education. We look forward to welcoming you!
The Paleobiology of Ammonoids
Prof. Dr. Christian Klug
Titular Professor at Zurich University & Curator of the Paleontological Collection and Exhibition
Date Presented: 4 June 2026
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Ammonoids are extinct cephalopods with a history of about 340 million years. Although they are regionally very common and highly diverse, we only slowly begin to understand their biology. Because of their external shell, fossilized soft parts may often be covered. Exceptionally preserved specimens revealed much of their internal anatomy. Ammonoid robots helped us understand functional aspects of their conchs. Still, many open questions remain.
Read more about Prof. Klug
After completing his doctorate, Christian Klug was initially employed as a trainee at the State Museum of Natural History and then took up a senior assistant position at the University of Zurich in 2003. After completing his habilitation in 2008, he succeeded Dr. Heinz Furrer as curator of the former Palaeontological Museum in 2014 and was appointed titular professor in 2016. As a palaeontologist, Christian Klug is passionate about the evolution of cephalopods and early fish as well as many other extinct animals. He enjoy sharing his expertise and new research findings in lectures, guided tours and exhibitions. In addition to his museum work, Christian Klug also curates the palaeontological collection, teaches students at UZH and ETH and has his own research team.
How Do Museums and Science Centres Promote Evolution Education?
Maria João Fonseca
Head of Communication of the Natural History and Science Museum of the University of Porto & Director of the Hall of Biodiversity – Ciência Viva Centre
Date Presented: 4 May 2026
Read more about the webinar
Science centres and museums play a key role in the promotion of scientific literacy, acting as venues for non-formal and informal learning, and often supporting formal education by working collaboratively with schools.
They offer very interesting and authentic opportunities to engage diverse audiences with complex, more or less abstract and sometimes controversial issues. By integrating real specimens, interactive exhibits, storytelling, dialogic engagement, and hands-on inquiry, these institutions can foster public engagement with core principles of evolutionary theory. In addition, they are uniquely positioned to address persistent barriers to evolution understanding and acceptance, namely by tackling misconceptions, situated reasoning, and potential conflicts with personal values and worldviews.
Taking up examples from all over Europe (and some other countries), in this presentation I will be arguing how learner-centered, evidence-based, and inquiry-driven approaches in museums can enhance conceptual understanding of evolution, promote critical evaluation of evidence, and foster greater acceptance of evolutionary explanations. Particular attention will be given to how exhibit design and facilitation strategies can align with current insights from evolutionary biology and science communication to support more robust public engagement with evolution.
Read more about Dr. Fonseca
With a background in animal biology and biology teaching and a PhD in science education and communication, Maria João is Head of Communication at the Natural History and Science Museum of the University of Porto and Director of the science center Hall of Biodiversity. She is in charge of general administration and of coordinating and promoting science communication and outreach activities. She has been involved in the design and evaluation of formal and non-formal educational activities, teacher training, and outreach initiatives for all sorts of audiences.
In addition, she is currently an Invited Professor at the Faculty of Sciences of the University of Porto, where she teaches didactics of biology, and the President of the Ecsite network.
Among her interests are topics such as art and science in the promotion of scientific culture and wellbeing, science education in non-formal environments, especially museums and science centers, active learning methodologies and evaluation of the impact of educational experiences.
Evolution Education and GreenComp: Building Sustainability Competences through Evolutionary Thinking
Gregor Torkar
Full Professor of Biology Education at the University of Ljubljana, Faculty of Education, Slovenia
Date Presented: 16 April 2026
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Evolution education provides a powerful conceptual framework for understanding the complexity of life and the dynamic relationships between organisms and their environments across time and space. Evolutionary thinking emphasises long-term processes, interconnected systems, uncertainty, and adaptation. These perspectives are increasingly essential for understanding contemporary global challenges such as biodiversity loss, climate change, and ecosystem degradation.
These challenges require citizens who can think in terms of complex systems, anticipate long-term consequences, and make responsible decisions under uncertainty. Many of these competences closely align with the goals of Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) and the sustainability competences defined in GreenComp – The European Sustainability Competence Framework. Evolution education naturally supports these competences by highlighting the importance of context, scale, and the long temporal perspectives necessary for responsible, sustainable decision-making.
This presentation explores how evolution education can contribute to the development of sustainability competences and discusses recent improvements in the teaching of evolution in the Slovenian education system. It examines how Slovenian curricula increasingly align with sustainability frameworks and how evolutionary concepts can support learners in understanding uncertainty, complexity, and preventive action in the context of global planetary change.
