KNOXVILLE— Noted author and environmental pioneer Dr. Paul Ehrlich will deliver the Chancellor’s Distinguished Interdisciplinary Lecture at 3:00 p.m. on Earth Day, April 22, in the Cox Auditorium of the Alumni Memorial Building.
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Dr. Paul Ehrlich
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Ehrlich’s topic is “One with Nineveh: Politics, Consumption, and the Human Future.” It is the title of his most recent book, written with wife Dr. Anne Ehrlich.
“One with Nineveh” explores current environmental trends and suggests measures that “might allow humanity in general, and the world’s sole remaining superpower in particular, to alter course and work towards achieving a sustainable world,” the Ehrlichs write.
Ehrlich, a professor of population studies at Stanford University and president of the Center for Conservation Biology, is also the author of “Population Bomb,” the 1968 book that was influential in shaping the environmental movement.
Ehrlich’s visit will be the occasion to announce formally the UT Environmental Semester scheduled for spring 2005, said Neil Greenberg, professor of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology and chair of the University Studies Program.
“Professor Ehrlich’s visit has two purposes,” Greenberg said. “First, we want to honor his accomplishments as a successful provocateur of the public conscience and consciousness about the dangers of uncontrolled population growth. Secondly, we want to highlight UT’s planned Environmental Semester, scheduled for Spring 2005. Earth Day seems an appropriate occasion to announce our plans for this exciting project.”
Environmental Semester will showcase and foster environmental stewardship on the UTK campus; the university’s national reputation for environmental research; and the research, teaching, and outreach capabilities of UT faculty and staff.
In addition to Ehrlich’s afternoon lecture, he will present an 11 a.m. seminar for the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology on “Checkerspots: A model system in population biology in Room 555 of Buehler Hall.
At 7 p.m., he will participate in a community forum at Tennessee Valley Unitarian Universalist Church on “Faith, Family, and Food: Interfaith Perspectives on the Environment.”
All three events are free and open to the public.
For more information, please go to http://environmentalsemester.utk.edu