Mohamed A. F. Noor, professor of biological sciences and dean of natural sciences at Duke University, will take part in a virtual discussion of his book, Live Long and Evolve: What Star Trek Can Teach Us About Evolution, Genetics, and Life on Other Worlds, on Wednesday, May 19, at 3:10 p.m. CT as part of the Evolutionary Studies Initiative at Vanderbilt Seminar Series. The event is free and open to the public, but registration is required for the Zoom event. There will be ample time for audience members to submit questions during the discussion.
Noor is an award-winning scientist whose research involving fruit flies has advanced understanding of how and why new species form. In addition, Noor has served as the editor-in-chief of the renowned scientific journal Evolution and was awarded the Darwin-Wallace Medal from the Linnean Society of London in 2008. At Duke, he has received numerous awards for his outstanding teaching and mentoring. Off campus, he participates in scientific outreach in the community and serves as a science consultant for the Star Trek television series.
Live Long and Evolve explores how the science fiction of Star Trek can teach us about topics ranging from natural selection to the value of basic scientific research. The book has received praise from the likes of award-winning New York Times science columnist Carl Zimmer to actor Garret Wang, who portrayed Ensign Harry Kim in Star Trek: Voyager.
The discussion is being organized and will be moderated by members of the Evolution@Vanderbilt Organization for Students and Trainees. The Vanderbilt Evolutionary Studies Initiative was established in August 2019 with the aim of uniting a diverse array of scholars from a variety of disciplines with broad interests and expertise in evolution-related fields. EVOST is a community of students and trainees interested in any facet of evolutionary studies that aims to enrich individual members’ research goals and intellectual development through interdisciplinary communication and collaboration while also supporting the broader mission and activities of the Evolution@Vanderbilt Initiative.