Scientist and author David Suzuki, who is described as a conscience on the global environment, will deliver the annual Lane Family Lecture in Environmental Science at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 13, in Todd Auditorium.
Suzuki’s presentation, “Ecology vs. Economy: Setting the Real Bottom Line,” is free to the public. A reception will follow.
The winner of several Canadian prizes to young scientists for his discoveries involving fruit-fly genetics, Suzuki abandoned much of his research in the 1970s to address concerns about the potential negative impacts of science and technology on society. Beginning as a host of Canadian Broadcasting’s “Quirks and Quarks,” he became a global personality as moderator of “The Nature of Things,” a series that airs in 40 countries. A 1985 series “A Planet for the Taking” earned him the United Nations Environmental Program Medal.
Before his retirement from the University of British Columbia faculty in 2001, Suzuki and his wife, Tara Cullis, founded the David Suzuki Foundation, which is dedicated to “developing a world vision of sustainable communities living within the planet’s carrying capacity.”
The Lane Lecture is endowed by a gift from former publisher of Sunset magazine, books and films, L.W. “Bill” Lane and his wife, Jean.
In conjunction with the lecture, WSU’s Environmental Science and Regional Planning program will host a two-day sustainability forum Thursday-Friday, Oct. 14-15, in the CUB. Forum director Eldon Franz, associate professor of environmental science, said the program will be similar to a trade show open house. It will showcase programs throughout the university and community in outreach, research and education. The forum will include panel presentations, posters and display materials.
