^{Date
Mar152023
March
03
Mar
15
15
2023

Time
09:00:00

Locale
Spokane, WA

Venue
Great Northern University @ Fourth Memorial Church

Register
Register}

Tiny Tech

_{2023 Intelligent Design Education Day}

After a 3-year hiatus, we are excited to announce that the annual Intelligent Design Education Day is returning to Washington State with new speakers and sessions related to the theme of Tiny Tech. This free in-person event will be hosted by our friends at Great Northern University in Spokane, WA and is designed primarily for junior high and high school students from home and private schools (but also open to all ages).

First offered to the public in 2016, the annual ID Education Day represents a unique field trip opportunity where students can interact directly with scientists and learn about intelligent design. This year, following an introductory session on ID, our speakers will present on the extraordinary technology present in nature’s tiniest life forms – from single-celled bacteria to creepy-crawly insects – and then share some exciting updates from the field of nanotechnology, where scientists and engineers often utilize biomimicry to advance human technologies inspired by nature.

Interactive sessions, videos, and activities will help students to see the connection between the intelligence required to create human technologies and the even greater intelligence evident in the origin of life and biodiversity. Students will also be challenged to think critically about Darwinian evolution, which has failed to provide a satisfactory explanation for the beauty, complexity, and efficiency of nature’s tiniest technologies.

Other important details below:

Attendees will be expected to bring a sack lunch
Bookstore will be open before and after the event and during the lunch break
Curricula, books, and other resources will be available for sale
Event will not be livestreamed, but may be filmed, edited, and then released as a virtual event later in the year

When

Wednesday, March 15, 2023
9:00 AM – 2:30 PM

Where

Great Northern University @ Fourth Memorial Church
2000 N Standard St.
Spokane, WA 99207

Contact

John Felts
jfelts@discovery.org
(206) 826-5532

Tentative Schedule

9:00 am	Arrival (registration & bookstore open)
9:30 am	Welcome & introductions
9:40 am	What’s the best explanation for tiny tech in nature? (Daniel Reeves)
10:00 am	Bacterial nanotechnologies — cap or no cap? (Activity led by John Felts)
10:12 am	Bacteria — superheroes of the microbial world (Video)
10:30 am	Meet Complex I, nature’s very own “Newton’s Cradle” (Emily Reeves)
11:00 am	The molecular machine mystery (Pedro Moura)
11:30 am	Lunch break (bookstore open)
12:30 pm	How can human nanotechnology be inspired by nature? (Daniel Reeves)
12:45 pm	How to create a virus’ worst nightmare (Marisa Arthur)
1:10 pm	Wormy technologies — two truths and a lie (Activity led by John Felts)
1:25 pm	Squirmy, wormy micro-robots (George Damoff)
1:50 pm	Ask a scientist (Panel Q&A with Emily Reeves, Pedro Moura, Marisa Arthur, & George Damoff)
2:30 pm	Dismissal (bookstore open until 3:00 pm)

Speakers

Marisa Arthur

Marisa Arthur is an adjunct professor of human anatomy and enrolled in a Master of Public Health program at Biola University. For three years, she was the research assistant for the nanomedicine and cancer research team under Dr. Richard Gunasekera where she led a team of undergraduate students in studying nanomachines and their effects on bacteriophage viruses. This team won the 2022 Undergraduate Biochemistry Award through the American Association for the Advancement of Science and was published in Science Magazine. After graduating with a Master's in Public Health, Marisa desires to enter the medical field to become a psychiatric nurse practitioner (Ph.D.) and serve those with disabilities.

George A. Damoff

George A. Damoff (Ph.D., forestry) has been an Adjunct Graduate Research Faculty member in the Department of Environmental Science at Stephen F. Austin State University, Arthur Temple College of Forestry and Agriculture from 2009 to the present. He has journal publications in both discovery and applied sciences on earthworm ecology that include the naming of three new species to science—Diplocardia deborahae Damoff and Reynolds 2017, D. hebi Damoff 2018, and D. farrishi (currently being written). Since the 1980s, Dr. Damoff has taught biology, ecology, and environmental science courses to 6th grade through graduate level students at both private and public schools. He frequently speaks to civic groups about soil, composting, and earthworms. In April 2023, for example, he presented on the challenge of invasive earthworm species to native plants in North Idaho to the Calypso Chapter of the Native Plant Society. Dr. Damoff has been reading intelligent design books and literature since the late 1980s and in the past ten years has been active with the Discovery Institute through Insider Briefings, Science and Faith Conferences, the Engineering Research Group, and serving with the DI-Dallas Action Committee.

John Felts

_{Coordinator, Education & Outreach, Center for Science and Culture}

John Felts is the Education and Outreach Coordinator for Discovery Institute’s Center for Science and Culture. He holds a BA in theology with a minor in Hebrew and Greek. He serves as the Assistant Chapter Director for the University of Washington Ratio Christi chapter. Certified as an ESOL K-12 instructor, he has spent time teaching at schools throughout the U.S., Marshall Islands, South Korea, Thailand, and China.

Pedro Moura

Pedro Moura (MS, Biology) is the Science teacher at Covenant High School (Tacoma, WA). He holds a Bachelor of Science in Biology and a Master’s Degree of Science in Biology from State University of Sao Paulo (Sao Paulo – Brazil), and he is completing a Master’s Degree of Divinity in Theological Studies from Mackenzie Presbyterian University. Mr. Moura is a Discovery Institute Summer Seminar Alumnus (2021) and has taught several courses to high school and college students in chemistry and biology. His main goal is to provide students with a distinctively Christian approach to the study of nature, which “declares the glory of God” and “proclaims His handiwork.” (Ps. 19). He has also published biodiversity research in journals such as the Biological Journal of the Linnean Society, PLoS One, and the Annals of the Brazilian Academy of Sciences. He is married to his wife, Marina, and enjoys playing chess, walking by the Puget Sound waterfront, and reading books about science and faith.

Daniel Reeves

_{Director, Education & Outreach, Center for Science and Culture}

Daniel Reeves is Director of Education & Outreach with Discovery Institute’s Center for Science and Culture. He holds a BA in Biology with additional graduate studies in Zoology. Before joining the Discovery Institute, Daniel has engaged in both field and laboratory research for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and U.S. Department of Agriculture. He also has a passion for education, and has taught science in both museums and public schools.

Emily Reeves

_{Research Scientist, Center for Science and Culture}

Emily Reeves is a biochemist, metabolic nutritionist, and aspiring systems biologist. Her doctoral studies were completed at Texas A&M University in Biochemistry and Biophysics. Emily is currently an active clinician for metabolic nutrition and nutritional genomics at Nutriplexity. She enjoys identifying and designing nutritional intervention for subtle inborn errors of metabolism. She is also working with fellows of Discovery Institute and the greater scientific community to promote integration of engineering and biology. She spends her weekends adventuring with her husband, brewing kombucha, and running near Puget Sound.