On Saturday, February 19, H-SC Biology Professor Alex Werth attended a special workshop, jointly hosted by the Human Origins Program of the Smithsonian Institution’s Anthropology Department (www.humanorigins.si.edu) and the National Evolutionary Sythesis Center (NESCent, www.nescent.org), on “Overcoming Stumbling Blocks to Communicating Human Evolution.” The workshop brought together forty scientists who write about, teach, and conduct research in paleoanthropology. Included were writers from magazines (like National Geographic and Discover), newspapers (like the New York Times and USA Today), and leading journals, plus expert anthropologists who study all aspects of human evolution, from fossil skulls to DNA, and a few professional educators, most of whom were in Washington, DC for the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). Professor Werth was invited to the workshop because he has published articles on teaching human evolution (see http://uncw.edu/cte/et/articles/Vol9_2/Werth.htm).

Professor Werth as a Neanderthal (with rare fossil eyeglasses)

Before the workshop the group enjoyed a private guided tour of the Smithsonian’s new Hall of Human Origins. Professor Werth also got to greet Francis Collins, Director of NIH and co-discoverer of the Human Genome Project.

Making personal contact with cave art...

...and walking in the footprints of Lucy