For over 15 years, the Center for Science and Culture has hosted private and home school students in Washington State for an annual Intelligent Design Education Day. Having expanded from a small conference room at our office in Seattle to a large auditorium in the region, we’ve been able to educate more and more students (and parents and educators) about intelligent design with each passing year.

This year, the event was held in an auditorium shared with us by Great Northern University in Spokane, and we were thrilled to host over 500 students and 100 parents and educators! 

Whereas the past couple of years have focused on a micro-level theme (“Tiny Tech” in 2023 and “How to Code Life” in 2024), this year’s event explored the macro world of “Creepy Crawly Complexity.” Videos from our popular YouTube series and talks by three different scientists showcased the astonishing abundance, diversity, and complexity of insects, spiders, and worms.

A Caterpillar’s Miraculous Journey

Paul Nelson — well known philosopher of biology, known, in part, for his contributions to the 2011 film Metamorphosis — presented on the miraculous journey from caterpillar to butterfly. He also shared a captivating talk on the development of roundworms (C. elegans, in particular). George Damoff, an accomplished megradrilologist who has named multiple new species of earthworms, spoke about the outsized and under-appreciated role of earthworms in the ecosystem. Pedro Moura, an alumnus of our Summer Seminar program and now a full-time science educator, inspired wonder in the students with a visual tour of “creepy crawly” abundance, diversity, and significance. Kate Kavanaugh — another Summer Seminar alumna and now a full-time CSC staff member — also took to the stage to interview each speaker on the implications of their findings for the central question: What is the best explanation for all this complexity?

Thanks to everyone who attended and helped make this event a success!