The BEACON Center for the Study of Evolution in Action is a
science and
technology center in the
United States, focused on experimental and applied research on
evolutionary dynamics, sponsored by the
National Science Foundation.
MSU Press release, Feb 17, 2010: MSU awarded $25 million for NSF center to study evolution in action The consortium of universities that make up BEACON is led by
Michigan State University
Michigan State University (Michigan State, MSU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in East Lansing, Michigan. It was founded in 1855 as the Agricultural College of the State of Michigan, the fi ...
with partner institutions of
North Carolina A&T State University, the
University of Idaho, the
University of Texas at Austin, and the
University of Washington.
BEACON stands for Bio/computational Evolution in Action CONsortium. BEACON's mission is illuminating and harnessing the power of evolution in action to advance science and technology and benefit society. Members of the center conduct research on evolution in both biological and digital realms, and also use evolutionary computing for engineering applications.
At latest count in 2016, BEACON had 583 members, including faculty, postdoctoral researchers, graduate and undergraduate students.
The director of the center is
Charles Ofria
Dr. Charles A. Ofria is a Professor in the Department of Computer Science and Engineering at Michigan State University, the director of the Digital Evolution (DEvo) Lab there, and Director of the BEACON Center for the Study of Evolution in Actio ...
. The other principal investigators are Erik D. Goodman,
Richard Lenski,
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. Dover Area School District trial, testifying on ...
, and Kay Holekamp.
References
External links
BEACON Center for the Study of Evolution in Action
{{DEFAULTSORT:Beacon Center
Science and technology in the United States