A group of young-earth creationists gathered in San Diego on July 5, 1997, to attend The First Young-Earth Conference on Radioisotopes. The purpose of this first conference was to establish each researcher's current insights on radioisotope data from a creationist perspective and develop a plan for research and publication on the subject.

Located on the Equator about 600 miles from the coast of Ecuador is a set of volcanic mountains that emerged from the Pacific Basin. They were first named Las Islas Encantadas or, "the Bewitched Islands," but now are universally given the name Galapagos in reference to their most unique resident, the giant Galapagos tortoise.