INTERNATIONAL STUDENT SUMMITDARWIN AND EVOLUTIONARY SCIENCEPROGRAMME

29 JUNE–3 JULY 2009

www.britishcouncil.org/darwinwww.nhm.ac.uk

This programme has been printed onrecycled paper using carbon free

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issues and the future of species on our fragile planet. In this year’s summit, youcan contribute to discussions and take inspiration from Darwin’s own life.

The British Council has brought 65 international students to London to join 60 UKregional delegates and 70 students from London to discuss Darwin andevolutionary science. Over the next three days you will hear and challengeacademics in discussion about the background, impact and future of evolutionaryscience. Each day will end with ‘Question time’ where you can delve deeper byinterrogating the panel of experts who have spoken earlier in the day.

We hope you enjoy the Summit, take inspiration from Darwin’s own life andexperience and enjoy making new friends and encountering new ideas.

Fern Elsdon-Baker Bob Bloomfield

Head of Darwin Now, (BC) Head of Innovation (NHM)

Helen Mould Jane Mainwaring

Project Manager (BC) Student Summit Co-ordinator (NHM)

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Welcome

Welcome to the 4th International Student Summit on behalf of the British Counciland the Natural History Museum.

This year, the bicentenary of Charles Darwin’s birth and the 150th anniversary of the publication of ‘On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection’, weexplore the legacy of the co-founder of evolutionary biology. While Darwin’scontributions to science are immense, and the impact of his ideas in society arepowerful and controversial, there was little in the young Darwin to suggest what his career would bring.

Charles Darwin was the son of a prosperous country doctor in Shrewsbury, in thelargely rural English county of Shropshire. As a boy he loved the countryside andits creatures but had trouble deciding on a career. He abandoned medical schoolin Edinburgh, and was sent to Cambridge University to prepare for life as a vicar. Atuniversity Darwin met some of the most brilliant naturalists of the day. In Edinburghhe studied invertebrates with the renowned Professor Grant and at Cambridge, thebotanist Professor Henslow and geologist Adam Sedgwick recognised his potential.

In 1831 Darwin acquired a berth on the naval survey vessel HMS Beagle for a worldvoyage. During the five-year journey Darwin kept a scientific field journal, coveringbiology, geology and anthropology, with detailed notes and observations on theindigenous animals, plants, birds and insects of the places he visited – Brazil, Chile,Peru and the Galapagos Archipelago, Tahiti, New Zealand and Australia amongothers. Since it was first published, his account of his journey on the Beagle hasnever been out of print. Darwin studied, experimented and observed plants andanimals for the rest of his life. In 1859, he published ‘On the Origin of Species byMeans of Natural Selection’, which was to shake our understanding of the origin of all life on earth.

Darwin’s insight was that species adapt to their environments over time and thathumans are, therefore, descended from earlier species. Today, the teaching ofmodern biology and many aspects of contemporary medicine are founded uponhis theory of evolution. His ideas have had a wide-reaching influence on a range of other academics, including historians, theologians, novelists, psychologists,philosophers and sociologists. Indeed, many of the questions Darwin raised acentury and a half ago are just as likely to be discussed and debated today as theywere in his lifetime.

Today our concerns are not just about life on earth and its origins, we are aware ofissues such as climate change, pandemic disease, alien species invasions andbiodiversity loss. Understanding evolutionary mechanisms lies behind all of these

ProgrammeMonday 29 June

Arrivals

1430 Registration open

Enter the Natural History Museum by Cromwell Road,Life Galleries entrance. Make your way to the Mary AnningGallery, to the right of the central hall.

1500 Snacks and light refreshments available

1530 Ice breaker activities

Please use this opportunity to introduce yourself and get toknow the other students.

1630 Tours of the Museum

This year we are trying to show you more of the work at theMuseum by taking as many of you as possible behind thescenes. Please check the tour lists for your name and notedown the number of the tour you are on. Each day we will try to take groups behind the scenes or to give you time to lookaround our exhibition galleries.

1750 Museum closes for the day

1900 Dinner Imperial College LondonSenior Common Dining Room

2030 End or Free time

Tuesday 30 June

1000 Make your way to

Earth Galleries entranceNatural History MuseumExhibition RoadLondon SW7 5DB

Remember to bring your Summit name badge and water bottle

Refreshments will be available in Flett Lobby

1030 Introduction to the Nature Live Team and the Quizdom handsets

1055 Welcome to the NHM and the Summit by

Lord Neil Kinnock of Bedwellty

1100 Key Note 1

Darwin was right – an overview of the importance of

genetics in the modern world

Professor Steve Jones, University College London

1150 Stretch Break

1200 Biology before Darwin

Dr Sandy Knapp, Botany Dept, Natural History Museum

1230 The fossil evidence for evolution

Dr Adrian Lister, Palaeontology Dept, Natural History Museum

1300 Lunch

1400 Code of the wild: can DNA change the world . . . again?

Dr Karen James, Dept of Botany, Natural History Museum

1430 From Wool to Genes and back again: the curious case of

the alpaca

Dr Mike Bruford, School of Biosciences, Cardiff University

1500 Stretch break

1510 Question Time

Your opportunity to ask the panel any questions relating to the day’s talksChair: Quentin Cooper and panel speakers

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Wednesday 1 July

0920 Make your way to

Cromwell Road entranceNatural History Museum

Remember your badge and water bottle.

0930 Group Photo

We will take photographs of all the participants attending theSummit. Please make every effort to arrive on time. Rememberto wear your name badge to gain entry to the museum.

