January 27, 2009

The California State University, Fresno Department of Biology celebrates the 150th anniversary of “On the Origin of the Species’” publication with a Café Scientifique program on Feb. 2 devoted to “Charles Darwin and the Tree of Life.”

Dr. Rick Zechman, who chairs the university’s biology department, will make his presentation from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. at Lucy’s Lair, an Ethiopian restaurant at 10063 N. Maple Ave. in Fresno. The program pays tribute not only to Darwin’s best-known work, but also to the 200th anniversary of his birth.
 

Zechman will share how the tree Darwin sketched in his notebook during early-life investigations of how life forms might go extinct and others evolve led phylogenetics, the modern study of evolutionary relationships among species.

Café Scientifique is a monthly lecture series sponsored by the university’s College of Science and Mathematics designed to help the public better understand scientific discoveries and issues. There is no charge for the lecture. An Ethiopian buffet dinner is available for $14.