MEDIA CONTACT: Lisa Freed
561-297-3022, lfreed@fau.edu

FAU Presents Stuart Pimm to Answer 'Does the Variety of Life Have a Future?'

BOCA RATON, FL (January 9, 2006) - Florida Atlantic University presents Dr. Stuart Pimm, the Doris Duke chair in Conservation Ecology at Duke University, who will lecture on species extinction, its geographical ranges and human impact. The presentation will take place Thursday, January 12 at 3:30 p.m. in the Charles E. Schmidt Biomedical Center, room 126.

One of the world's top scientists, Pimm is known for his frankness and wit, which have often put him in the center of contentious conservation issues. As a conservation ecologist, Pimm studies the process of extinction and what can be done to prevent it. His group works in Madagascar, South Africa, Brazil, Central American and the Florida Everglades.

In the last decade, Pimm has published more than 100 papers, all of which have served as an extraordinary influence on ecological issues. "The Balance of Nature," one such publication, defines the field of how populations vary over time, how communities are assembled and how they resist or succumb to change. "The World According to Pimm: a Scientist Audits the Earth," has been called "a superb account of what we are doing to our planet, what will be the consequences, and what we can do about it all" by critics.

Pimm's accomplishments include receiving the Pew Scholarship for Conservation and the Environment, the Zoological Society of London's Marsh Prize and an Aldo Leopold Leadership Fellowship. He has testified before the U.S. House and Senate committees on the re-authorization of the Endangered Species Act and has given numerous briefings to the secretary of the U.S. Department of Interior.

The Frontiers in Science Spring 2006 Public Lecture Series is free and open to the public. It is sponsored by the Charles E. Schmidt College of Science, supported by FAU's Lifelong Learning Society Endowed Professorship.

For more information, contact Patsy Jones at 561-297-1307 or patsyj@fau.edu.

-FAU-