1000 Museum Opens

Enter by the Earth Galleries, on Exhibition Road

Refreshments will be available in Flett Lobby

1030 Review of the previous day

Nature Live team

1050 Key Note 2

Ideas on human evolution since Darwin

Professor Chris Stringer, Palaeontology Dept, Natural History Museum

1135 Stretch Break

1145 New approaches to human origins, Evolution and diversity

Dr Marta Mirazon Lahr, Duckworth Laboratory, University of Cambridge

1215 Evolution and human behaviour: Thinking in terms of the

four ‘whys’

Dr Daniel Nettle, Centre for Behaviour & Evolution, Newcastle University

1245 Lunch

1345 Darwin’s way of thinking

Professor Mike Depledge, Environment and Human Health,Peninsula Medical School

1610 Refreshments and tours

Please check the tour lists with your BC support team co-ordinator or teacher. During the Summit each delegate willundertake at least one behind the scenes tour. The Museumgalleries are open for you to explore yourselves.

1750 Museum closes for the day

1815 Butterfly House and Barbeque in the Natural History

Museum garden

Please enter the garden via the gate at the corner of ExhibitionRoad and Cromwell Road. Your summit badge is your ticket – so don't forget to wear it.

We have been invited to visit the Butterfly House - but not all at once, we will have to divide into groups of twenty or soentering every 10 minutes. This may also work for the BBQ, sothat we are not all queueing for food at the same time. TheButterfly House will close at 2030 and our BBQ must finish by 2100.

In case of bad weather we will be able to enjoy a privateviewing of the Earth Galleries, and will eat in the MuseumGallery restaurant (fingers crossed it’s fine)

2100 End or Free time

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Thursday 2 July

1000 Make your way to

The Earth Galleries entrance on exhibition Road. Remember you badge and water bottleRefreshments will be available in Flett Lobby

1030 Review of the previous day

Nature Live team

1050 Our place in the world

Dr Oliver Curry, Institute of Cognitive and EvolutionaryAnthropology, University of Oxford

1120 Stretch Break

1130 The implications for ethics and politics

Professor Janet Radcliff Richards, Practical Philosophy,University of Oxford

1200 From Darwin to Churchill: Evolution and the psychology

of leadership and fellowship

Professor Mark Van Vugt, Social and Organisational Psychology,University of Kent

1230 Lunch

1330 Key Note 3

Why sex differences matter: An evolutionary perspective

Helena Cronin, London School of Economics

1415 Stretch Break

1420 Question Time

Your opportunity to ask the panel any questions relating to the day’s talksChair: Dr Richard Webb and panel speakers

1520 Closing comments

Dr Bob Bloomfield, Head of Innovation, Natural History Museum

1530 Final tea and talk

1600 End of the 2009 International Student Summit

1750 Summit ends – most UK students depart

1415 Chance and design in evolution?

Professor Richard Fortey, Dept Palaeontology, Natural History Museum

1445 Stretch Break

1450 Question Time

Your opportunity to ask the panel any questions relating tothe day’s talksChair: Professor Robert Foley and panel speakers

1550 Refreshments and tours

Please check the tour lists with your BC support team co-ordinator or teacher. During the Summit each delegate willundertake at least one behind the scenes tour. The Museumgalleries are open for you to explore yourselves.

1755 Museum closes for the day

Please make your way back to Southside Halls

1900 Barbeque at Imperial College London

Queens Lawn Terrace

2000 Students will have the opportunity to perform a song, dance, or activity about their country or culture.

2200 End

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Friday 3 July

0800 Please check out of Southside Halls and store your belongingsin the reception space provided

0830 Breakfast

0900 Departures

The British Council and the Natural History Museum would like to thank

everyone whose help and co-operation have made this programme possible

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Programme for British Council Students only

1630 Depart Southside Halls on coaches to Oxford Street

1700–1930 Shopping in Oxford Street

1945 Dinner at

Whole Foods MarketThe Barkers Building63-78 Kensington High StreetLondon W8 5SE

Established in 1980, the Whole Foods market is situated in oneof London’s most iconic Art Deco buildings. The flagship storehas three floors of culinary delight comprising of a provisionhall, market hall and different types of eateries and is a greatplace to experience what Whole Foods is about.

2100 Depart Whole Foods Market on coaches for an eveningsightseeing tour of London

2230 End

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on "The Language of the Genes" and has written and presented a Radio 3 serieson science and the arts, "Blue Skies", and a TV series on human genetics, "In theBlood". He also appears on other radio and TV programmes, such as Today,Question Time, Late Review and Newsnight, and writes a regular column in TheDaily Telegraph, "View from the Lab". His books include Genetics for Beginners, TheLanguage of the Genes, In The Blood, Almost like a Whale: The Origin of SpeciesUpdated and Y: the Descent of Men.

Dr Sandy Knapp

Sandra Knapp obtained her Bachelor of Arts degree in Botany from PomonaCollege, in Claremont, California and her PhD in 1986 from Cornell University,Ithaca, New York. She is a specialist on the taxonomy of the nightshade family,Solanaceae, and has spent much time in the field in Central and South Americacollecting plants. She came to the Natural History Museum, London, in 1992 tomanage the international project Flora Mesoamericana -a synoptic inventory of theapproximately 18,000 species of plants of the isthmus of Central America. She isalso the author of several popular books on the history of science and botanicalexploration, including the award-winning Potted Histories (2004). She is the authorof more than 100 peer-reviewed scientific papers and actively involved inpromoting the role of taxonomy worldwide. Her current projects include thePlanetary Biodiversity Inventory project Solanum, collaborative research in thegenomic evolution of Nicotiana, Flora Mesoamericana and biodiversity projects in the Neotropics.

