I joined the Creation Research Society in 2023 because God put a desire in my heart to do research and publish technical papers. My undergraduate science degree has no major, and I’ve received some criticism for that, but the program I enrolled in allowed me to try a bit of everything and get a well-rounded base of scientific knowledge. Then God gave me a job where I have the freedom to do the things I love. I needed some intellectual stimulation, though, so I told God, “I need some science I can sink my teeth into.” In September 2024, He answered by handing me a paleoanthropology assignment and connecting me to a co-author, Carol Adams. We decided to attend the 2025 CRS Conference at the end of July, and Carol suggested that we submit an abstract and present our work.
There is so much to report about what happened at the conference. For most of the sessions, there were three presentations running at the same time, so I had to pick and choose which ones to attend.
On the official first day of the conference, the plenary session was given by Dr. Jake Hebert from the Institute for Creation Research (ICR). He shared a summary of what he has been working on for the last while—gathering evidence for greater longevity in animals in the pre- and immediate post-Flood world. He has published articles in the Creation Research Society Quarterly (CRSQ) about the larger sizes of fossil Crassostrea oysters, sharks, and crocodilians. The similarities between many fossil and living species are possibly signs that the living creatures descended from giant ancestors that lived longer and took longer to mature. If this were the case for animals, it may also be the case for humans before the Genesis Flood as well, explaining the extended lifespans of the patriarchs listed in Genesis 5 and 11 and possibly even the reports of giants later on.
Later in the day, Dr. Andy McIntosh, from the UK, shared work he has been involved in regarding the spray system used by bombardier beetles to eject a series of 400-500 explosions per second as a defence mechanism. At Liberty University, engineering students are working on developing a proof-of-concept model, which could also become a research tool to further develop a sprinkler system for fire suppression in places where fire can be catastrophic, such as in submarines and space vehicles. The idea is for an infrared camera to detect a potentially dangerous heat source and direct a nozzle to spray water/vapour mist precisely at the hazard.
The next presentation I attended was by Dr. Kevin Horton. He showed drone video footage and photos of Cascade Butte, Cascade, MT; the Little Missouri Badlands of North Dakota; cliffs above Moab, UT; and the convergence of the Little Colorado River with the Colorado River as examples of what he interprets to be bottom-end hanging canyons. His hypothesis is that these features formed during the receding phase of the Flood, as the currents changed rapidly and the water became channelized. What he presented builds on Michael Oard’s hypothesis published in the March 2011 issue of CRSQ for how the Grand Canyon was formed.
Dr. Robert Carter from Creation Ministries International (CMI) presented a critique of Dr. Joshua Swamidass’ Geneaological Adam and Eve Model. The model postulates that Adam and Eve may have been selected by God from a previously evolved human population and given “humanness,” or God may have created them from scratch, but with no distinction from the evolved humans. Then they would have interbred with the population lacking this humanness, and their DNA would have disappeared from the population over time, but not their genealogy. Dr. Carter introduced a population modelling software that he has developed to test this model, showing that Swamidass’ assumptions about ancestry are wrong. He also showed how complicated the picture becomes due to geographic separation and local mating patterns. Swamidass’ model leaves uncertainty about whether all people were genealogically descended from Adam by the time of Christ, resulting in some serious problems.
Then, Dr. Jeff Tomkins from ICR presented some of what he has discovered about the alleged chromosome fusion in an evolutionary common ancestor between humans and chimps. Human chromosome 2 has some similarities with chimp chromosomes 12 and 13 (also called chromosomes 2A and 2B, respectively), so it has been a key argument for the human evolution story. However, Dr. Tomkins has found that the supposed fusion sequence is actually a transcription factor binding site inside a promoter for an important gene, and the alleged cryptic centromere is in the middle of a large protein-coding gene. The differences and complexity cannot be explained by a simple fusion event.
The first day ended with the Henry M. Morris Memorial Lecture given this year by Bill Hoesh. He talked about the history of the Creation Science movement and how we are in a wilderness, often shunned by the secular establishment.
The second day of the conference began with a plenary session by Dr. Joseph Deweese. He shared the progress being made in refining extraction protocols for fossil DNA to prepare it for sequencing. Modern technologies are advancing rapidly, and the time and cost are both decreasing. DNA extraction has been confirmed from several fossils.
Dr. Timothy Clarey from ICR has continued his research correlating geological megasequences across multiple continents, showing a progressive Flood that peaked with the Zuni Megasequence and receded with the Tejas. He published the results of the first three continents in the book Carved in Stone and has continued correlating more. In his presentation, he showed his results for Australia and the surrounding islands. This Australasian continent shows a Pre-Sauk Megasequence below the Sauk, but otherwise matches the other continents so far studied.
