The Hofstra departments of biology and geology held their annual Darwin Day celebration in Monroe Lecture Center’s Fortunoff Theater on Wednesday, Feb. 12, as part of the public lecture series “Science Night Live.”
Darwin Day celebrates the birthday of Charles Robert Darwin, a naturalist best known for his study of natural selection in the Galapagos Islands and his subsequent work, “On the Origin of Species.” This day is celebrated around the world to acknowledge Darwin’s contributions to the natural sciences.
This year’s celebration focused on the group of Hofstra students that traveled to the Galapagos Islands and Ecuador this past January for 20 days with the biology and geology departments. Biology professor Lisa Filippi and geology professor Bret Bennington traveled with the students.
“Darwin seems to be someone who captures the spirit of science,” Filippi said, explaining the importance of studying Darwin in modern times.
Many people of Darwin’s time did not agree with him and therefore did not seriously consider the evidence he found, according to Filippi, who addressed the importance of listening to all ideas. “He was the first person to put [evolution] into words and push it as a concept,” she said.
“It’s fun to portray Darwin because [Darwin] left behind so much of his own words,” Bennington said while dressed as Darwin. “In addition to his books and autobiography, there are literally 40,000 letters written between Darwin and people all over Europe and the Americas that are available and have been transcribed online.”
“The first thing I said when I got home was, ‘What can I do so I can come back here?’” said Caroline Fabian, a sophomore who journeyed to the Galapagos and presented at Darwin Day. “I left the U.S. as an unhappy neuroscience major and came back a very happy soon-to-be [biology] major.”
The students were not alone in their enjoyment of the trip. Both Filippi and Bennington promoted the trip during the Darwin Day presentation.
“Every minute was packed and it was an amazing experience,” Filippi said. “It should definitely be on your bucket list. It’s not going to be as pristine as it is now. Every year that passes, it’s a little less pristine.”
“It’s the experience of a lifetime. It’s amazing,” continued Bennington. “It’s so interesting and so much fun. I don’t even know where to begin.”
The lecture ended with the audience singing “Happy Birthday” to Charles Darwin before digging into cake to finish the celebration.
