Biologist Joseph L. Graves Jr. to present 12th Patrusky Lecture

Biologist Joseph L. Graves Jr., whose work spans the evolution of aging and microbial evolution and takes on the scourge of racism, has been selected by the Council for the Advancement of Science Writing (CASW) to present the twelfth Patrusky Lecture on November 9, 2024, as part of New Horizons in Science, CASW’s annual briefing on emerging research and issues in science.

Graves will address science writers attending ScienceWriters2024 in Raleigh, N.C. The conference, jointly organized by CASW and the National Association of Science Writers in collaboration with the Science Communicators of North Carolina, incorporates the CASW science sessions and NASW’s professional development programming along with workshops and field trips.

Graves will use as the starting point for his talk his 2022 book A Voice in the Wilderness,  where he laid out his antiracist reading of evolutionary biology—showing how science debunks rather than reinforces racism, and why that matters to the future of our species. As a leading Black biologist based at a historically Black university, Graves intertwined his own story with scientific evidence that powerfully undergirds the fight for a more just society. He argued that success in meeting many of today’s most dire crises—from climate change to authoritarianism—requires teaching and deploying an accurate understanding of human evolution and natural selection. Historian Vassiliki Betty Smocovitis said the book traversed “some of the most dangerous minefields in the history of science, while offering hope for solving some of the most pressing, and indeed existential, problems facing humanity.”

At the conference in November, Graves is set to take on resurgent arguments that deny scientific evidence to preserve concepts of group difference. Current attacks on diversity, equity, and inclusion programs do just that, dismissing a large volume of social science research. His address will also re-examine W. E. B. Du Bois’s classic The Education of Black People in arguing for the continuing importance of minority-serving institutions in advancing training in science and technology. 

“We eagerly anticipate Dr. Graves’ lecture and are grateful that he has agreed to share his sophisticated analysis with hundreds of science writers this fall,” said CASW President Robin Lloyd. “CASW is honored and excited to showcase his work, which lies at the intersections of history, politics and numerous scientific specialties.”

Graves is the Mackenzie Scott Endowed Professor of Biology at North Carolina A&T State University, where he joined the faculty in 2005. He is a principal investigator for the Precision Microbiome (PreMiEr) NSF (Generation Four) NSF Engineering Research Center , a joint effort of NC A&T, Duke University, NC State University, UNC-Chapel Hill, and UNC-Charlotte that is funded by a major grant from the National Science Foundation. He is one of three scientists recently honored with 2024 Genius Awards by New Jersey’s Liberty Science Center. 

His research has examined evolution and physiological performance in Drosophila, exploring questions about senescence and natural selection in small organisms. Over the years, his laboratory has looked at the genomics of adaptation and the response of bacteria to metallic nanoparticles.

Graves’ work in evolutionary biology and genetics and commitment to social justice have together informed his critiques of myths and theories of race in American society—laid out in talks, interviews in documentary films, and four books—as well as decades of training minority scientists. A commitment to broadening access to high-quality science education drove him to join the board of the National Center for Science Education in 2021.

“Science has never been simply the objective examination of nature,” he told NCSE in an interview after joining the board. “The agenda of modern science is still tainted by its focus to provide comfort for the wealthy. This has the effect of narrowing the demography of science. My success in opening the doors to science careers for historically marginalized populations results from my focus on deploying science for the purpose of social justice.” 

Graves grew up in poverty and spent his childhood in a school system that placed Black children in the bottom tracks and attempted to assign him to a class for intellectually disabled students. The child of illiterate parents, he taught himself to read and rose to the top of his high school graduating class. After attending Oberlin College on a scholarship, Graves began his graduate studies at the University of Michigan and earned a PhD in evolutionary, environmental, and systematic biology from Wayne State University, making him the first scientist of African descent to earn a doctorate in evolutionary biology.  Following a postdoctoral fellowship at the University of California, Irvine, he held faculty positions at UC Irvine, Arizona State University, and Fairleigh Dickinson University before joining NC A&T as dean of its Division of University Studies. He has also served as associate dean for research and interim dean of the NC A&T and UNC-Greensboro Joint School of Nanoscience and Nanoengineering.

In addition to his 2022 book, subtitled A Pioneering Biologist Explains How Evolution Can Help Us Solve Our Biggest Problems, Graves is author of the 2001 bestseller The Emperor’s New Clothes: Biological Theories of Race at the Millennium; The Race Myth: Why We Pretend that Race Exists in America; and Principles and Applications of Antimicrobial Nanomaterials; and coauthor of Racism, Not Race: Answers to Frequently Asked Questions with Alan H. Goodman. He is associate editor of the journal Evolution, Medicine, & Public Health and a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. 

CASW launched the Patrusky Lectures in 2013 to honor Ben Patrusky, executive director of CASW for 25 years and director of the New Horizons in Science program for 30 years.