Read more about Prof. Torkar
Gregor Torkar, PhD, is a Full Professor of Biology Education at the University of Ljubljana, Faculty of Education, Slovenia. He is the Chairholder of the UNESCO Chair on Teacher Education for Sustainable Development at the University of Ljubljana, a member of the academic committee of the European Researchers in Didactics of Biology and of EVOKE – Evolutionary Knowledge for Everyone.
His research focuses on biology and science education, environmental education, and education for sustainable development. He has published widely on the teaching and learning of biology, particularly in the areas of evolution, biodiversity, and ecology education. His work also explores the use of digital technologies in biology education (e.g., digital identification keys and augmented reality), outdoor learning, students’ environmental knowledge and attitudes, and the quality of textbooks and visual literacy in science education.
Professor Torkar is also actively involved in the development of outdoor and sustainability education in Slovenia. He coordinates educational programmes of Center for School and Outdoor Education (CŠOD) and participates in international expert and think-tank groups related to sustainability education within UNESCO. Through research, teaching, and international collaboration, his work contributes to strengthening science literacy and sustainability competences in education.
To Mate or Not to Mate, that is (one of) the Questions
Leonor Rodrigues
Center for Ecology, Evolution and Environmental Changes & CHANGE – Global Change and Sustainability Institute, University of Lisbon
Date Presented: 6 June 2025
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In spider mites, small herbivorous arthropods, multiple mating is prevalent, but the benefits thereof are unclear, given that only one male – the first – sires all offspring of a given female. So why should they mate more than once? In an attempt to unravel this puzzling phenomenon, we exposed mites to external factors, biotic and abiotic, that compromise mite fertility and found that the pattern of sperm use is more dynamic than originally thought. In this presentation I will guide you through our main findings about this topic and then jump from the biology of these small crop pests to the importance of the agroecosystem and how we can all contribute to the sustainability of the food system.
Read more about Leonor
Leonor is an evolutionary ecologist and she is mainly interested in how agricultural systems are shaped by evolutionary forces. She has been tackling this issue from different perspectives, from the adaptive potential of herbivores to respond to multiple stressors (e.g. pesticides and high temperatures) to how interactions between organisms (e.g., plant-herbivore) are shaped by such stressors. She also keeps a line of research focused on sexual interactions, particularly exploring what are the environmental stresses that influence mating system evolution. She works with spider mites (and sometimes with fruit flies) in the laboratory, with some occasional visits to agricultural fields.
Apart from her research, she also dedicates some time to outreach activities and she is currently participating in a EU project that aims at fostering bridges between farmers, consumers and policy makers.
Biodiversity for Belonging: Five years of Multisensory Research Outreach Challenging Ableist Barriers to Evolution Literacy
Telma G. Laurentino
Evolutionary Biologist and Science Educator
Date Presented: 2 May 2025
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The under representation of people with disabilities in ecology & evolution research is deeply linked with vision-centric teaching modalities lacking multisensory alternatives. The pervasive assumption is that, overall, life sciences are “very visual” fields. Left unexplored and under-researched, such assumptions become systemic barriers.
Five years ago we created the first resource of evALLution, an outreach project dedicated to make biodiversity and evolution literacy accessible for people with blindness. A transdisciplinary team, including people with blindness, developed the multisensory tree of life, where 20 taxonomic groups and several classic examples evolution by natural selection were taught through multisensory modalities. Beyond learning evolution, participants with sensory diversities reported increased sense of belonging when learning about the biodiversity of sensory adaptations in nature.
Since then, we have applied creative approaches in different outreach contexts and produced research showing that multisensory modalities of teaching core evolution concepts not only remove ableist barriers for people with disability, but increase learning for all students.
I’ll share the guiding principles, creative processes, and key lessons—including mistakes—that reshaped our approach towards outreach that moves us from exclusion to evolution.
Read more about Telma
Link to website
Understanding and Acceptance of Evolution and Its Teachings Among Biology Teachers in an Arab Context
Haneen Al-abbadi
Science Teacher at Al-Mawred School, Amman
Date Presented: 4 April 2025
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Teachers’ knowledge and acceptance of evolution affect their evolution teaching. However, research on the relationship between teachers’ knowledge about and acceptance of evolution is ambiguous. Previous studies suggest that religiosity, gender, academic qualifications, and teaching experience may influence knowledge and acceptance. However, few studies have focused on Arab contexts.