Outline of ‘Biology before Darwin’

Modern biology is often thought of as beginning with Charles Darwin's articulationof evolution by natural selection in his great book, On the Origin of Species.Biology and even evolutionary thought did exist before 1859; natural history was apopular subject and was full of incident and controversy even before the mid 19thcentury. The cultural soup in which Darwin and his contemporaries worked wasinformed by those natural historians who had gone before them. Sandy will look atevolution and the origin of species from the perspective of some of these men -among them Darwin's own grandfather, Erasmus Darwin and the great Frenchbotanist Jean-Baptiste de Monet, Chevalier de Lamarck. She will also explore howthe discoveries of Gregor Mendel, a contemporary of Charles Darwin's whose ideasabout how heredity worked were not known to Darwin, combined with the powerfulnarrative coming from natural history to create the fundamental basis of thebiology we study

SpeakersTuesday 30 June

Lord Neil Kinnock of Bedwellty

Neil Kinnock was elected to the House of Commons as MP for Bedwellty (laterIslywn) in 1970. He was elected to the Labour Party National Executive in 1978 and appointed Chief Education Spokesman of the Labour Party in 1979. In 1983 he was elected Labour Party Leader and leader of HM Opposition. During his timeat the head of the Labour Party he extensively modernised and reformed theorganisation, constitution and policies of the party. He stepped down from theParty leadership in 1992 and three years later was appointed to the EuropeanCommission. He was European Commissioner for Transport from 1995 to 1999and, from 1999 to 2004, Vice-President of the Commission. He was made amember of the House of Lords in 2005 as Lord Kinnock of Bedwellty. He has beenPresident of Cardiff University since 1998 and Chair of the British Council, sinceDecember 2004.

Lord Kinnock is a Patron of Femmes d’Europe, Patron, National Museums of WalesTrustee, Institute for Public Policy Research, President, Sportsaid Wales, HonPresident, Labour Finance & Industry Group and Non-executive Director, DRS Data& Research Services.

Professor Steve Jones

Steve Jones was born in Aberystwyth, Wales, and has degrees from the Universityof Edinburgh and University of Chicago. Much of his academic research has beenconcerned with snails and the light their anatomy can shed on biodiversity andgenetics. He is professor of genetics at Galton laboratory of University CollegeLondon, and has had visiting posts at Harvard University, the University of Chicago,the University of California at Davis, University of Botswana, Fourah Bay College inSierra Leone, and Flinders University in Adelaide.

Steve Jones is probably best known to the general public as a regular broadcasterand writer of popular books on scientific issues. He gave the 1991 Reith Lectures

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Dr Adrian Lister

Adrian is currently a Research Leader in the Department of Palaeontology, NaturalHistory Museum. He is also an Honorary Professor at University College London,where he was until recently Professor of Palaeobiology. Adrian’s special interestsare in the evolution of mammals during the ice ages – with special reference tolarge mammals such as mammoths and deer. He is acknowledged as a leadingauthority on the woolly mammoth – his book Mammoths (Marshall Editions, withPaul Bahn) has sold over 50,000 copies in five languages and is now in its thirdedition. Other research interests include the analysis of DNA from fossils and thecauses of extinction of large mammals at the end of the ice age. Adrian trained inCambridge as a zoologist, and his interest in living mammals continues as a furtherstrand to his research. He is a trustee of the Scientific Exploration Society and hasled expeditions to study living elephants in Nepal, India and West Africa, with a tripto Borneo in 2008. He is on the specialist panels of IUCN (the World ConservationUnion) for both Asian elephants and deer.

Outline of ‘The fossil evidence for evolution’

When Darwin published the Origin of Species in 1859, there was scarcely any fossil evidence for evolution. The ensuing 150 years has seen the accumulation of a huge quantity of fossils demonstrating the evolutionary process. These include an impressive array of fossil hominids illustrating the evolution of our own species, as well as key stages in major evolutionary transitions such as theorigin of land vertebrates and the origin of birds. Very detailed fossil sequencesalso demonstrate the origin of individual species and their adaptation to theirenvironment. This will be illustrated with examples of marine fossils from deep-seacores, and of the speaker’s own work on the evolution of the woolly mammoth.

Dr Karen James

Karen James received her PhD in Genome Sciences from the University ofWashington, Seattle, USA in 2002 and is now a postdoctoral research assistant inthe Department of Botany at the Natural History Museum, London. Her researchinterests include developing a procedure for DNA-based identification of plantspecies using the British flora as a model system, and innovative applications of

genomic methods to systematics and evolutionary biology. Karen is currently on ahalf-time secondment from research to coordinate science projects for Darwin200,a museum-wide campaign and wider consortium aiming to celebrate the work ofCharles Darwin and his legacy during the period of 2008-9.

Outline of ‘Code of the wild: can DNA change the world ...again?’

Less than fifty years after humans deciphered the structure of DNA, the humangenome itself had been fully sequenced. However, these last fifty years have alsoseen progress of a different sort: the human population has more than doubledand global economic activity quadrupled. The extent to which these increaseshave impacted the natural environment is truly staggering: since 1950, over 3billion hectares of forest cover – roughly the area of Canada, China and the UnitedStates combined – has been destroyed, and we estimate that 600,000 specieshave vanished. Scientists at the Natural History Museum and over 100 otherorganisations around the world hope that a new DNA-based species identificationsystem called “DNA barcoding” can help to monitor – and therefore protect – themost vulnerable and biodiverse areas on earth.

