Happy Fall to One and All!
Out my window the oranges and reds are fading but still inpiringly beautiful. I’m glad to be back from my European riverboat cruise, 2000 pictures later and somewhat the worse for wear — gastro-enteritis, which I avoided, went around the boat, as did colds and bronchitis, which Penny and I got.

As I announced last month, on Thursday October 28, the amazing Dr. Monika Havelka returns. This time her talk is

Why Sex? — The Evolution of a Paradox.

Birds do it, bees do it — but why did sex evolve and why does sex persist?? Sexual reproduction represents a troubling paradox to evolutionary biologists.The costs of sex are many and obvious — costs of finding, wooing and defending mates, as well as the genetic costs of sharing parentage of offspring, etc. — but the benefits from an evolutionary perspective are not quite so apparent. Nevertheless, sexual reproduction is found throughout the tree of life. This lecture explores the paradox of sexual reproduction from an evolutionary perspective and tries to answer the question, “why sex?”

It’s worth repeating that Monika spoke to us (twice) last year on “Evo-Devo” to rave reviews, and was a finalist again, this time in the 2010 TVO Best Lecturer Competition. She also won a Dean’s Merit Award of Excellence at U of T.

Please tell your friends to join you a week this Thursday at 7pm. at the Barrie Library’s Angus-Ross room. We are expecting a full house, so be sure to get there early!

Our November 25th meeting will feature Dr. Reeshma Haji, Assistant Professor of Psychology at Laurentian University at Georgian College. In A Quest Toward Interreligious Harmony, she will present her research showing how people’s religious motivations influence attempts to promote positive interreligious attitudes, a topic that should be of great interest to secular humanists. Stay tuned for more details as November approaches.

Last but not least, if you want to see COHA thrive, be sure to volunteer any help you can. In November we must elect 2011′s slate of COHA Directors. All five positions are open: President (I’m retiring), Vice-President, Treasurer, Secretary, Membership. The work is not onerous.