The BEACON Center for the Study of Evolution in Action is a Science and Technology Center in the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

, focused on experimental and applied research on evolutionary dynamics, sponsored by the National Science Foundation

National Science Foundation

The National Science Foundation is a United States government agency that supports fundamental research and education in all the non-medical fields of science and engineering. Its medical counterpart is the National Institutes of Health...

. The consortium of universities that make up BEACON is led by Michigan State University

Michigan State University

Michigan State University is a public research university in East Lansing, Michigan, USA. Founded in 1855, it was the pioneer land-grant institution and served as a model for future land-grant colleges in the United States under the 1862 Morrill Act.MSU pioneered the studies of packaging,...

 with partner institutions of North Carolina A&T State University, the University of Idaho

University of Idaho

The University of Idaho is the State of Idaho's flagship and oldest public university, located in the rural city of Moscow in Latah County in the northern portion of the state...

, the University of Texas at Austin

University of Texas at Austin

The University of Texas at Austin is a state research university located in Austin, Texas, USA, and is the flagship institution of the The University of Texas System. Founded in 1883, its campus is located approximately from the Texas State Capitol in Austin...

, and the University of Washington

University of Washington

University of Washington is a public research university, founded in 1861 in Seattle, Washington, United States. The UW is the largest university in the Northwest and the oldest public university on the West Coast. The university has three campuses, with its largest campus in the University...

.

BEACON stands for Bio/computational Evolution in Action CONsortium. Members of the center conduct research on evolution in both biological and digital realms, and also use evolutionary computing for engineering applications.

The director of the center is Erik Goodman. The other principal investigators are Richard Lenski

Richard Lenski

Richard E. Lenski is an American evolutionary biologist. He is the son of sociologist Gerhard Lenski. He earned his BA from Oberlin College in 1976, and his PhD from the University of North Carolina in 1982...

, Charles Ofria

Charles Ofria

Dr. Charles A. Ofria is currently an Associate Professor in the Department of Computer Science and Engineering, the director of the Digital Evolution Lab at Michigan State University and a co-founder of the BEACON Center for the Study of Evolution in Action. Ofria's research focuses on the...

, Robert T. Pennock

Robert T. Pennock

Robert T. Pennock is a philosopher working on the Avida digital organism project at Michigan State University where he has been full professor since 2000. Pennock was a witness in the Kitzmiller v...

, and Kay Holekamp.

External links

• BEACON Center for the Study of Evolution in Action