Continuing the Catastrophic Plate Tectonics (CPT) model, Dr. John Baumgardner shared that he has been modelling how the creation of new seafloor during the Flood produced tsunamis that eroded, transported, and deposited sediment into layers on the continents. He says that the process would have generated a tsunami about every 1.5 minutes! As the waves washed onto shore, the previous waves would have been receding, and the overall result was to produce extensive horizontal layers across the continents.
Dr. Brian Thomas from ICR shared how fossil specimens exhibit collagen-rich regions under a cross-polarized light microscope, due to the collagen fibers’ ability to hold hydroxyapatite crystals in a regular pattern. As the collagen decays, these crystals are released, and these areas go dark. It has been observed that various fossils show spectra of apparent collagen content ranging from abundant to none. To investigate the cause for this, two Camarasaurus specimens (sauropods) were compared. They both came from the Brushy Basin Member of the Morrison Formation. One was from a private ranch near Dinosaur, Colorado, and the other was from private property near Devil’s Tower, Wyoming, which is believed to be the throat of an extinct volcano. The Colorado specimen showed abundant collagen, but the Wyoming specimen showed none. Because higher temperatures speed up the decay rate, the specimen from near Devil’s Tower was likely “cooked” by the heat from the volcano.
So, what was my favourite part of the conference? The fellowship! With attendees from the three major creationist organizations (ICR, CMI, and Answers in Genesis) and many others, there was an amazing spirit of collaboration, even when viewpoints and hypotheses did not align. Conferences like this are a great way to be informed about cutting-edge creation research. It’s also a great way to connect with like-minded people and grow your faith.
Andrea Reitan
January 2026
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I joined the Creation Research Society in 2023 because God put a desire in my heart to do research and publish technical papers. My undergraduate science degree has no major, and I’ve received some criticism for that, but the program I enrolled in allowed me to try a bit of everything and get a well-rounded base of scientific knowledge. Then God gave me a job where I have the freedom to do the things I love. I needed some intellectual stimulation, though, so I told God, “I need some science I can sink my teeth into.” In September 2024, He answered by handing me a paleoanthropology assignment and connecting me to a co-author, Carol Adams. We decided to attend the 2025 CRS Conference at the end of July, and Carol suggested that we submit an abstract and present our work.
There is so much to report about what happened at the conference. For most of the sessions, there were three presentations running at the same time, so I had to pick and choose which ones to attend.
On the official first day of the conference, the plenary session was given by Dr. Jake Hebert from the Institute for Creation Research (ICR). He shared a summary of what he has been working on for the last while—gathering evidence for greater longevity in animals in the pre- and immediate post-Flood world. He has published articles in the Creation Research Society Quarterly (CRSQ) about the larger sizes of fossil Crassostrea oysters, sharks, and crocodilians. The similarities between many fossil and living species are possibly signs that the living creatures descended from giant ancestors that lived longer and took longer to mature. If this were the case for animals, it may also be the case for humans before the Genesis Flood as well, explaining the extended lifespans of the patriarchs listed in Genesis 5 and 11 and possibly even the reports of giants later on.
Later in the day, Dr. Andy McIntosh, from the UK, shared work he has been involved in regarding the spray system used by bombardier beetles to eject a series of 400-500 explosions per second as a defence mechanism. At Liberty University, engineering students are working on developing a proof-of-concept model, which could also become a research tool to further develop a sprinkler system for fire suppression in places where fire can be catastrophic, such as in submarines and space vehicles. The idea is for an infrared camera to detect a potentially dangerous heat source and direct a nozzle to spray water/vapour mist precisely at the hazard.
The next presentation I attended was by Dr. Kevin Horton. He showed drone video footage and photos of Cascade Butte, Cascade, MT; the Little Missouri Badlands of North Dakota; cliffs above Moab, UT; and the convergence of the Little Colorado River with the Colorado River as examples of what he interprets to be bottom-end hanging canyons. His hypothesis is that these features formed during the receding phase of the Flood, as the currents changed rapidly and the water became channelized. What he presented builds on Michael Oard’s hypothesis published in the March 2011 issue of CRSQ for how the Grand Canyon was formed.
Dr. Robert Carter from Creation Ministries International (CMI) presented a critique of Dr. Joshua Swamidass’ Geneaological Adam and Eve Model. The model postulates that Adam and Eve may have been selected by God from a previously evolved human population and given “humanness,” or God may have created them from scratch, but with no distinction from the evolved humans. Then they would have interbred with the population lacking this humanness, and their DNA would have disappeared from the population over time, but not their genealogy. Dr. Carter introduced a population modelling software that he has developed to test this model, showing that Swamidass’ assumptions about ancestry are wrong. He also showed how complicated the picture becomes due to geographic separation and local mating patterns. Swamidass’ model leaves uncertainty about whether all people were genealogically descended from Adam by the time of Christ, resulting in some serious problems.
