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CORVALLIS, Ore. - The F.A. Gilfillan Memorial Lecture on Tuesday, May 2, at Oregon State University will explore the ongoing societal debate between evolution and the theories of "intelligent design."

The lecture, which is free and open to the public, is titled "Intelligent Design and Evolutionary Biology: When Worlds Collide." It will be presented by Stevan J. Arnold, a professor of zoology at OSU and 2005 recipient of the Gilfillan Memorial Award for Distinguished Scholarship in Science. The lecture will begin at 6 p.m. in the LaSells Stewart Center's Construction and Engineering Auditorium, and will also be followed by an extended question-and-answer session with the audience.

"Over the last 80 years Protestant fundamentalism has repeatedly collided with evolutionary biology in an effort to thwart the teaching of Darwinism in public schools," Arnold said. "Despite a series of defeats in the courts - including a defeat in the U.S. Supreme Court in 1987 - challenges to Darwinism in the classroom continue."

The most recent challenge, intelligent design, has recently been defeated in the courtroom and is widely regarded as invalid in the community of evolutionary biologists, he said. His presentation will examine the origin, motivation and substance of this movement. It will also review some major accomplishments of evolutionary biology over the last 20 years.

Arnold, who is a leading researcher on the evolutionary processes and patterns in natural populations of snakes and salamanders, has more than 120 scientific publications, and is also curator of the OSU Amphibians and Reptiles Collection. He has been internationally recognized as a distinguished lecturer and visiting professor.

During his career, Arnold's research on evolutionary processes has been supported by nearly $3.5 million in grants from the National Science Foundation and other federal agencies.

The Gilfillan memorial award and lecture is in memory of Francois A. "Doc" Gillfillan, dean of the College of Science from 1938-62 and acting president from 1941-42.