UConn Advance - September 10, 2007 - Speakers announced for Teale Lecture series

“Corporate Environmentalism: Doing Well by Doing Good?” is the title of the first lecture in the 2007-2008 Teale environmental lecture series.

The lecture, by Geoff Heal, professor of finance and economics and Garrett Professor of Public Policy and Business Responsibility at Columbia University, will take place on Sept. 20 at 4 p.m.

Heal will discuss the substantial and diverse economic benefits of environmental conservation.

“America needs to rethink fundamentally its attitude toward environmental conservation,” he says.

“Traditionally justified on moral and ethical grounds, conservation has to be viewed instead as an economic winner.”

The Edwin Way Teale Lecture Series on Nature and the Environment, now beginning its 11th year, brings world-renowned scientists and scholars to the University to present public lectures in the Thomas J. Dodd Research Center and interact with faculty, students, and the general public.

“Over its 11-year history, a crucial goal of the Teale Lecture Series has been to enhance people’s knowledge of the complex and varied issues facing the planet,” says Gregory Anderson, vice provost for research and graduate education and chair of the lecture series committee.

“Having leading and influential scientists and scholars present their ideas at the University presents a special opportunity for multidisciplinary interactions on campus, engagement with interested members of the broader Connecticut community, and for all to broaden their environmental understanding, making informed choices in the way they interact with and shape the environment.”

Future speakers in the 2007-2008 series are:

Oct. 4 “Endangered Species Conservation: An Assessment and Prognosis,” by Michael J. Bean, attorney, chair of the Wildlife Program, Environmental Defense

Nov. 15 “Emerging New Forests in the Shining Star of the Caribbean,” by Ariel Lugo, director, International Institute of Tropical Forestry

Feb. 7 “Brewing Biodiversity: The Ecology of Coffee Farms in Chiapas, Mexico,” by Ivette Perfecto, professor of natural resources, University of Michigan

March 20 “Hope in a Dark Time: The Promises of Religious Environmentalism,” by Roger Gottlieb, professor of philosophy, Worcester Polytechnic Institute

April 10 “The Heartbeat of Our Mother,” by Joseph Bruchac, storyteller and writer

All lectures in the series take place at 4 p.m. in the Thomas J. Dodd Research Center.