Then, Dr. Jeff Tomkins from ICR presented some of what he has discovered about the alleged chromosome fusion in an evolutionary common ancestor between humans and chimps. Human chromosome 2 has some similarities with chimp chromosomes 12 and 13 (also called chromosomes 2A and 2B, respectively), so it has been a key argument for the human evolution story. However, Dr. Tomkins has found that the supposed fusion sequence is actually a transcription factor binding site inside a promoter for an important gene, and the alleged cryptic centromere is in the middle of a large protein-coding gene. The differences and complexity cannot be explained by a simple fusion event.
The first day ended with the Henry M. Morris Memorial Lecture given this year by Bill Hoesh. He talked about the history of the Creation Science movement and how we are in a wilderness, often shunned by the secular establishment.
The second day of the conference began with a plenary session by Dr. Joseph Deweese. He shared the progress being made in refining extraction protocols for fossil DNA to prepare it for sequencing. Modern technologies are advancing rapidly, and the time and cost are both decreasing. DNA extraction has been confirmed from several fossils.
Dr. Timothy Clarey from ICR has continued his research correlating geological megasequences across multiple continents, showing a progressive Flood that peaked with the Zuni Megasequence and receded with the Tejas. He published the results of the first three continents in the book Carved in Stone and has continued correlating more. In his presentation, he showed his results for Australia and the surrounding islands. This Australasian continent shows a Pre-Sauk Megasequence below the Sauk, but otherwise matches the other continents so far studied.
Continuing the Catastrophic Plate Tectonics (CPT) model, Dr. John Baumgardner shared that he has been modelling how the creation of new seafloor during the Flood produced tsunamis that eroded, transported, and deposited sediment into layers on the continents. He says that the process would have generated a tsunami about every 1.5 minutes! As the waves washed onto shore, the previous waves would have been receding, and the overall result was to produce extensive horizontal layers across the continents.
Dr. Brian Thomas from ICR shared how fossil specimens exhibit collagen-rich regions under a cross-polarized light microscope, due to the collagen fibers’ ability to hold hydroxyapatite crystals in a regular pattern. As the collagen decays, these crystals are released, and these areas go dark. It has been observed that various fossils show spectra of apparent collagen content ranging from abundant to none. To investigate the cause for this, two Camarasaurus specimens (sauropods) were compared. They both came from the Brushy Basin Member of the Morrison Formation. One was from a private ranch near Dinosaur, Colorado, and the other was from private property near Devil’s Tower, Wyoming, which is believed to be the throat of an extinct volcano. The Colorado specimen showed abundant collagen, but the Wyoming specimen showed none. Because higher temperatures speed up the decay rate, the specimen from near Devil’s Tower was likely “cooked” by the heat from the volcano.
So, what was my favourite part of the conference? The fellowship! With attendees from the three major creationist organizations (ICR, CMI, and Answers in Genesis) and many others, there was an amazing spirit of collaboration, even when viewpoints and hypotheses did not align. Conferences like this are a great way to be informed about cutting-edge creation research. It’s also a great way to connect with like-minded people and grow your faith.
Order Online
Paperback / $10.00 / 169 Pages / full colour
I joined the Creation Research Society in 2023 because God put a desire in my heart to do research and publish technical papers. My undergraduate science degree has no major, and I’ve received some criticism for that, but the program I enrolled in allowed me to try a bit of everything and get a well-rounded base of scientific knowledge. Then God gave me a job where I have the freedom to do the things I love. I needed some intellectual stimulation, though, so I told God, “I need some science I can sink my teeth into.” In September 2024, He answered by handing me a paleoanthropology assignment and connecting me to a co-author, Carol Adams. We decided to attend the 2025 CRS Conference at the end of July, and Carol suggested that we submit an abstract and present our work.
There is so much to report about what happened at the conference. For most of the sessions, there were three presentations running at the same time, so I had to pick and choose which ones to attend.
On the official first day of the conference, the plenary session was given by Dr. Jake Hebert from the Institute for Creation Research (ICR). He shared a summary of what he has been working on for the last while—gathering evidence for greater longevity in animals in the pre- and immediate post-Flood world. He has published articles in the Creation Research Society Quarterly (CRSQ) about the larger sizes of fossil Crassostrea oysters, sharks, and crocodilians. The similarities between many fossil and living species are possibly signs that the living creatures descended from giant ancestors that lived longer and took longer to mature. If this were the case for animals, it may also be the case for humans before the Genesis Flood as well, explaining the extended lifespans of the patriarchs listed in Genesis 5 and 11 and possibly even the reports of giants later on.
