BSAVA Congress 2013 Attracts Science Superstar Richard Dawkins

In April 2013 delegates at BSAVA Congress will get the chance to see one of the biggest names in science when Richard Dawkins picks up the baton from the likes of Lord Robert Winston and Susan Greenfield as the special speaker for the BSAVA lecture. The talk, sponsored by Anistel, takes place on the Thursday afternoon of in Hall 1 and is open to all Congress delegates. Dawkins is a prolific writer who first came to prominence with his 1976 book The Selfish Gene, it is his strident manifesto for secularism. However it is The God Delusion that now finds him so frequently called upon for comment. Along with Stephen Hawkins, he is one of the few scientists that members of the public can easily identify, in part due to his willingness to engage in academic and media debates. Dawkins was born in Nairobi in 1941 where his father worked for British colonial service. He returned to Britain after the war to grow up on the family’s estate farm. He studied zoology at Balliol College, Oxford, where he was tutored by Nobel Prize–winning ethologist Nikolaas Tinbergen, graduating in 1962. He received his M.A. and D.Phil. degrees by 1966, and remained a research assistant for another year, when his research concerned models of animal decision-making. He has since been an assistant professor of zoology at the University of California, Berkeley, and a lecturer and reader in zoology at University of Oxford. In 1995 he was appointed Simonyi Professor for the Public Understanding of Science, a position that had been endowed by Charles Simonyi with the express intention that the holder "be expected to make important contributions to the public understanding of some scientific field", and that its first holder should be Richard Dawkins. Since 1970 Dawkins has been a fellow of New College. He has delivered a number of inaugural and other lectures – and it is a going to be a treat for delegates to hear him speak at Congress in April. Afterwards, delegates attending the talk are encouraged back over to the NIA for free drinks at the Welcome Reception. These events really represent the best of BSAVA Congress – superb science alongside stunning socials and an amazing commercial exhibition.

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