A replica of Darwin’s ship may soon sail the high seas. The project’s Director of Science, Karen James, explains why.
Matt Brown
Next year marks the bicentenary of Charles Darwin’s birth. Of the many celebratory initiatives, the HMS Beagle Project is surely the most ambitious.
The aim is to build a sailing replica of the good ship that carried Darwin around the world in 1831–1836. The new Beagle will itself circumnavigate the globe, as a living testament to the importance of Darwin’s contributions to science and society, and a floating educational resource.
Karen James, Director of Science for the project, explains more.
What stage is the project at?
Raising £3.5million GBP to build the new Beagle is our top priority. We have a renowned German shipwright, Detlev Loell, lined up and ready to go, dry dock space for the build provided in kind by the Milford Haven Port Authority (in Pembrokeshire, Wales), articles of incorporation as ‘The HMS Beagle Trust’, and have also just established an ‘American Friends’ organisation (details soon at our blog) to enable us to fundraise with tax exempt status in the United States.
Of course, successful fundraising depends heavily on the development of compelling plans for the voyages and activities of the new Beagle. That is my main area of activity right now: assembling a portfolio of developing science programmes, building collaborations with both individual researchers as well as research institutes and universities, and also developing plans for links to formal education and public engagement with science.
Who’s going to journey on the replica Beagle?
We will have a core professional sailing crew, a core of professional scientists (including myself—they would need lethal weapons to keep me off of the new Beagle) and science communicators, and a film crew. The remainder of berths will be filled by rotations of practicing scientists doing three- to six-week research projects, teachers on continuing professional development (CPD) and young science students and sail training cadets.
What scientific messages are you trying to communicate?
Eell, there are scientific messages, but there are also messages about science. For example, our scientific messages will likely include the impacts of climate change (and land use change) on biodiversity, the threat of invasive species, marine biodiversity, patterns of diversity and the evolutionary processes that underpin them. Messages about science are slightly different. These will include the enormity of what has yet to be discovered about our living world (especially in the oceans), that science is a process rather than a body of knowledge, that science is an exciting, adventurous career choice and how basic scientific literacy is not only important but can enrich all aspects of life, even for the non-scientist.
Are you going to follow Darwin’s route, or boldly go where no Beagle has gone before?
We are planning to follow the route of the Beagle’s second voyage, that is, the one on which Darwin sailed from 1831–1836 (minus the backtracking that was imperative for her original survey work). However, for certain scientific or political reasons, we are entertaining the possibility of adding a few extra ports of call. For example, I would be keen to visit the Pacific island of Moorea, where a major DNA barcoding project is underway.
You’re exploring a collaboration with Nasa—not, on the face of it, the most obvious of partners. What’s that all about?
We have a lot in common with NASA in terms of our scientific, educational and public programmes. For example, we have very similar list of basic core commitments:
• to the value of human exploration
• to the search for new life
• to science education and outreach
• to understanding Earth’s past, present and future
When you’re not on Beagle duty, you’re a postdoctoral researcher at the Natural History Museum. Tell us a little about your research interests.
I’m a geneticist by training, not a taxonomist or systematist, and as such most of my projects revolve around bringing the tools of the genomics revolution to bear on biodiversity. For example, I am working on developing a system for the molecular diagnosis of plant specimens to the species level (called DNA barcoding), and I’ve also just published a project that successfully trialled a DNA micro-array protocol for genome-wide detection of DNA polymorphisms in non-model organisms.
Also, during 2007–2009 I am serving as the museum’s coordinator for Darwin bicentenary related science projects. One of the main projects we are working on in this area is the complete conservation, digitisation and web-access of all of our specimens collected by Charles Darwin, which number in the thousands.
How does doing research at a major museum differ from working in, say, a university setting?
That is actually a difficult question for me to answer. You see, I not only moved from a university setting to a museum, but I also moved from the USA to the UK. So it’s hard for me to tell if the differences I notice are transatlantic or occupational in nature. I suppose the main difference is that where universities offer/require their researchers to teach undergraduates or graduate students, a museum offers the opportunity to interact with the public (and in more formal educational settings); for example, I regularly participate in the museum’s Nature Live programme; these sessions take place with an intimate group of museum visitors and are also webcast live. This kind of interaction will increase when we open the new Darwin Centre in 2009.
Tell us one fact about Darwin that most people don’t know.
Just one? Oh dear, oh dear. Well, how about this: the finches Darwin encountered in the Galapagos islands weren’t nearly as important as an inspiration of his theory of natural selection as the mockingbirds he encountered on those same islands (one of which is amongst the rarest birds in the world).
Oh, and let me squeeze in one more: Charles Darwin is a blogger.