Later in the day, Dr. Andy McIntosh, from the UK, shared work he has been involved in regarding the spray system used by bombardier beetles to eject a series of 400-500 explosions per second as a defence mechanism. At Liberty University, engineering students are working on developing a proof-of-concept model, which could also become a research tool to further develop a sprinkler system for fire suppression in places where fire can be catastrophic, such as in submarines and space vehicles. The idea is for an infrared camera to detect a potentially dangerous heat source and direct a nozzle to spray water/vapour mist precisely at the hazard.
The next presentation I attended was by Dr. Kevin Horton. He showed drone video footage and photos of Cascade Butte, Cascade, MT; the Little Missouri Badlands of North Dakota; cliffs above Moab, UT; and the convergence of the Little Colorado River with the Colorado River as examples of what he interprets to be bottom-end hanging canyons. His hypothesis is that these features formed during the receding phase of the Flood, as the currents changed rapidly and the water became channelized. What he presented builds on Michael Oard’s hypothesis published in the March 2011 issue of CRSQ for how the Grand Canyon was formed.
Dr. Robert Carter from Creation Ministries International (CMI) presented a critique of Dr. Joshua Swamidass’ Geneaological Adam and Eve Model. The model postulates that Adam and Eve may have been selected by God from a previously evolved human population and given “humanness,” or God may have created them from scratch, but with no distinction from the evolved humans. Then they would have interbred with the population lacking this humanness, and their DNA would have disappeared from the population over time, but not their genealogy. Dr. Carter introduced a population modelling software that he has developed to test this model, showing that Swamidass’ assumptions about ancestry are wrong. He also showed how complicated the picture becomes due to geographic separation and local mating patterns. Swamidass’ model leaves uncertainty about whether all people were genealogically descended from Adam by the time of Christ, resulting in some serious problems.
Then, Dr. Jeff Tomkins from ICR presented some of what he has discovered about the alleged chromosome fusion in an evolutionary common ancestor between humans and chimps. Human chromosome 2 has some similarities with chimp chromosomes 12 and 13 (also called chromosomes 2A and 2B, respectively), so it has been a key argument for the human evolution story. However, Dr. Tomkins has found that the supposed fusion sequence is actually a transcription factor binding site inside a promoter for an important gene, and the alleged cryptic centromere is in the middle of a large protein-coding gene. The differences and complexity cannot be explained by a simple fusion event.
The first day ended with the Henry M. Morris Memorial Lecture given this year by Bill Hoesh. He talked about the history of the Creation Science movement and how we are in a wilderness, often shunned by the secular establishment.
The second day of the conference began with a plenary session by Dr. Joseph Deweese. He shared the progress being made in refining extraction protocols for fossil DNA to prepare it for sequencing. Modern technologies are advancing rapidly, and the time and cost are both decreasing. DNA extraction has been confirmed from several fossils.
Dr. Timothy Clarey from ICR has continued his research correlating geological megasequences across multiple continents, showing a progressive Flood that peaked with the Zuni Megasequence and receded with the Tejas. He published the results of the first three continents in the book Carved in Stone and has continued correlating more. In his presentation, he showed his results for Australia and the surrounding islands. This Australasian continent shows a Pre-Sauk Megasequence below the Sauk, but otherwise matches the other continents so far studied.
Continuing the Catastrophic Plate Tectonics (CPT) model, Dr. John Baumgardner shared that he has been modelling how the creation of new seafloor during the Flood produced tsunamis that eroded, transported, and deposited sediment into layers on the continents. He says that the process would have generated a tsunami about every 1.5 minutes! As the waves washed onto shore, the previous waves would have been receding, and the overall result was to produce extensive horizontal layers across the continents.
Dr. Brian Thomas from ICR shared how fossil specimens exhibit collagen-rich regions under a cross-polarized light microscope, due to the collagen fibers’ ability to hold hydroxyapatite crystals in a regular pattern. As the collagen decays, these crystals are released, and these areas go dark. It has been observed that various fossils show spectra of apparent collagen content ranging from abundant to none. To investigate the cause for this, two Camarasaurus specimens (sauropods) were compared. They both came from the Brushy Basin Member of the Morrison Formation. One was from a private ranch near Dinosaur, Colorado, and the other was from private property near Devil’s Tower, Wyoming, which is believed to be the throat of an extinct volcano. The Colorado specimen showed abundant collagen, but the Wyoming specimen showed none. Because higher temperatures speed up the decay rate, the specimen from near Devil’s Tower was likely “cooked” by the heat from the volcano.
So, what was my favourite part of the conference? The fellowship! With attendees from the three major creationist organizations (ICR, CMI, and Answers in Genesis) and many others, there was an amazing spirit of collaboration, even when viewpoints and hypotheses did not align. Conferences like this are a great way to be informed about cutting-edge creation research. It’s also a great way to connect with like-minded people and grow your faith.