This study examined the knowledge about and acceptance of evolution among Jordanian biology teachers (N = 346), a country rarely studied regarding evolution education. Data were collected using a questionnaire to assess knowledge, acceptance, and sociodemographic variables.
Results demonstrate a low level of knowledge about evolution for Jordanian biology teachers. Years of teaching experience were significantly associated with higher levels of knowledge. Acceptance of evolution was low. Males, postgraduates, and teachers with less than five years of experience showed higher acceptance levels. Biology teachers in Jordan demonstrate no significant correlation between their knowledge and acceptance of evolution, whereas a significant negative correlation was shown for female teachers.
The study underscores the need for curriculum reforms in Jordanian universities and schools to improve evolution teaching. Given the influence of sociocultural and religious factors on acceptance, future research should explore the role of religiosity and demographic variables in shaping attitudes toward evolution.
Read more about Haneen
Link to CV
Will Amphibians Survive Until the End of the 21st Century?
Szymon Drobniak
Associate Professor at Jagiellonian University & Adjunct Senior Lecturer at the University of New South Wales
Date Presented: 7 March 2025
Read more about the webinar
Amphibians are the most threatened vertebrates, yet their resilience to rising temperatures remains poorly understood. This is primarily because knowledge of thermal tolerance is taxonomically and geographically biased, compromising global climate vulnerability assessments. In my talk I will introduced a novel approach: a phylogenetically-informed data imputation to predict the heat tolerance of 60% of amphibian species. The method allowed me and my colleagues to assess the vulnerability of amphibians to daily temperature variation in thermal refugia. We found that 104 out of 5203 species (2%) are currently exposed to overheating events in shaded terrestrial conditions. Despite accounting for heat tolerance plasticity, a 4°C global temperature increase would create a step-change in impact severity, pushing 7.5% of species beyond their physiological limits. In the Southern Hemisphere, tropical species encounter disproportionally more overheating events, while non-tropical species are more susceptible in the Northern Hemisphere. These findings challenge evidence for a general latitudinal gradient in overheating risk and underscore the importance of considering climatic variability in vulnerability assessments. We provide conservative estimates assuming access to cool shaded microenvironments. Therefore, the impacts of global warming will likely exceed our projections. The microclimate-explicit analyses I will present demonstrate that vegetation and water bodies are critical in buffering amphibians during heat waves. Immediate action is needed to preserve and manage these microhabitat features.
Read more about Prof. Drobniak
Evolutionary biologist, graphic designer, poet. He worked at universities in Zurich, Uppsala, and the University of New South Wales in Sydney. He is currently employed at the Jagiellonian University as associate professor and UNSW in Australia as adjunct senior lecturer. His research focuses on bird evolution, organismal plasticity in response to climate change, and the biological significance of color and color vision. He is also a biostatistician, developing new method in meta-analysis and comparative studies. He is the author of several books for both adults and children, including the report Czarne lato. Australia płonie (Black Summer. Australia Burns), a children’s book Amory Zaloty Podboje – historie o rozmnażaniu zwierząt (Love Courtship Conquests – the stories on animal sex) the coming Gęsi odpoczywają na Gotlandii (Geese rest on Gotland).
Why do Evolutionary Education and Public Engagement?
Laurence D. Hurst
Professor of Evolutionary Genetics at The Milner Centre For Evolution at the University of Bath
Date Presented: 7 February 2025
Read more about the webinar
What do we hope to gain by engaging the public on the subject of evolution? Often we assume that by increasing knowledge and understanding (i.e explaining the science), acceptance comes along as a passenger. This indeed is the implicit assumption underlying most attempts by scientists to engage and once informed UK science communication policy. Historically, the question of the best means to engage the public has been focused on the issue of why some don’t accept consensus science (ie why is communication apparently failing). Classically the answer was because they didn’t understand the science, hence attempts to simply inform. However, I’ll review evidence that says that this isn’t so, in no small part because knowledge/understanding and acceptance are both weakly correlated and not obviously causally coupled in that direction, as we evidenced in the specific case of evolution. Rather, increasing evidence points to self-confidence as pivotal in determination of attitudes to science, with both strong acceptors and rejectors having strong self-confidence. Evidence points now to strong rejectors of many scientific consensus positions as being over-confident (i.e. self- belief in knowledge exceeding objective knowledge). I’ll consider further evidence for how the new understanding of attitudinal positions can inform engagement activities, including the importance of asserting the consensus to enable both greater acceptance and the opening minds to want to know more (the belief gateway model).
