NDSU is set to host events and activities to commemorate Darwin Days, Friday and Saturday, Feb. 17-18. Darwin Days is sponsored by the Departments of Biological Sciences and Geosciences, the College of Science and Mathematics and Cooperative Sponsorship at NDSU.

“Darwin Days events are free and open to the public. We encourage all people to attend, from children to adults,” said Julia Bowsher, assistant professor of evolutionary and developmental biology.

Planned events include:

Friday, Feb. 17

Hall of Biodiversity and Herpetology Zoo

11 a.m.-4 p.m., A. Glenn Hill Center Atrium

Movie – “Super Croc”

2-3:30 p.m., A. Glenn Hill Center

Celebrate Darwin’s birthday with cake

3:30-4 p.m., Memorial Union Butte Lounge

Keynote Address

“From Madagascar to Microscopes: Breathing Life into Dinosaurs

Kristi Curry Rogers, associate professor of geology and biology, at Macalester College, St. Paul, Minnesota

4-5 p.m., Memorial Union Century Theater

Curry Rogers is a vertebrate paleontologist who studies dinosaur evolution and paleo-biology. Her research focuses on the evolutionary history of Titanosauria, the latest surviving and highly diverse lineage of long-necked sauropod dinosaurs. Rogers earned her bachelor’s degree at Montana State University and her master’s and doctorate at Stony Brook University.

Saturday, Feb. 18

2-4 p.m., Fargo Public Library

“Mutation Is The Name, Survival Is The Game” presentation by Becky Barnes, North Dakota Geological Survey paleontologist

The library event also will feature a mini-museum where participants can compare fossils and skeletons from NDSU collections; a game of survival of the fittest; and a Charles Darwin look-alike contest for prizes.

“Dr. Rogers’ talk promises to be an engaging seminar about dinosaurs. The Saturday activities at the Fargo Public Library will be interactive and especially designed for a K-12 audience,” Bowsher said.

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