Order Online
Paperback / $6.00 / 55 Pages
I joined the Creation Research Society in 2023 because God put a desire in my heart to do research and publish technical papers. My undergraduate science degree has no major, and I’ve received some criticism for that, but the program I enrolled in allowed me to try a bit of everything and get a well-rounded base of scientific knowledge. Then God gave me a job where I have the freedom to do the things I love. I needed some intellectual stimulation, though, so I told God, “I need some science I can sink my teeth into.” In September 2024, He answered by handing me a paleoanthropology assignment and connecting me to a co-author, Carol Adams. We decided to attend the 2025 CRS Conference at the end of July, and Carol suggested that we submit an abstract and present our work.
There is so much to report about what happened at the conference. For most of the sessions, there were three presentations running at the same time, so I had to pick and choose which ones to attend.
On the official first day of the conference, the plenary session was given by Dr. Jake Hebert from the Institute for Creation Research (ICR). He shared a summary of what he has been working on for the last while—gathering evidence for greater longevity in animals in the pre- and immediate post-Flood world. He has published articles in the Creation Research Society Quarterly (CRSQ) about the larger sizes of fossil Crassostrea oysters, sharks, and crocodilians. The similarities between many fossil and living species are possibly signs that the living creatures descended from giant ancestors that lived longer and took longer to mature. If this were the case for animals, it may also be the case for humans before the Genesis Flood as well, explaining the extended lifespans of the patriarchs listed in Genesis 5 and 11 and possibly even the reports of giants later on.
Later in the day, Dr. Andy McIntosh, from the UK, shared work he has been involved in regarding the spray system used by bombardier beetles to eject a series of 400-500 explosions per second as a defence mechanism. At Liberty University, engineering students are working on developing a proof-of-concept model, which could also become a research tool to further develop a sprinkler system for fire suppression in places where fire can be catastrophic, such as in submarines and space vehicles. The idea is for an infrared camera to detect a potentially dangerous heat source and direct a nozzle to spray water/vapour mist precisely at the hazard.
The next presentation I attended was by Dr. Kevin Horton. He showed drone video footage and photos of Cascade Butte, Cascade, MT; the Little Missouri Badlands of North Dakota; cliffs above Moab, UT; and the convergence of the Little Colorado River with the Colorado River as examples of what he interprets to be bottom-end hanging canyons. His hypothesis is that these features formed during the receding phase of the Flood, as the currents changed rapidly and the water became channelized. What he presented builds on Michael Oard’s hypothesis published in the March 2011 issue of CRSQ for how the Grand Canyon was formed.
Dr. Robert Carter from Creation Ministries International (CMI) presented a critique of Dr. Joshua Swamidass’ Geneaological Adam and Eve Model. The model postulates that Adam and Eve may have been selected by God from a previously evolved human population and given “humanness,” or God may have created them from scratch, but with no distinction from the evolved humans. Then they would have interbred with the population lacking this humanness, and their DNA would have disappeared from the population over time, but not their genealogy. Dr. Carter introduced a population modelling software that he has developed to test this model, showing that Swamidass’ assumptions about ancestry are wrong. He also showed how complicated the picture becomes due to geographic separation and local mating patterns. Swamidass’ model leaves uncertainty about whether all people were genealogically descended from Adam by the time of Christ, resulting in some serious problems.
Then, Dr. Jeff Tomkins from ICR presented some of what he has discovered about the alleged chromosome fusion in an evolutionary common ancestor between humans and chimps. Human chromosome 2 has some similarities with chimp chromosomes 12 and 13 (also called chromosomes 2A and 2B, respectively), so it has been a key argument for the human evolution story. However, Dr. Tomkins has found that the supposed fusion sequence is actually a transcription factor binding site inside a promoter for an important gene, and the alleged cryptic centromere is in the middle of a large protein-coding gene. The differences and complexity cannot be explained by a simple fusion event.
The first day ended with the Henry M. Morris Memorial Lecture given this year by Bill Hoesh. He talked about the history of the Creation Science movement and how we are in a wilderness, often shunned by the secular establishment.
The second day of the conference began with a plenary session by Dr. Joseph Deweese. He shared the progress being made in refining extraction protocols for fossil DNA to prepare it for sequencing. Modern technologies are advancing rapidly, and the time and cost are both decreasing. DNA extraction has been confirmed from several fossils.
Dr. Timothy Clarey from ICR has continued his research correlating geological megasequences across multiple continents, showing a progressive Flood that peaked with the Zuni Megasequence and receded with the Tejas. He published the results of the first three continents in the book Carved in Stone and has continued correlating more. In his presentation, he showed his results for Australia and the surrounding islands. This Australasian continent shows a Pre-Sauk Megasequence below the Sauk, but otherwise matches the other continents so far studied.
