As the 2009 J. K. Russell Research Fellow in Religion and Science, evolutionary biologist Francisco Ayala will present the keynote address at a research conference on April 4 in Berkeley, California. (The annual fellowship is awarded by the Center for Theology and the Natural Sciences (CTNS) board of directors and was created in memory of John Russell, an industrial engineer, humanitarian, and father of CTNS Founder and Director Robert John Russell.)
The theme of the daylong conference is “Darwin’s Gift to Science,” and Ayala's address will be followed by responses from five science and religion scholars—moderated by systematic theologian Ted Peters. As part of his fellowship, Ayala will also give a free public lecture, “Whence Morality: Biology or Religion?” at the Dominican School of Philosophy and Theology on April 7. —Dan Messier