Dr. Kevin Padian has been a professor of evolutionary biology and paleontology at Berkeley for 25 years. He is interested in how big changes get started in evolution, and in the history of thought about biology and evolution. A lot of his focus is on the age of dinosaurs and how dinosaurs evolved into birds. He talked on this topic at the Grove in 2001.

He has authored, co-authored or edited about 100 scientific articles, 100 popular articles (including one in last July’s Scientific American), seven books and three recipes in Gourmet magazine. He is currently writing a book on flight with Ken Dial. He is planning another book with his colleague and research collaborator Jack Horner, this one on dinosaur biology.

He is also the long-time president of the National Center for Science Education, the pre-eminent organization that explains the creationism vs. science issue to the public. He was recently an expert witness in the Dover, Pennsylvania “Intelligent Design” trial, and this experience will frame some of his remarks.