2011 Speakers Announced for Barrows Conservation Lecture Series

Posted February 20, 2011

CINCINNATI – The Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden is pleased to announce the 2011 speakers for the 19th annual Barrows Conservation Lecture Series. Once again, the prestigious lecture series will feature an exciting lineup of internationally acclaimed scientists, explorers and conservationists – including Dr. William Conway, recipient of the 2011 Barrows Lecture Conservation Award! Since 1993, the series has brought a slate of esteemed naturalists and scientists to Cincinnati to address wildlife issues and global conservation efforts.

Opening the Series on Wednesday, March 23, at 7 p.m., is Dr. Mark Moffett, who will present, “Adventures among Ants: A Global Safari with a Cast of Trillions.” Intrepid international explorer, biologist, and photographer “the Indiana Jones of entomology,” takes us around the globe on a strange and colorful journey in search of the hidden world of ants. With tales from Nigeria, Indonesia, the Amazon, Australia, California, and elsewhere, Moffett recounts his entomological exploits and provides fascinating details on how ants live and how they dominate their ecosystems through strikingly human behaviors, yet at a different scale and at a faster tempo. Moffett’s spectacular close-up photographs shrink us down to size, so that we can observe ants in familiar roles: working as farmers, warriors, builders, big-game hunters, and slave owners. We find them in marketplaces and on assembly lines. We discover them dealing with issues we think of as uniquely human-from hygiene and recycling to warfare and terrorism. Adventures among Ants introduces some of the world’s most awe-inspiring species, and at the same time, offers a startling new perspective on the limits of our own perceptions.

On Wednesday, April 6, starting at 7 p.m., Stan Rullman, will present, “Fear and Conservation in the American West: Why we Need Big Predators.” Rullman will share the latest research in the complexities of predator-prey relationships – from sea stars to sea otters, cougars to Cooper’s Hawks – and why landscapes need predators more than ever today. With the return of wolves to their native landscapes throughout much of the West, ecologists are examining the changes their return brings to the larger ecosystems and the many species that call these places home. Stan started a series of peregrinations that took him around the world several times over, seeking out the wildest, untrammeled landscapes on the planet in his work as Conservation Coordinator at the Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden. He left the Zoo in the late ‘90’s and spent a couple years assisting the Jane Goodall Institute in Tanzania develop and implement conservation strategies and teacher education throughout the country.

On Wednesday, April 27, at 7 p.m., Dr. Bill Conway, will present, “To Keep a Species.” Conway, a legendary American zoologist, ornithologist, and award winning conservationist, will discuss the challenges of keeping wildlife in an ever more crowded world of people. Panthers and penguins, tigers, tortoises, elephants, elephant seals, flamingos and other great congregating wild animals will be among the focus. Bill joined the New York Zoological Society in 1956 and led the organization through its unprecedented growth until his “retirement,” as President in 1999. During his tenure, Bill was responsible for the transformation of NYZS into the Wildlife Conservation Society, and into the global leadership role it plays in wildlife conservation today. Conway remains in key roles with WCS, the International Union for the Conservation of Nature, and other wildlife programs.

On Tuesday, May 24, at 7 p.m., Dr. David (Jonah) Western, will present, “The End of Nature and the Last of the Wilds?” Western looks at the future of nature and the wilds from the depths of the African savanna where our human footprint began. The great plains of East Africa are celebrated as the last of the wilds, but for how long? The 20th century marked a new geological age, the Anthropocene. Today, globalization and climate changes are altering the remotest of the wilds – from the Arctic wastes to tropical savannas. Human impact is supplanting natural selection in shaping evolution and the balance of nature. Does human domination spell the death of nature and the end of the wilds?

All Barrows Conservation Lectures will be held in the Cincinnati Zoo’s Frisch’s Theater in the Harold C. Schott Education Center. All lectures begin promptly at 7:00 p.m. WGUC 90.9 is the media sponsor for the 2011 series. Lecture tickets go on sale January 7, 2011 and are priced: Zoo Members/Volunteers $10 single, Zoo Members/Volunteers $27 series, Non-Zoo Members $12 single, Non-Zoo Members $33 series. For more information please call 513-487-3318 and to purchase tickets please call 513-559-7767 or for online purchases please visit www.cincinnatizoo.org.