Dr Mike Bruford

Mike did his PhD at the University of Leicester on the development of DNAfingerprinting techniques in birds and genome mapping in chickens usingminisatellite DNA markers. Between 1990 and 1999, he worked at the Institute of Zoology - the scientific arm of the Zoological Society of London, developinggenetic methods for endangered species. He joined Cardiff University in 1999, and is currently a Research Group Leader in the School of Biosciences in Cardiff.He has continued to develop ways to use genetics in endangered speciesrecovery, especially for rare and elusive mammals. Mike has worked incollaboration with partners in Peru for the last twelve years, focusing on theconservation and management of Peru's South American camelids.

Outline of ‘From Wool to Genes and Back Again: the curious case

of the alpaca . . . ’

Understanding how animals were domesticated can tell us a great deal abouthuman history and society. South America is an extremely important region in thehistory of plant and animal domestication. Many items we now take for granted,such as cotton, potatoes, chocolate, chillies, corn, guinea pigs, llamas and alpacas,were domestication in south and Central America by native Americans thousandsof years ago. Alpacas are now an important part of the economy of the Andeanhighlands - providing income to impoverished communities of farmers

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SpeakersWednesday 1 July

Professor Chris Stringer

Chris is merit researcher in the Palaeontology department at the Natural HistoryMuseum, London. He has worked at the Natural History Museum since 1973. He is Research Leader in human origins and a Fellow of the Royal Society. His earlyresearch concentrated on the relationship of Neanderthals and early modernhumans in Europe, but through his work on the Out of Africa theory of modernhuman origins, he now collaborates with archaeologists, dating specialists andgeneticists in attempting to reconstruct the global evolution of modern humans.He has excavated at sites in Britain, Gibraltar, Morocco and Turkey.

Outline of keynote ‘Ideas on Human Evolution since Darwin’

When Charles Darwin published On the Origin of Species in 1859, there was verylittle fossil evidence of human evolution, and the situation had not improved muchwhen he published The Descent of Man in 1871. However, since then, andespecially since 1924, evidence for a deep human evolutionary history has growndramatically. We can now recognise three main phases of human evolution, the firsttwo of which only occurred in Africa, our evolutionary homeland. An early phasefrom about 7 – 4 million years ago represents a period close to the evolutionarysplit from a common ancestor shared with the chimpanzees. The record is stillrelatively poor, and although the creatures concerned apparently walked upright,they were still ape-like. The next phase, the australopithecines ("southern apes"), isrepresented by a diversity of fossils and species spread from South to North-EastAfrica, dating between about 4 and 2 million years ago. These creatures werecertainly bipeds, but were still small-brained, and probably still largely ape-like intheir biology and behaviour. The last phase, the human stage, was characterised by the evolution of a human body shape and an increasing brain size, dietaryrange, behavioural complexity, and an increasingly global spread. The humanphase has lasted from about 2 million years ago until the present.

(campesinos) through wool production. However, problems with the quality ofthe wool mean that income is not as high as it could be, and understanding how

alpacas were domesticated has proved to be a key step in addressing thisproblem. Mike will talk about the use of DNA profiling to study purity and fibrequality in alpacas and how DNA techniques and understanding the evolution ofalpacas may allow sustainable production of alpaca wool in Peru and other Andeancountries in the future.

Quentin Cooper

Question Time Chair

Quentin studied psychology and artificial intelligence at Edinburgh University. He then joined the BBC and is now a well-known broadcaster, presenting the UK’s most listened to science programme, The Material World, every week on BBC Radio 4.

Besides broadcasting, Quentin regularly fronts popular science events, from publicdebates to specialised workshops. His work takes him to organisations as varied asthe British Association for the Advancement of Science and Croydon Council. He’swritten science and technology articles for the Guardian, Radio Times, the Mail onSunday, the Sunday Times and various magazines. He was part of the September2004 Cape Farewell journey to the Arctic.

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to understand behaviour. It seems less obvious that behaviour could be anadaptation than is the case for an anatomical or physical trait, but evolutionarytheory applies just as well. I will introduce the framework known as Tinbergen’sfour ‘whys’ (function, mechanism, development, evolutionary history) as a way ofthinking about the behaviour of animals including humans. He will illustrate withexamples from his own work on the timing of reproduction in humans. Daniel wouldlike to stress that looking at human behaviour in an evolutionary way does notimply that human behaviour is genetically determined or cannot be changed.Instead, evolution provides a way of putting all the different components of anexplanation together.

Professor Michael H. Depledge

Michael Depledge holds the Chair of Environment and Human Health at thePeninsula Medical School, Devon, UK. He is a Commissioner of the RoyalCommission on Environmental Pollution, a board member of Natural England and Chairman of the Science Advisory Group of DG-Research in the European Commission.

Michael is a biologist. His did his PhD in the toxicology of marine organisms. Hethen moved into medical research looking at the causes of lung damage inseverely ill cancer patients receiving bone marrow transplants at the RoyalMarsden Hospital. In 1982 he became Lecturer in Physiology at the University ofHong Kong and in 1987 was appointed to the first Chair of Ecotoxicology in Europeat Odense University, Denmark. In 1994 he returned to the UK as the foundingDirector of the Plymouth Environmental Research Centre. Michael was invited tobecome the Chief Scientific Advisor of the UK Government’s Environment Agencyin Sept, 2002. He has published more than 350 peer-reviewed scientific papers inleading international journals and books and was awarded a Doctor of Science(DSc) degree by the University of London (1996). Since 1990 Michael has been anexpert advisor to the United Nations Environment Programme and to the WorldHealth Organisation. He was Honorary Visiting Professor at the School of PublicHealth, Harvard University, USA (1998 to 2004), and is a former Keeley VisitingFellow at Wadham College, Oxford University.