Continuing the Catastrophic Plate Tectonics (CPT) model, Dr. John Baumgardner shared that he has been modelling how the creation of new seafloor during the Flood produced tsunamis that eroded, transported, and deposited sediment into layers on the continents. He says that the process would have generated a tsunami about every 1.5 minutes! As the waves washed onto shore, the previous waves would have been receding, and the overall result was to produce extensive horizontal layers across the continents.
Dr. Brian Thomas from ICR shared how fossil specimens exhibit collagen-rich regions under a cross-polarized light microscope, due to the collagen fibers’ ability to hold hydroxyapatite crystals in a regular pattern. As the collagen decays, these crystals are released, and these areas go dark. It has been observed that various fossils show spectra of apparent collagen content ranging from abundant to none. To investigate the cause for this, two Camarasaurus specimens (sauropods) were compared. They both came from the Brushy Basin Member of the Morrison Formation. One was from a private ranch near Dinosaur, Colorado, and the other was from private property near Devil’s Tower, Wyoming, which is believed to be the throat of an extinct volcano. The Colorado specimen showed abundant collagen, but the Wyoming specimen showed none. Because higher temperatures speed up the decay rate, the specimen from near Devil’s Tower was likely “cooked” by the heat from the volcano.
So, what was my favourite part of the conference? The fellowship! With attendees from the three major creationist organizations (ICR, CMI, and Answers in Genesis) and many others, there was an amazing spirit of collaboration, even when viewpoints and hypotheses did not align. Conferences like this are a great way to be informed about cutting-edge creation research. It’s also a great way to connect with like-minded people and grow your faith.
Order Online
Paperback / $6.00 / 96 Pages
I joined the Creation Research Society in 2023 because God put a desire in my heart to do research and publish technical papers. My undergraduate science degree has no major, and I’ve received some criticism for that, but the program I enrolled in allowed me to try a bit of everything and get a well-rounded base of scientific knowledge. Then God gave me a job where I have the freedom to do the things I love. I needed some intellectual stimulation, though, so I told God, “I need some science I can sink my teeth into.” In September 2024, He answered by handing me a paleoanthropology assignment and connecting me to a co-author, Carol Adams. We decided to attend the 2025 CRS Conference at the end of July, and Carol suggested that we submit an abstract and present our work.
There is so much to report about what happened at the conference. For most of the sessions, there were three presentations running at the same time, so I had to pick and choose which ones to attend.
On the official first day of the conference, the plenary session was given by Dr. Jake Hebert from the Institute for Creation Research (ICR). He shared a summary of what he has been working on for the last while—gathering evidence for greater longevity in animals in the pre- and immediate post-Flood world. He has published articles in the Creation Research Society Quarterly (CRSQ) about the larger sizes of fossil Crassostrea oysters, sharks, and crocodilians. The similarities between many fossil and living species are possibly signs that the living creatures descended from giant ancestors that lived longer and took longer to mature. If this were the case for animals, it may also be the case for humans before the Genesis Flood as well, explaining the extended lifespans of the patriarchs listed in Genesis 5 and 11 and possibly even the reports of giants later on.
Later in the day, Dr. Andy McIntosh, from the UK, shared work he has been involved in regarding the spray system used by bombardier beetles to eject a series of 400-500 explosions per second as a defence mechanism. At Liberty University, engineering students are working on developing a proof-of-concept model, which could also become a research tool to further develop a sprinkler system for fire suppression in places where fire can be catastrophic, such as in submarines and space vehicles. The idea is for an infrared camera to detect a potentially dangerous heat source and direct a nozzle to spray water/vapour mist precisely at the hazard.
The next presentation I attended was by Dr. Kevin Horton. He showed drone video footage and photos of Cascade Butte, Cascade, MT; the Little Missouri Badlands of North Dakota; cliffs above Moab, UT; and the convergence of the Little Colorado River with the Colorado River as examples of what he interprets to be bottom-end hanging canyons. His hypothesis is that these features formed during the receding phase of the Flood, as the currents changed rapidly and the water became channelized. What he presented builds on Michael Oard’s hypothesis published in the March 2011 issue of CRSQ for how the Grand Canyon was formed.
Dr. Robert Carter from Creation Ministries International (CMI) presented a critique of Dr. Joshua Swamidass’ Geneaological Adam and Eve Model. The model postulates that Adam and Eve may have been selected by God from a previously evolved human population and given “humanness,” or God may have created them from scratch, but with no distinction from the evolved humans. Then they would have interbred with the population lacking this humanness, and their DNA would have disappeared from the population over time, but not their genealogy. Dr. Carter introduced a population modelling software that he has developed to test this model, showing that Swamidass’ assumptions about ancestry are wrong. He also showed how complicated the picture becomes due to geographic separation and local mating patterns. Swamidass’ model leaves uncertainty about whether all people were genealogically descended from Adam by the time of Christ, resulting in some serious problems.
