Origins 2018 (ICC 2018 part 2)

Origins 2018

Way back in 1999, fresh out of grad school, I organized my first baraminology meeting at Liberty University.  It was a private deal, invitation only, but it launched what eventually became an annual event after the 2003 International Conference on Creationism.  By my count, I have organized seventeen of these conferences over a twenty year period.  We've had ups and downs over that time, but the 2018 conference stands out as a big highlight.

Sitting back and watching former and current students presenting like the young professionals they are was immensely satisfying.  Dr. Blaschke from Union University gave us a marvelous tour of parasitism, which is an enormously important topic for young-age creationists.  Dr. McLain from the Master's University gave us a look at the baraminology of basal mammaliforms (ironically the only baraminology study from that meeting), a project he worked on with one of his students.  We also had a thoughtful presentation on creation research from a current doctoral student at Loma Linda.

They get it.  They really do.  The creation model is in good hands as creationism moves on from my generation.

We also had some great talks from some of our regulars.  Kurt Wise filled us in on his massive research project on the views of George McCready Price.  Randy Guliuzza presented an amazing review of "predictable evolution," which he attributes to design features (that was another highlight for me).  Andy Fabich filled us in on his project studying the adaptation of E. coli to the gut environment.

The biggest news came after the conference.  The membership of the Creation Biology Society voted in a new member of the Executive Council, Matt McLain of the Master's University.  Matt's a paleontologist, and he really likes dinosaurs.  He's running the new geology program at Master's, and he's a good scholar.  That's him in the photo presenting some of his work.  He'll make a great addition to the CBS leadership.

And then I retired!

The Executive Council chose Matt as our new president, and I was glad to step down.  Running these conferences has been a lot of work, rewarding work for sure, but after twenty years, it's time for someone else to take over.  I don't need to be hogging the spotlight.  With the future looking so bright, this is the perfect time to let go.

I'll still be around though.  I'll continue to serve on the Executive Council, and I'm already cooking up my next research projects.  I've got some leads on new student interns, and I'm looking forward to just being a regular contributor to our Origins conferences.

Check out the conference abstracts for more information on the research I described.

Biology Conference Abstracts
Geology Conference Abstracts

Our new president photographing the T. rex type specimen at
the Carnegie Museum of Natural History (Photo courtesy
Joe Francis)

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