Sarah Hewitt participated in Celebration of Learning

More than 75 Augustana students from all academic areas shared their advanced research projects on Saturday, May 5, at the Celebration of Learning. This on-campus research symposium annually gives students an opportunity to show off their academic accomplishments to their families and the Augustana community.

Among the students involved:

Sarah Hewitt, a senior from Lake Zurich, majoring in biology and pre-medicine. The research was titled Darwin's Frenemies: How Darwin's Critics and Allies Shaped Evolutionary Theory.

On the Origin of Species, by Charles Darwin, was published in 1859 and changed the scientific community's view of evolution forever. While Darwin's work helped convince the scientific community that species were changing over time, most scientists remained hesitant to agree with Darwin's theory of natural selection. The notions of progress and evolution were constantly changing, and Darwin helped encourage this shift in thinking with the introduction of his theory of natural selection. For both scientific and religious reasons, Darwin's critics and his allies both tended to believe in a more progressive version of evolution than Darwin did. The reception of Darwin's views, combined with the views of both his critics and his allies, led to the creation of neo-Darwinism and neo-Lamarckism. Although neo-Lamarckism was ultimately rejected today, some key Lamarckian ideas are present in modern biology in the new theories of epigenetics.

Celebration participants presented their research through a poster display or an oral presentation. Many students expounded on the results of their Senior Inquiry, a multiple-term research project required for most academic programs. Other students shared honors capstone projects or student-faculty research findings. Because of the advanced level of research involved, most of the presenters are upperclass students.

Anne Earel and Stefanie Bluemle, Augustana reference librarians and the event's co-directors, said the Celebration of Learning provided an outlet for students to showcase their accomplishments.

Presentations topics varied greatly and included anthropology, biology, physics, geography, gender studies, theater and more.

This information was provided by a press release from Augustana College.