Then, Dr. Jeff Tomkins from ICR presented some of what he has discovered about the alleged chromosome fusion in an evolutionary common ancestor between humans and chimps. Human chromosome 2 has some similarities with chimp chromosomes 12 and 13 (also called chromosomes 2A and 2B, respectively), so it has been a key argument for the human evolution story. However, Dr. Tomkins has found that the supposed fusion sequence is actually a transcription factor binding site inside a promoter for an important gene, and the alleged cryptic centromere is in the middle of a large protein-coding gene. The differences and complexity cannot be explained by a simple fusion event.
The first day ended with the Henry M. Morris Memorial Lecture given this year by Bill Hoesh. He talked about the history of the Creation Science movement and how we are in a wilderness, often shunned by the secular establishment.
The second day of the conference began with a plenary session by Dr. Joseph Deweese. He shared the progress being made in refining extraction protocols for fossil DNA to prepare it for sequencing. Modern technologies are advancing rapidly, and the time and cost are both decreasing. DNA extraction has been confirmed from several fossils.
Dr. Timothy Clarey from ICR has continued his research correlating geological megasequences across multiple continents, showing a progressive Flood that peaked with the Zuni Megasequence and receded with the Tejas. He published the results of the first three continents in the book Carved in Stone and has continued correlating more. In his presentation, he showed his results for Australia and the surrounding islands. This Australasian continent shows a Pre-Sauk Megasequence below the Sauk, but otherwise matches the other continents so far studied.
Continuing the Catastrophic Plate Tectonics (CPT) model, Dr. John Baumgardner shared that he has been modelling how the creation of new seafloor during the Flood produced tsunamis that eroded, transported, and deposited sediment into layers on the continents. He says that the process would have generated a tsunami about every 1.5 minutes! As the waves washed onto shore, the previous waves would have been receding, and the overall result was to produce extensive horizontal layers across the continents.
Dr. Brian Thomas from ICR shared how fossil specimens exhibit collagen-rich regions under a cross-polarized light microscope, due to the collagen fibers’ ability to hold hydroxyapatite crystals in a regular pattern. As the collagen decays, these crystals are released, and these areas go dark. It has been observed that various fossils show spectra of apparent collagen content ranging from abundant to none. To investigate the cause for this, two Camarasaurus specimens (sauropods) were compared. They both came from the Brushy Basin Member of the Morrison Formation. One was from a private ranch near Dinosaur, Colorado, and the other was from private property near Devil’s Tower, Wyoming, which is believed to be the throat of an extinct volcano. The Colorado specimen showed abundant collagen, but the Wyoming specimen showed none. Because higher temperatures speed up the decay rate, the specimen from near Devil’s Tower was likely “cooked” by the heat from the volcano.
So, what was my favourite part of the conference? The fellowship! With attendees from the three major creationist organizations (ICR, CMI, and Answers in Genesis) and many others, there was an amazing spirit of collaboration, even when viewpoints and hypotheses did not align. Conferences like this are a great way to be informed about cutting-edge creation research. It’s also a great way to connect with like-minded people and grow your faith.
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I joined the Creation Research Society in 2023 because God put a desire in my heart to do research and publish technical papers. My undergraduate science degree has no major, and I’ve received some criticism for that, but the program I enrolled in allowed me to try a bit of everything and get a well-rounded base of scientific knowledge. Then God gave me a job where I have the freedom to do the things I love. I needed some intellectual stimulation, though, so I told God, “I need some science I can sink my teeth into.” In September 2024, He answered by handing me a paleoanthropology assignment and connecting me to a co-author, Carol Adams. We decided to attend the 2025 CRS Conference at the end of July, and Carol suggested that we submit an abstract and present our work.
There is so much to report about what happened at the conference. For most of the sessions, there were three presentations running at the same time, so I had to pick and choose which ones to attend.
On the official first day of the conference, the plenary session was given by Dr. Jake Hebert from the Institute for Creation Research (ICR). He shared a summary of what he has been working on for the last while—gathering evidence for greater longevity in animals in the pre- and immediate post-Flood world. He has published articles in the Creation Research Society Quarterly (CRSQ) about the larger sizes of fossil Crassostrea oysters, sharks, and crocodilians. The similarities between many fossil and living species are possibly signs that the living creatures descended from giant ancestors that lived longer and took longer to mature. If this were the case for animals, it may also be the case for humans before the Genesis Flood as well, explaining the extended lifespans of the patriarchs listed in Genesis 5 and 11 and possibly even the reports of giants later on.
