Bad Religion vocalist/songwriter Greg Graffin has recently finished a sold-out tour and will soon be addressing a slightly quieter audience. Graffin, who obtained a PhD in zoology from Cornell University, has served as a lecturer in life sciences and paleontology at UCLA and recently co-authored a best-selling science memoir entitled Anarchy Evolution: Faith, Science and Bad Religion in a World Without God. This fall, Graffin will return to the Ivy League institution to teach evolution (August 24th to December 11th).

“This is the first year of three that I am slated to help develop the course and lecture at Cornell,” Graffin explains. “I have a colleague who is a gifted geneticist, Richard Harrison, who will be co-teaching with me. I only have to lecture on Tuesdays and Thursdays. That leaves plenty of time to head overseas on the weekends!”

In this month’s Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society in London, paleontologists including Dr. Jingmai O’Connor, have discovered an ancient bird fossil in the Gansu Province of north-western China, and have named this important find “Qiliania graffini” in honor of the Dr. Graffin. As O’Connor explains, “The species name is in honor of Dr. Gregory Graffin, PhD: paleontologist, evolutionary biologist, professor, rock star, and inspiration to numerous budding and established scientists around the world.”