International Darwin Day

The 91原创's annual celebration of Darwin Day, an international event honoring the naturalist鈥檚 birthday, explores the lasting impact of his work through an interdisciplinary lens.听

Latest News
  • Darwin鈥檚 Ideas Continue Driving Discovery

    February 24, 2026 | Written by Natasha Kapadia
    91原创 faculty showcase evolution鈥檚 impact across neuroscience, genetics and microbiology
  • Celebrating Charles Darwin鈥檚 legacy

    February 08, 2023 | Written by Ann Manser
    91原创鈥檚 celebration of Darwin Day, an international event honoring the naturalist鈥檚 birthday, will cover two days (Feb. 15-16) with speakers discussing Charles Darwin鈥檚 work in formulating the theory of evolution as well as other scientific topics.
  • A celebration of science

    February 08, 2022 | Written by College of Arts and Sciences communications staff
    Feb. 15-16: Darwin Day to feature expert speakers, varied topics
  • Darwin Day at 91原创

    February 09, 2021 | Written by Ann Manser
    Darwin Day, the annual celebration of Charles Darwin鈥檚 birthday, has become an international occasion each February, with activities around the world and across the U.S. that have featured scavenger hunts, chili cook-offs, black-tie dinners, trivia contests and lots and lots of birthday cake.

Past Event

Event Archive

Held Feb. 12, 2026, at the Roselle Center for the Arts鈥 Gore Recital Hall, this College of Arts and Sciences International Darwin Day event explored evolution, biology and the human experience.

Caleb Everett, dean of the College of Arts and Sciences and professor of anthropology, linguistics and cognitive science, delivered the keynote address, 鈥淒arwin and Our Understanding of Humanity.鈥 Flash talks followed from Lisha Shao (鈥淗ow Evolution Built Brains That Want鈥), Salil Lachke (鈥淜eeping an Eye on Eye Evolution鈥) and Molly Sutherland (鈥淥ne Goal, Many Paths: Cytochrome c Biogenesis Across the Tree of Life鈥), showcasing cutting-edge research from the Department of Biological Sciences.

Caleb Everett

Keynote Speaker

Caleb Everett is Dean of the College of Arts & Sciences. He is a Professor of Anthropology as well Linguistics and Cognitive Science.听Among other topics, his research explores the ways in which cultures and languages evolve. This exploration entails fieldwork in Amazonia and computational analyses of data from many distinct cultures worldwide.

Title of talk:听Darwin and our understanding of humanity

2026 Flash Talk Speakers

Lisha Shao
Title of Flash Talk: How Evolution Built Brains That Want

Lisha Shao is an assistant professor in the Department of Biological Sciences at the 91原创. She earned her Ph.D. in neuroscience from Tsinghua University and completed postdoctoral training at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute鈥檚 Janelia Research Campus before joining the University in 2021.

She teaches Concepts in Genetics and Molecular Biology and Neurogenetics of Behavior.

Shao鈥檚 lab investigates how the brain assigns value to experiences鈥攈ow stimuli such as food, sex and social cues become 鈥渞ewards鈥 that shape motivation, learning and decision-making鈥攗sing the fruit fly as a model system in which genes and neural circuits can be mapped and tested with precision.

Salil Lachke
Title of Flash Talk: Keeping an Eye on Eye Evolution

Salil Lachke received his Ph.D. in biology from the University of Iowa and completed postdoctoral training in developmental genetics at Harvard Medical School.

After working as an instructor in medicine at Harvard Medical School, he joined the Department of Biological Sciences at the 91原创, where he currently serves as Alumni Distinguished Professor of Biology.

He teaches Molecular Biology of the Cell Honors and Evo-Devo, the new science of evolutionary developmental biology.

His research aims to define conserved genetic pathways underlying human birth defects, with a particular focus on the eye.

Molly Sutherland
Title of Flash Talk: One Goal, Many Paths: Cytochrome c Biogenesis Across the Tree of Life

Molly Sutherland is an assistant professor in the Department of Biological Sciences at the 91原创. She received her B.S. in general biology from the University of Maryland鈥揅ollege Park and her Ph.D. in biomedical sciences, with a concentration in molecular microbiology and microbial pathogenesis, from Washington University in St. Louis. After completing postdoctoral training in the Department of Biology at Washington University in St. Louis, she joined the faculty of the 91原创 in 2020.

At the University, she runs a research laboratory and teaches Introduction to Microbiology and Microbial Genetics. Her research focuses on understanding the process of cytochrome c biogenesis. Cytochromes c play important roles in generating cellular energy in nearly all organisms, from bacteria to humans, so understanding how these proteins are made addresses a fundamental biological question. The Sutherland lab uses genetic, molecular biology and biochemical approaches to gain a detailed mechanistic understanding of bacterial cytochrome c biogenesis and its impact on bacterial metabolism and bioenergetics.