Darwin Comes to Town - How the Urban Jungle Drives Evolution

Menno Schilthuizen is a researcher at Naturalis Biodiversity Centre and professor for evolution and biodiversity in Leiden University, the Netherlands. He is also active as an author and speaker. His recent books include Darwin Comes to Town and Nature's Nether Regions. He also runs the organisation Taxon Expeditions, which takes lay people on real scientific expeditions into biodiversity hotspots ranging form city parks to the rainforests of Borneo.

In his presentation, Schilthuizen will show how wild animals and plants are rapidly evolving as a result of human activities. This leads to the assembly of an entirely new ecosystem in urbanised landscapes. Understanding and harnessing this process could help us design greener, more biodiverse cities for the future.