The National Evolutionary Synthesis Center is trying an experiment this year for Darwin Day. In 2011 we are taking Darwin Day on the road. We will be sending our scientists to small towns and communities (i.e., places that wouldn’t otherwise have Darwin Day celebrations) around the United States to share their research and talk to students about what evolution is and what it means to be an evolutionary biologist.
To initiate this process we asked school teachers to serve as our hosts. We received over two dozen requests from all over the country. We settled on five schools in four states outside of our home state of North Carolina with five terrific, motivated, 
enthusiastic host teachers. We will be visiting Nebraska, Iowa, Montana, and Virginia,
Yours truly will be part of Team Nebraska/Montana. My traveling companion will be 
Gregor Yanega, an expert on biomechanics and everything bird. While Gregor talks about the evolutionary processes behind hummingbird and pelican beaks, I will be discussing the evolutionary processes behind gigantism in Giant Isopods and Giant Squids.
Wish Team Iowa, Team Virginia, and Gregor and I luck as we embark on our collective journeys.
Stay tuned for more on our collective trips. You can follow along with Gregor and I on our trip through America’s heartland on Twitter through the hashtag #DarwinRoadShow
The Science Festival/Cafe circuit would likely also be receptive to and benefit from hosting NESC speakers. There’s a conference in DC in just a couple days http://sciencefestivals.org/conference.html
Just an idea.
I’m curious how this experiment is going to end…
Hope to read more about it!