Outline of ‘Darwin’s way of thinking’

Charles Darwin’s way of thinking led him to one of the greatest ideas of all time –the theory of evolution by natural selection. In this talk, the reasons that underliehow we come to believe things will be examined with examples from contemporaryscience and religion. The role of evidence will be considered, both in relation to the

Dr Marta Mirazon Lahr

Marta Mirazon Lahr is Reader in Human Evolutionary Biology and Director of theDuckworth Laboratory at the University of Cambridge. She is also a Fellow of ClareCollege and was a co-founder of the Leverhulme Centre for Human EvolutionaryStudies in Cambridge. Her research principally has been concerned with theevolution and diversity of modern humans, Homo sapiens. This research hasinvolved a range of disciplines, including human palaeontology, evolutionarygenetics, linguistics and archaeology. She currently has field projects in Libya, India and Kenya. Among her publications is ‘The Evolution of Human Diversity’.

Outline of ‘New approaches to human origins, evolution and diversity’

Since Darwin published the origin of species scientists have looked for ways oftackling the evolution of humans. For most of the last century, comparativeanatomy fossils and archaeology have been the main sources of information about the two key evolutionary human questions – namely what Huxley called‘Man’s place in Nature’, and how did humans evolve in all their diversity. In recentyears genetics, linguistics and other disciplines have come to throw light on boththese questions. In this talk, Marta will consider these new approaches and whatthey have to say about human origins, evolution and diversity.

Dr Daniel Nettle

Daniel Nettle is an evolutionary biologist largely because his previous career as a professional actor did not make him enough money. This statement is not quitetrue, but it is near enough to the truth to be worth repeating. He has made thewrong decisions at almost every point in his life, including studying the wrongsubjects at school, turning down dream jobs, and changing research interests justwhen he was getting somewhere. Yet despite this, he enjoys himself and hasmanaged somehow to make a living. One of the few correct ideas he has evermanaged to stick to is the idea that Darwin’s theory of natural selection is a veryimportant tool for trying to understand human behaviour.

Outline of ‘Evolution and human behaviour: Thinking in terms of the

four ‘whys’

In this talk, Daniel will introduce the ways we can use Darwin’s theory of evolution

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Professor Robert Foley

Question time Chair

Robert Foley is the Leverhulme Research Professor of Human Evolution at theUniversity of Cambridge, a Fellow of King's College Cambridge, and a Fellow of theBritish Academy. Apart from a period at the University of Durham, he studied andhas taught at Cambridge. His research has focused on human evolutionaryecology, and has ranged from the early hominids of Africa to recent hunter-gatherers. Much of this work has been concerned with developing and applyinggeneral evolutionary theory to understand human behaviour and adaptation, aswell as our evolutionary history. Among his publications are Another UniqueSpecies (Longman, 1987), Humans before Humanity (Blackwells, 1995), and thePrinciples of Human Evolution (with R.Lewin, Blackwells, 2003).

way we live and to how our country is governed. The limitations of evidence will beexplored with reference to climate change, threats from environmental pollutionand with regard to human demographic change. The potential of Darwin’s way ofthinking to tackle the problems that humans face in the future will be comparedand contrasted with what religions can offer.

Professor Richard Fortey

Richard Fortey FRS was until recently senior palaeontologist at the Natural HistoryMuseum and is Visiting Professor of Palaeobiology at Oxford. He has been CollierProfessor in the Public Understanding of Science and Technology at BristolUniversity. He is the author of 200 research papers and 6 popular books, of which Life: an unauthorised biography (1997) is possibly the best known. He wasawarded the Michael Faraday medal of the Royal Society for furthering the publicengagement with science in 2007, and has received the Lyell Medal of theGeological Society of London, the Linnean Medal for Zoology of the LinneanSociety of London and the Frink Medal of the Zoological Society. He is currentlypresident of the Geological Society inits Bicentenary year. He lives in Henley-on-Thames, from which base he can study mycology in the Chiltern Hills.

Outline of ‘Chance or design in evolution?’

Natural selection works by the survival and prospering of genes that have anadvantage in ensuring reproductive success of the organism. In some cases thefossil record can reveal details of the transition from one major form to another -as in the conquest of land by the tetrapods. The major breakthroughs in evolutionsee the opening up of new habitats like this with the concomitant opportunities forco-evolution. The fossil record is also full of examples of the 'emergent properties'of evolution such as the repeated appearance of reef-like habitats. However, life'shistory has also been influenced by external events. Geography has changedrepeatedly because of plate tectonics and life has had to adapt or go extinct inresponse to this. Mass extinction events were not predictable, and organisms thatsurvived may have been no more 'virtuous' than those that perished. The currentbiota is a reflection of this complex interplay between natural selection andhistorical process through billions of years.

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Outline of ‘The implications for ethics and politics’

Many people who accept that human bodies must be understood in terms ofevolution by natural selection are unwilling to accept that the same is true of ourminds and emotions. Part of this resistance stems from the idea that if evolutionarypsychologists are right in their claims about human nature, there are sinisterimplications for politics and society. There certainly are implications – we mustunderstand human nature if we are to improve our social arrangements – but manypeople make mistakes in interpreting the new claims about human nature becausethey have still not fully understood the radical nature of the Darwinian revolution,and are interpreting the Darwinian claims according to pre-Darwinian conceptionsof nature. Janet shall illustrate this by discussing the hostility of some feminists toevidence about evolved sex differences in human beings.

