The award will support research of manuscripts in the Charles Finney Cox Collection of Charles Darwin’s writing, correspondence and other materials this summer. The visiting scholars program involves an interdisciplinary approach to research in environmental humanities, connecting nature to the human experience. 

The research will support Costa’s latest endeavor, writing an annotated edition of Darwin’s The Descent of Man, to be published by the Princeton University Press. 

“It’s a real privilege and honor to be named a 2019 Mellon Visiting Scholar of the New York Botanical Garden’s Humanities Institute,” said Costa. “The Charles Finney Cox Collection is a treasure-trove of material that offers a unique window into the cultural impact of Darwin’s ideas. Cox, a contemporary of Darwin, was interested in not only the development of evolutionary ideas, but their societal implications. This opportunity to immerse myself in his extensive collection is very exciting.”

Costa has authored three other Darwin-related books and has taught courses on the 19th-century British naturalist for more than 20 years. He has been a WCU faculty member since 1996 and was named director of the Highlands Biological Station in 2006.