M. Draper

November 21, 2004

Topic: Darwin and Mendel were clueless: Why we shouldn't teach evolution in schools

About the speaker
Draper, a doctoral candidate at UT, is in the final throes of a dissertation in Molecular Neurogenetics. He has a degrees in biology and and "earth sciences" which encompasses a triple major of geology, geography, and environmental studies. He's a carpenter by trade, and a sailor by passion--both of which keep him in the sun and wind when not in the lab. The talk will cover molecular genetics for the lay person, and a couple stories about how science relies on notions put forth by Darwin and Mendel daily. It will finish with the recent debate over Texas textbook content and evolution.