Professor Mark van Vugt

Mark van Vugt is Professor of Social and Organisational Psychology at theUniversity of Kent (UK) and at the VU University (Amsterdam). His researchprogramme focuses on key aspects of group processes such as leader-followerdynamics, altruism and cooperation, and intergroup relations. His research ischaracterized by integrative theorizing and rigorous experimental methodology,combining insights from social psychology with evolutionary psychology andbiology. He is an internationally recognized scholar with an excellent publicationand grant track record. His research has appeared in all the major journals inPsychology. He is associate editor of the prestigious Journal of Personality andSocial Psychology. In addition, he has written several books, including a studentcourse book on Applying Social Psychology (Sage, 2008) and a book oncooperation (Routledge, 2000). He is currently writing a popular science book onleadership, titled "Homo Electus" (Profile, 2010). He is a fellow of the BritishAcademy interdisciplinary research project “From Lucy to Language” and memberof the Netherlands Institute for the Advancement of Sciences. His work regularlyappears in the popular media. He lives in Canterbury with his partner and son andis a keen football player.

Outline of ‘From Darwin to Churchill: Evolution and the Psychology of

Leadership and Followership’

In this talk, Mark will analyze the topic of leadership from an evolutionaryperspective, and propose five conclusions that are not yet part of the mainstreamleadership literature. First, leading and following are evolved strategies for solvingsocial coordination challenges that were prominent in ancestral humanenvironments, most notably pertaining to group movement, teaching,

SpeakersThursday 2 July

Dr Oliver Curry

Oliver Curry is a post-doctoral researcher at the Institute of Cognitive andEvolutionary Anthropology at the University of Oxford. He is also a ResearchAssociate in the Centre for Philosophy of Natural and Social Science, at the LondonSchool of Economics. Oliver originally wanted to be a forensic scientist; but hiscareers officer told him that he wouldn't be able to because he was colour-blind,and suggested that he become a travel agent instead. Undeterred, he went to LSEto study politics, where he found that the emerging evolutionary sciences ofhuman nature provided the perfect framework in which to make sense of thebehaviour of 'political animals' like us.

Outline of ‘Our place in the world’

Darwin's theory of evolution by natural selection provides a scientific explanationfor the design of living things, including human bodies and brains. In this talkDaniel will: review Darwin's theory; locate humanity in the great 'tree of life'; explainhow evolution could give rise to intelligent creatures with brains; and show hownatural selection is being used to shed light on human nature, using examples from contemporary evolutionary psychology.

Professor Janet Radcliffe Richards

Janet Radcliffe Richards is Professor of Practical Philosophy at the University ofOxford and Distinguished Research Fellow at the Oxford Uehiro Centre for PracticalEthics. She originally worked on metaphysics and philosophy of science, but formany years now has concentrated on the practical applications of philosophy, withbooks on topics such as feminism (The Sceptical Feminist, 1980), discriminationand inequality (Philosophical Problems of Equality, 1996) and the implications ofDarwinian theory (Human Nature after Darwin, 2000). She is currently writing abook for Oxford University Press on controversies about organ transplantation, butafter that will return to further work on the relevance for moral and political theoryof an evolutionary understanding of human nature.

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Dr Richard Webb

Question time Chair

Richard Webb is an innovation consultant with a special interest in evolution, and is a Research Associate at the London School of Economics. He read zoology atOxford, where Richard Dawkins was his tutor, before studying mosquitoes at theLondon School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine for his PhD. He worked for a whilein industry on the control of tropical insect-borne diseases such as malaria. He sawthat as an arms race against the insects: human ingenuity swiftly countered by theevolution of resistance in the pests. He now works with various organisations ontheir innovation programmes, to help them gain some of the power of Darwinianevolution for themselves.

peacekeeping, and intergroup relations. Second, leadership has been shaped by selection pressures emerging from five distinct evolutionary stages withimplications for the scale and social complexity of leadership: (1) simple leader-follower patterns in social animals for group travel; (2) dominance hierarchies inprimates for resource access; (3) egalitarianism in early humans as a basis forcollective decision-making; (4) tribalism and war lordism in agricultural societies inresponse to warfare and inter-group conflict; and (5) modern bureaucraticleadership arrangements in nations and businesses. Third, the move from small-scale to large-scale leadership was made possible by a substantial increase insocial brain capacity, underpinned by cognitive mechanisms such as theory ofmind, empathy, language, and fairness, which made it possible for leaders toattract thousands and millions of dedicated followers with minimum loss ofcoordination. Fourth, the relationship between leaders and followers is inherentlyunstable because there is always the temptation among leaders to exploitfollowers. Fifth, many modern organizational structures are inconsistent with ourevolved leadership psychology, which might explain the alienation and frustrationof many citizens and employees.

Helena Cronin

Helena Cronin is at the London School of Economics, where she works onevolutionary theory, and launched and runs Darwin@LSE. However, she started inphilosophy (undergraduate, Masters and doctorate). Indeed, it was philosophers'criticisms of Darwinism that roused her initial interest in the science – not becauseshe thought that the philosophers were right but because she concluded that theywere profoundly wrong. Therefore, she decamped from the philosophy of scienceto the science itself. The immediate result was her best-selling book The Ant andthe Peacock, which was chosen as one of The New York Times' nine best books ofthe year (1992). She is now working on an evolutionary understanding of our ownspecies, in particular the light that it can shed on sex differences

Outline of keynote ‘Why sex differences matter: An evolutionary perspective’

Why, in science, are men in physics, women in psychology; and, in medicine, menin surgery, women in paediatrics? Why do boys prefer cars, girls prefer dolls? Whydo men use maps, women use landmarks? Why are most fatal car crashescommitted by men, most parking scrapes by women? And why are all such sexdifferences universal, cross-culturally and historically? A Darwinian understandingof human nature sheds light on such questions. And the answers will help us totackle the social problems of today. For, to achieve equity for men and women, a Darwinian perspective is indispensable.

