KINGSTON, R.I. -- October 9, 2001 -- Floyd Sandford, a talented writer, actor and biologist, will perform his one-act play, Darwin Remembers, at the University of Rhode Island on Monday, Oct. 22 at 4 p.m.

Darwin Remembers is a one-man play on the life and work of the great biologist Charles Darwin. The play will be performed in White Hall, Room 113 on the Kingston Campus. The event is free and open to the public.

Sandford portrays all characters in the 70-minute play set in the village of Downe in Kent, England, six months before Darwin’s death in 1882. The play is a historical reenactment based on information derived from Darwin’s autobiography.

The play also includes a segment on the historical confrontation between Samuel Wilberforce, the Bishop of Oxford, and Darwin’s good friend, Thomas H. Huxley. Although no transcript of the confrontation exists, evidence of the meeting is found in a personal recollection by Huxley.

Sandford wrote the play after a trip in late 1999 to Down House, Darwin’s home of 40 years. He has performed the play several times at Coe College in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, and other venues. URI will be his first show outside Iowa.

A biology professor at Coe College, Sandford considers himself to be a "biology generalist" who, as a result, finds himself researching a variety of areas. One such expedition led him to study the relationship between hermit crabs and the hermit crab sponge after a trip to Dog Island, Fla. A trip to Belize with the research team Earthwatch led him to research the clinging crab with URI Professor of Biological Sciences Stanley Cobb. In 1998, after receiving a grant from the Iowa State Foundation, Sandford began working with two students on the nature of glass skeletons of several sponges.

Sandford is currently a professor at Coe College where he has taught biology since 1986.
Darwin Remembers is sponsored by the Visiting Scholars Committee, the Department of Biological Sciences and the Department of Sociology and Anthropology.

For Information: Jhodi Redlich, 401-874-2116, Sarah Emmett, 401-874-2116