The College of Wooster’s chapter of Phi Beta Kappa in collaboration with the departments of Biology and Earth Sciences will host Dr. Prosanta Chakrabarty as part of the Visiting Scholars program, which provides PBK campuses with the chance to engage with some of the country’s most distinguished scholars.
Dr. Chakrabarty is the E.K. Hunter Chair for Communication in Science Research, Professor in the Department of Biological Sciences, and Director & Curator of Fishes at the Museum of Natural Science at Louisiana State University. He will present a public lecture, visit classes, and meet with faculty and students during his visit to campus February 5-6, 2026.
Chakrabarty’s public lecture, “Why Teaching and Understanding Evolution Still Matters,” will be presented Thursday, February 5 at 7 p.m. in the Lean Lecture Room (Wishart 001).
Evolution is still one of the most debated ideas in public life, and 2025 marked 100 years since the Scopes “Monkey Trial.” In an age of genomics and breakthrough gene-editing technology like CRISPR, understanding evolution matters more than ever. Chakrabarty brings stories and accessible tools from his book Explaining Life Through Evolution, along with research from the “Tree of Life,” to show why evolution remains essential for science literacy today.
Chakrabarty is an ichthyologist studying the evolution of vertebrates and the biogeography of fishes; his work has taken him to more than 35 countries, and he has described more than 15 species that are new to science including cavefishes and deep-sea fishes. He has published more than 150 scientific papers and four books including most recently Explaining Life Through Evolution (MIT Press, 2023). He is a former program director at the National Science Foundation, a National Geographic Certified Educator, a Fellow of the Linnean Society, a National Fellow of the Explorers Club, an elected fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, a TED Senior Fellow and a Fulbright Distinguished Chair. He is also past president of the American Society of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists and an executive board member of the National Center for Science Education.