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The Natural History Museum

The Natural History Museum promotes the discovery, understanding, enjoymentand responsible use of the natural world. The Natural History Museum is a world-class resource for learners. It aims to help people enjoy the natural worldand develop their scientific knowledge and understand the impact of science ontheir lives.

www.nhm.ac.uk

The Natural History Museum Darwin and Evolutionary

Science International Student Summit team

Dr Bob Bloomfield is Head of Innovation and Special Projects at the Natural HistoryMuseum. Bob completed his PhD in genetics before his career in Science andPublic Engagement. He joined the museum to pursue his interest in informallearning and interpretative design. This has culminated over the past decade inleading major science communication projects including the redevelopment of themuseum’s Earth Galleries and the Darwin Centre. The latter project led to a majorinnovation in how the museum’s scientific staff engaged in discussions anddialogue about their work and the visiting public.

Bob is senior policy developer and strategic manager for initiatives in the field ofScience and Society and gave evidence to the 1999 House of Lords SelectCommittee examining this issue. His interest in the cultural and societal context ofscience has led to an increasing interest in this role of science within wider cultureand engagement of the Arts and Science. Bob was awarded a NESTA DreamtimeFellowship in 2002 which he used to retrace the first voyage of Captain JamesCook – writing a parallel diary of his present day encounters with the voyagelocations (www.newendevour.com Wake of the Endevour)

A particular interest throughout his work has been looking at the importance ofEvolution, and how this axiomatic theory relates to wider perspectives withinsociety. He is currently championing Darwin200, a national programme of eventscelebrating Charles Darwin’s achievements.

The British Council

The British Council is the United Kingdom’s international organisation foreducational opportunities and cultural relations overseas.

The British Council, which is celebrating its 75th anniversary in 2009, works inmore than 100 countries worldwide to build engagement and trust for the UKthrough the exchange of knowledge and ideas between people. During 2008, theBritish Council reached over 128 million people worldwide through a range ofcultural programmes involving the arts, education, science, sport and governance.

Darwin Now is the British Council’s contribution to the international celebration ofthe 200 year anniversary of Darwin’s birth and the 150 year anniversary of thepublication of ‘On the Origin of Species’.

Through this international programme of activity the British Council is seeking toengage new audiences, to make Darwin’s theory of evolution relevant to their lives,and to encourage involvement and debate. Darwin Now will look at the impact ofDarwin’s ideas and their impact on contemporary biology, medicine and society.

www.britishcouncil.org

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Ana Rita Rodrigues is a Nature Live Science Communicator and studied Chemistryand Physics at university. While studying, she shared her enthusiasm for science byrunning a branch of the National Youth Science Association and working in ScienceCentres. After spending time as a science teacher, she did a post-grad course inScience Communication, coordinated DECIDE in Portugal, a Deliberative citizendebate game: wrote a year planner about the science of time, and contributed to abook about training for science communicators. Before coming to the NaturalHistory Museum she worked for the Portuguese National Agency for ScientificCulture, where she managed EU funded collaborations; developed communicationprojects working closely with the scientific community, science centres andschools and coordinated evaluations.

Aoife Glass is a Nature Live Science Communicator and our roving reporter duringthe Summit. You’ll see her interviewing speakers and delegates. You’ll see her workin the daily Summit summary shown each morning. Aoife has a passion for rocks,fossils and volcanoes and other things that explode, her background is in geology,and she loves going on fieldwork in the UK and around the world. She finds theNatural History Museum endlessly fascinating – where else can you find out aboutcontrolling malaria, to preserving giant squid, to climate change? Nature Live givesher the chance to share her passion and the passion of the scientists here with thegeneral public, and hopefully inspire them too! You will see her, microphone inhand grabbing interviews from speakers and delegates throughout the Summit.

Ivvet Modinu is a Nature Live Science Communicator, and was our Summit host last year.

After graduating with a degree in Geology she went on to work as a field scientistat the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory. After a year of burns and bruises she

Dr Jane Mainwaring is a Senior researcher and programme developer in Innovation and Special Projects at the Natural History Museum. She nowcoordinates the International Student Summit on behalf of the museum in liaisonwith the British Council.

She has a B.Sc in Zoology and a PhD awarded for her study of a family of fossilfishes. She has worked as a secondary school teacher and an education officer atLondon Zoo before joining the Museum in 1986.

Whilst at the museum she has developed distance learning materials for visitors,hands-on interactive exhibits for families, and face to face encounters betweenvisitors and museum scientists. She has researched and developed both art andscience exhibitions. Jane championed the Big Draw, coordinating the nationallaunch in 2003 and 2005. She has researched and project managed the StudentSummits since 2006.

Nature Live hosting team

Charlotte Coales will be your host at the International Student Summit and is aNature Live Science Communicator. She always wanted to be either an actress orDavid Attenborough! Having studied science at A level, she didn’t get very goodresults and was told to study feet for a career instead! However, she was luckilyaccepted on a degree course in Ecology and Environmental Biology and then didan MSc in Science Communication. Avoiding feet altogether, Charlotte hasvolunteered and worked at various places including the BBC Natural History Unitand Natural History New Zealand. She also worked as an explainer at London Zooand Whipsnade Wild Animal Park, before getting a job at the Natural HistoryMuseum. Charlotte loves working at the museum and being surrounded by animals,she just wishes they weren’t all dead!

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Quizdom – making your voice heard

When you arrive at the Summit on the 30 June, before you enter the lecturetheatre, you will be given a Quizdom handset that you will use to register your voteor opinion on diverse questions during the Summit. You will be assigned aparticular numbered Quizdom handset and YOU are responsible for this handsetduring the 3-day event.