Later in the day, Dr. Andy McIntosh, from the UK, shared work he has been involved in regarding the spray system used by bombardier beetles to eject a series of 400-500 explosions per second as a defence mechanism. At Liberty University, engineering students are working on developing a proof-of-concept model, which could also become a research tool to further develop a sprinkler system for fire suppression in places where fire can be catastrophic, such as in submarines and space vehicles. The idea is for an infrared camera to detect a potentially dangerous heat source and direct a nozzle to spray water/vapour mist precisely at the hazard.
The next presentation I attended was by Dr. Kevin Horton. He showed drone video footage and photos of Cascade Butte, Cascade, MT; the Little Missouri Badlands of North Dakota; cliffs above Moab, UT; and the convergence of the Little Colorado River with the Colorado River as examples of what he interprets to be bottom-end hanging canyons. His hypothesis is that these features formed during the receding phase of the Flood, as the currents changed rapidly and the water became channelized. What he presented builds on Michael Oard’s hypothesis published in the March 2011 issue of CRSQ for how the Grand Canyon was formed.
Dr. Robert Carter from Creation Ministries International (CMI) presented a critique of Dr. Joshua Swamidass’ Geneaological Adam and Eve Model. The model postulates that Adam and Eve may have been selected by God from a previously evolved human population and given “humanness,” or God may have created them from scratch, but with no distinction from the evolved humans. Then they would have interbred with the population lacking this humanness, and their DNA would have disappeared from the population over time, but not their genealogy. Dr. Carter introduced a population modelling software that he has developed to test this model, showing that Swamidass’ assumptions about ancestry are wrong. He also showed how complicated the picture becomes due to geographic separation and local mating patterns. Swamidass’ model leaves uncertainty about whether all people were genealogically descended from Adam by the time of Christ, resulting in some serious problems.
Then, Dr. Jeff Tomkins from ICR presented some of what he has discovered about the alleged chromosome fusion in an evolutionary common ancestor between humans and chimps. Human chromosome 2 has some similarities with chimp chromosomes 12 and 13 (also called chromosomes 2A and 2B, respectively), so it has been a key argument for the human evolution story. However, Dr. Tomkins has found that the supposed fusion sequence is actually a transcription factor binding site inside a promoter for an important gene, and the alleged cryptic centromere is in the middle of a large protein-coding gene. The differences and complexity cannot be explained by a simple fusion event.
The first day ended with the Henry M. Morris Memorial Lecture given this year by Bill Hoesh. He talked about the history of the Creation Science movement and how we are in a wilderness, often shunned by the secular establishment.
The second day of the conference began with a plenary session by Dr. Joseph Deweese. He shared the progress being made in refining extraction protocols for fossil DNA to prepare it for sequencing. Modern technologies are advancing rapidly, and the time and cost are both decreasing. DNA extraction has been confirmed from several fossils.
Dr. Timothy Clarey from ICR has continued his research correlating geological megasequences across multiple continents, showing a progressive Flood that peaked with the Zuni Megasequence and receded with the Tejas. He published the results of the first three continents in the book Carved in Stone and has continued correlating more. In his presentation, he showed his results for Australia and the surrounding islands. This Australasian continent shows a Pre-Sauk Megasequence below the Sauk, but otherwise matches the other continents so far studied.
Continuing the Catastrophic Plate Tectonics (CPT) model, Dr. John Baumgardner shared that he has been modelling how the creation of new seafloor during the Flood produced tsunamis that eroded, transported, and deposited sediment into layers on the continents. He says that the process would have generated a tsunami about every 1.5 minutes! As the waves washed onto shore, the previous waves would have been receding, and the overall result was to produce extensive horizontal layers across the continents.
Dr. Brian Thomas from ICR shared how fossil specimens exhibit collagen-rich regions under a cross-polarized light microscope, due to the collagen fibers’ ability to hold hydroxyapatite crystals in a regular pattern. As the collagen decays, these crystals are released, and these areas go dark. It has been observed that various fossils show spectra of apparent collagen content ranging from abundant to none. To investigate the cause for this, two Camarasaurus specimens (sauropods) were compared. They both came from the Brushy Basin Member of the Morrison Formation. One was from a private ranch near Dinosaur, Colorado, and the other was from private property near Devil’s Tower, Wyoming, which is believed to be the throat of an extinct volcano. The Colorado specimen showed abundant collagen, but the Wyoming specimen showed none. Because higher temperatures speed up the decay rate, the specimen from near Devil’s Tower was likely “cooked” by the heat from the volcano.
So, what was my favourite part of the conference? The fellowship! With attendees from the three major creationist organizations (ICR, CMI, and Answers in Genesis) and many others, there was an amazing spirit of collaboration, even when viewpoints and hypotheses did not align. Conferences like this are a great way to be informed about cutting-edge creation research. It’s also a great way to connect with like-minded people and grow your faith.
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