Read more about Prof. Hurst
Laurence D. Hurst is Professor of Evolutionary Genetics at The Milner Centre For Evolution at the University of Bath, UK, of which he was the founding Director. He is also the founding director of the Genetics and Evolution Teaching Project. This performs both large-scale survey work on attitudes to science and large-scale randomised controlled trials of evolution/genetics teaching interventions. He serves on multiple editorial boards including Genome Biology, Genome Biology and Evolution and PLoS B. He is a member of the Public Library of Science Advisory board, is on the Scientific Advisory Board of ExpressionEdits and was President of the Genetics Society. He was awarded the Darwin Prize by the British Association for Science, the Scientific Medal of the Zoological Society of London, The Genetics Society Medal and most recently the Humboldt Prize. He is an elected member of EMBO and an elected Fellow of both the Academy of Medical Sciences and of the Royal Society. His book, The Evolution of Imperfection, will be published by Princeton University Press in Spring 2025.
Promoting Understanding of Evolutionary Theory through a Science Comic
Jörg Zabel
Life Science Faculty, Institute for Biology, Leipzig University
Date Presented: 24 January 2025
Read more about the webinar
The presentation examines the potential of a science comic (SC) created to promote the understanding of evolution. The Erasmus+ project ECOSCOMICS (2021-1-FR01- KA220-SCH-000030110) unites science educators, scientists and professional artists to develop web-based SC on seven scientific topics. Each episode addresses the core concepts of the topic as well as prominent alternative conceptions, see https://www.grandiloquents.fr/en. In the field of evolution theory, abstract and counterintuitive concepts such as natural selection are particularly challenging for science teachers, as conceptual change processes depend on the learners’ prior conceptions (Vosniadou et al., 2008). Some authors underline the potential of SC that address these alternative conceptions or contrasting conflicting scientific perspectives (Özdemir & Eryılmaz, 2019). Furthermore, SC can increase learners’ engagement and motivation (Maron et al., 2019). However, we still lack empirical evidence on the effectiveness of SC, particularly in secondary education.
Therefore, J. Zabel’s workgroup in Leipzig (Germany) helped to develop the evolution episode within the ECOSCOMICS project, centred around whale evolution. Furthermore, we examined whether it could help students to understand natural selection and the associated concepts, and which teaching-and-learning arrangements are productive for embedding the SC into teaching units on evolution. The SC episode on Evolution was tested in 2023 in classroom contexts of the ECOSCOMICS partners in Germany, Portugal and Poland. In the German study, KAEVO 2.0 questionnaire (Kuschmierz et al., 2020) was used to measure the student’s understanding of biological concepts, and thereby the effectiveness of the intervention.
Our findings indicate that the studied SC episode on whale evolution has the potential to promote understanding of the evolution theory and to reduce known alternative conceptions in a motivating format. Addressing specific misconceptions appears to be one of the medium’s strengths. Our results suggest that this SC is most efficient in an autonomous teaching arrangement (Portugal), and for students with less prior knowledge (Germany).
In the webinar, we will explore the evolution episode and its specific features that are designed to foster motivation and conceptual change processes.
Read more about Prof. Zabel
Jörg Zabel is a professor in Biology Education at Leipzig University (Germany). After working as a grammar school teacher (2000-2003), he investigated the role of narrative for understanding evolution in his PhD thesis at Leibniz University Hannover. In 2011, he became a full professor in Leipzig and has been leading the Biology Education workgroup since then. His research interests are teaching and learning evolution theory, biodiversity and bioethics, conceptual metaphor, and narrative in science teaching.
Life Science Faculty
Institute for Biology
Workgroup Biology Education
Johannisallee 21-23
D-04103 Leipzig
T: +49-341-97 366 41
joerg.zabel@uni-leipzig.de
Systematics, Biogeography, and Evolution of the Herpetofauna of Madagascar
Angelica Crottini
Associate Professor in Zoology at the University of Florence
Date Presented: 6 December 2024
Read more about the webinar
Madagascar hosts an almost unparalleled concentration of diverse and endemic flora and fauna. In this talk I will present a biogeographical explanation for this observed pattern of diversity and endemism. In addition, despite having four centuries of biological explorations, undescribed diversity is still widespread and is occurring at both poorly explored and in better-studied areas. As such, the product of our field-based research resulted in the identification and description of several new species and field exploration is still playing a crucial role in new species discoveries. In parallel to species discoveries, field-based research is also contributing to compile early complete datasets for the large radiations of amphibians of reptiles that characterise this island, and the availability of timetrees for these radiation in currently contributing to uncover their pattern of species diversification. The native amphibian fauna of Madagascar is constituted by five independent radiations with 100% species-level endemism. Among these, the mantellid frogs is the most diversified family of anuran that here underwent a wide species radiation that resulted in the evolution of a plethora of morphological, ecological and reproductive traits.