Charlotte, your Nature Live host will use some practice questions to familiarise youwith using the Quizdom hand set at the beginning of Tuesday, before the talksstart. Then during the day you will be asked for your opinion which will be shownimmediately on a large screen in the conference hall and we will keep a record ofyour answers and publish them at the end of the Summit

Please ensure that you look after your handset. Do not give it to friends; leave it onchairs etc.. Please return your handset personally at the end of each day to thenumbered slot from which you collected it. Lost handsets will need to be replacedat your expense!

How to use your handset

Turning on your keypad

Press down the ‘Menu’ button for a few seconds and the word ‘Quizdom’ will appear.

How to answer questions . . .

2 easy steps

1 Select your ALPHABETIC or TRUE/FALSE option etc..

2 Then press the ‘Send Key’ (double arrow button on the left)

If you do not press then your vote will not register!

returned to the UK to take up a place on the MSc in Science Communication atImperial College London. Whilst studying, she worked at a lot of different places sothat she could build up her experience; from reporting for the BBC about a 100-year-old lady who uses the internet and writing about bio-fuels to explaining theconcept of food chains to 5 year olds and standing on a packed tube platformcollecting ‘sounds’. Ivvet joined the Museum over 4 years ago and thoroughlyenjoy working with scientists to share their work and enthusiasm with the publicthrough the Nature Live programme.

Stephen Roberts is the Nature Live Manager. After a degree in marine andenvironmental biology he worked as a research assistant for five years in Greecebefore returning to the UK. Communicating science to a wide audience andpassing on his passion for the natural world is fun, challenging and exciting – it issomething he always finds rewarding. The Natural History Museum is an inspiringplace and Stephen has been lucky to work in a variety of teams in his seven yearshere. He will be in and around the conference hall and will be ready to help withany questions you may have.

Vanessa Barratt is a Nature Live Science Communicator. She studied Zoology andEducation in Australia where she worked in outdoor education, a natural historymuseum and a zoo. Having studied no science for her HSC (equivalent of year12/13) she had a passion for science but no patience for laboratory or fieldwork.Combining science and communication was the perfect career combination.Starting off in 2000, taking kids on nature walks in the bush near Sydney and mostrecently fulfilling her dream to work at the Natural History Museum.

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We have created a Facebook group specifically for those taking part in the Summit.

Search for the Facebook (www.facebook.com) group ‘ISS 2009’, orDarwin@britishcouncil.org. Hayley Foulkes the site administrator will confirm you as a member. You have to be registered as a Facebook member to join this group.

The ISS 2009 is a closed group and has been set up to enable you to get to knoweach other and share your views. We will also be running a regular poll to captureyour opinions on various issues around Darwin

General Information

Accommodation

An en-suite room has been reserved for you from Monday 29 June to the morningof your departure.

Imperial College LondonSouthside HallsWatt’s WayPrinces GardensLondon SW7 1LU

The hall is located in Prince's Gardens near to the South Kensington Campus and isclose to transport links to Central London. Landmarks such as the Natural History,V&A and the Science Museums, Harrods and Hyde Park are within walking distanceof the hall.

http://www3.imperial.ac.uk/accommodation

Useful Telephone Numbers

Southside Hall reception at Imperial College

T + 44 (0)20 7594 9438

British Council

T +44 (0)20 7389 4476 (during office hours)T +44 (0)20 7389 4386 (out of office hours)

Natural History Museum

T +44 (0)20 7942 5090

Emergency Services (Police, Fire Ambulance)

T 999

Nearest Hospital

Chelsea and Westminster369 Fulham RoadLondonSW10 9NHT +44 (0)20 8746 8000

Nearest Police Station

Chelsea Police Station2 Lucan PlaceLondon SW3 3PBT +44 (0)20 7376 1212

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NHM Guide book

So that you can find your way around the Museum and the exhibitions and inside it you’ll find the Darwin first day cover

We are putting them in the guide to keep them flat

Darwin first day cover

To mark Darwin’s bicentenary, and the 150th anniversary of the publication of hisrevolutionary On the Origin of the Species by Means of Natural Selection, the RoyalMail have issued six special stamps. They’ve created a radical ‘jigsaw’ design foreach stamp to demonstrate how the various areas of Darwin’s studies – zoology,botany, geology, ornithology and anthropology – came together to inform histheory of Natural Selection. If the stamps are used on an envelope on the first daythey are released then that envelope becomes a first day cover and is very specialand collectable.

The Royal Mail has generously donated a first day cover to each of you. Please

take it out of your welcome bag and keep it somewhere safe and flat.

Extra

You will also find a pen and notebook, and possibly some extra goodies.

The British Council and the Natural History Museum would like to thank everyonewho has generously donated items for the summit bags.

Summit Bag

In your summit bag you will find

Programme

A copy of this programme outlining the events that are running throughout theduration of the Summit. Please take a moment to read through the programme andmake a note of any special events, such as the group photo on Wednesdaymorning at 9.30am.

International Student Summit 2008

Water Bottle

Every year until now, we have used over 800 plastic bottles of water during thethree-day summit. Students have been concerned at the waste. This year we aredoing better by giving each of you all a re-useable water bottle. Please fill it upwith water before you come each day, and top up your bottle from the tap waterfountains around Flett Lobby.

Tree of life poster

By the Open University.

The History of the World

A set of 15 booklets by the Independent newspaper.

BBC Focus magazine

The BBC has kindly donated their magazine. Focus is the BBC’s science andtechnology monthly magazine, featuring everything from genetics to geo-engineering, astrophysics to archaeology, forensics to futurology. Plus there’s thescience behind the latest news, gadget reviews galore and the ever-popular Q&Awhere experts answer your questions. Check out the website atwww.bbcfocusmagazine.com

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