‘Evo devo’ expert returns to campus

Sean B. Carroll, PhD (above center), vice president for science education at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, a WUSTL alumnus (AB ’79) and one of the country’s foremost experts on “evo devo,” or evolutionary developmental biology, returned to campus this month to help the Institute for School Partnership (ISP) celebrate its annual Darwin Day event for area high school teachers. Instrumental in Carroll’s appearance was his mentor and teacher David Kirk, PhD (above right), professor emeritus of biology in Arts & Sciences. Kirk called Carroll, a professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, one of the most “distinguished graduates in biology the department has had.” Above, Kirk, Carroll, and Liz Petersen, a Ladue Middle School science teacher and the ISP’s inaugural Kirk Teacher Fellow, cut Charles Darwin’s birthday cake Feb. 8 following a morning of workshops (below). Carroll, a prolific researcher and author, also delivered an Assembly Series lecture Feb. 6 promoting his most recent book, “Brave Genius: A Scientist’s Journey from the French Resistance to the Nobel Prize.” Credit: Mary Butkus/WUSTL Photos (2)