Read more about Prof. Crottini
A. Crottini graduated in Biology (2004) at the University of Milano (Italy), where she also completed a PhD in Animal Biology (2008). She later obtained a postdoctoral grant to work on the evolution of Malagasy herpetofauna at the University of Braunschweig (Germany). In 2011 she moved to CIBIO (Portugal), where she secured numerous research grants that enabled her to foster her independent research career in the study of the amphibians and reptiles of Madagascar. Since 2018 she leads the Biogeography and Evolution unit at CIBIO, and from 2019 to 2024 she is an Assistant Professor at the University do Porto. From September 2024 she is Associate Professor in Zoology at the University of Florence. She is the regional Co-chair of the IUCN SSC Amphibian Specialist Group for Madagascar. Her research is organised along the following four scientific lines: 1) Taxonomy and Systematics; 2) Biogeography and evolution of Madagascar biodiversity; 3) the role of chemical communication in anuran evolution; 4) Amphibian conservation. In a nutshell, A Crottini is interested describing the biodiversity of Madagascar, understand how this has evolved, and use this knowledge to suggest conservation measures.
Living Together: Cooperation and Conflict in the Sociable Weaver
Rita Covas
Principal Researcher at CIBIO, University of Porto and Honorary Research Associate at the FitzPatrick Institute, University of Cape Town
Date Presented: 1 November 2024
Read more about the webinar
Cooperative behaviour represents an evolutionary puzzle because natural selection is thought to favour selfish individuals over co-operators, which should lead to the collapse of cooperation. Yet, cooperative behaviour is widespread in nature, from unicellular organisms to humans. To understand how cooperation evolves and persists, it’s important to understand its benefits and costs, and we have been investigating these through a long- term study of a small bird: the Sociable Weaver Philetairus socius at Benfontein Nature Reserve in South Africa. These birds are highly social and cooperate to achieve various tasks, providing an excellent model to study cooperation. Our work has shown that sociable weavers live in societies that are to some extent based on family interactions, and that kin-selection could play a role in explaining cooperative interactions in this species. However, social links and cooperative interactions also take place among non-kin. Theory and studies in humans show us that co-operators are preferred as social and sexual partners, suggesting that partner choice may therefore provide a powerful explanation for the evolution and stability of cooperation, alongside kin selection, and we are currently assessing the importance of these mechanisms. However, life in animal societies can also be rife with conflict, with consequences varying from social exclusion to extreme behaviours such as infanticide. Ultimately, our study aims to understand the factors that influence the balance between cooperation and conflict, allowing cooperation to be maintained and animal societies to persist. Here I will provide an overview of 15 years of work and the main results obtained.
Read more about Dr. Covas
Rita is a behavioural ecologist and evolutionary biologist with a strong interest in the evolution and consequences of sociality and a passion for fieldwork. She uses birds as study models and strongly believes in the importance of long-term data to address questions about evolution in the wild. Rita has been working on cooperation using the sociable weaver as a study model since her PhD (2002). After some years studying patterns of adaptation in island birds, Rita returned to South Africa in 2008 to relaunch the Sociable Weaver project, together with long-term collaborator Claire Doutrelant. The project uses these weavers to study the evolution and consequences of sociality and cooperation and the factors that influence the balance between cooperation and conflict. In 2016, Rita became also the coordinator of another study on a cooperative bird, the large and exceptionally long-lived Southern-Ground Hornbill (at the APNR, Hoedspruit, South Africa). The long-term data sets provided by both projects are also used to study how long-term population dynamics is influenced by environmental variation and how this interacts with social behaviour. In addition, Rita has maintained a keen interest in insularity and how species adapt to the island environment, especially on what concerns behavioural adaptations, and this research is currently pursued through comparative studies. Rita is a Principal Researcher at CIBIO, University of Porto (Portugal) and Honorary Research Associate at the FitzPatrick Institute, University of Cape Town (South Africa).
Assessing Kindergarten Children's Ideas About Evolution: Insights and a Tool
Isabell K. Adler
Post-doctoral Researcher at Bern University of Teacher Education
Date Presented: 4 October 2024
Read more about the webinar
The theory of evolution is the core theory of the life sciences. However, due to its counterintuitive nature, learners of all ages struggle to develop coherent knowledge about evolution. Despite researchers recommending the introduction of the topic to children at an earlier age to foster pre-scientific ideas, there is still a lack of standardized assessment tools suitable for young children. To address this, Isabell K. Adler and colleagues developed an interview-based assessment tool comprising 20 items across 10 concepts related to the evolutionary principles of variation, inheritance, and selection. In this talk, she will discuss the theoretical foundations, the development process, and the psychometric evaluation of the tool. Additionally, she will share insights into children’s ideas and the implications of my research thus far.
Read more about Dr. Adler
Isabell K. Adler graduated from Kiel University (Germany) with a degree in biology education. She then completed a PhD at the Leibniz Institute for Science and Mathematics Education in Kiel, where she investigated how kindergarten children’s first ideas about evolution can be measured and fostered. In 2023, Isabell K. Adler moved to Switzerland to work as a Postdoctoral Researcher at the Bern University of Teacher Education, focusing on how and why teachers use intuitive reasoning when explaining scientific concepts to young children.
Ancient Genomes and the Diversity of Human Cultures in Prehistory: Europe vs. Southwest Asia
Mehmet Somel
Associate Teaching Professor at Carnegie Mellon University Qatar
Date Presented: 7 June 2024
Read more about the webinar
The number of published human partial paleogenomes has passed 10,000. Although the geographic distribution of this data is highly biased towards Europe, genomes from other parts of the world are also being produced and are providing unique insights into the diversity of social dynamics in past societies. Our group has been particularly focused on generating paleogenomic data from Anatolia and the wider Southwest Asia. I will be talking about two case studies where the European picture and that from Southwest Asia appear to diverse. The first is on gender roles in the first agricultural societies. Here, the genetic evidence suggests strong patrilocal/patrilineal patterns in Europe. In Anatolia we find no such indication; rather, the data is more compatible with matrilocal/matrilineal patterns. The second involves the dynamics of cultural variation and change. The Neolithic expansion westward that started in the 7th millennium BCE and spread through Europe has been long described to be driven by demographic change; specifically, migration. However, at the very stem of this expansion, in West Anatolia, genetic admixture and cultural variation patterns do not appear correlate, suggesting that cultural change was shaped by processes largely independent of demography. Finally, I argue that paleogenomics as well as evolutionary genetic research in general that involves local biological resources should be led by local researchers to the maximum extent possible, instead of being solely led by research centers from a few rich countries. This would help reduce inequalities in research capacity and increase global scientific research output in the long run.
Read more about Prof. Somel
Mehmet Somel did a biology undergrad and a biotechnology MSc at the Middle East Technical University (METU), Ankara. He worked at the MPI for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig for his Ph.D., and as postdoctoral fellow in PICB, Shanghai, and in UC Berkeley. Since 2013 he is working as faculty member at METU Biological Sciences. His research interests include population and evolutionary genetics, including archaeogenomics and human evolution, and the biology of aging. He works as part of the CompEvo group (http://compevo.bio.metu.edu.tr/) and the METU/Hacettepe Ancient DNA Team.
Teaching Evolution in the MENA Region: Challenges and Opportunities
Mohamed Bouaouina
Associate Teaching Professor at Carnegie Mellon University Qatar
Date Presented: 5 April 2024
Read more about Prof. Bouaouina
Mohamed Bouaouina is an Associate Teaching Professor at Carnegie Mellon University Qatar (CMU-Q). Mohamed graduated with a PhD in physiology and physiopathology from Paris VI Pierre and Marie Curie University (France) in 2005. After his postdoc at Yale University, he joined the Biological Sciences program at Carnegie Mellon University Qatar as a Teaching Faculty. As a cell biologist, Mohamed carries out his research on cancer cell adhesion and migration and focuses his teaching on cell, developmental, and cancer biology. Since 2017, Mohamed developed an interest in teaching evolutionary biology to undergraduate students. He strives to bridge the divide between science and faith in a multicultural environment. He received the 2020 Wimmer Faculty Fellowship for the Development of Teaching. In 2023 he co-organized the Workshop on Evolutionary Biology in the MENA region, the first workshop on evolution in Qatar.
Why I Teach Evolution
Rana Dajani
Professor of Molecular Biology in Jordan
Date Presented: 1 March 2024
See the table below for the planned 2026 EvoKE webinar schedule.
