Ecologist to speak in Madison

Paul Ehrlich, whose book “The Population Bomb” helped fuel the rise of the modern environmental movement four decades ago, will give a free public lecture at 5:30 p.m. on Thursday, Oct. 8, at the Wisconsin Union Theater.

Ehrlich, Bing Professor of Population Studies at Stanford University, will speak about his most recent book, “The Dominant Animal: Human Evolution and the Environment.”

A world-renowned ecologist, Ehrlich is an expert in the structure, dynamics and genetics of natural butterfly populations. He also is president of Stanford’s Center for Conservation Biology, which he established in 1984. But he is best known for alerting the public to problems of overpopulation and for raising issues of population, resources and the environment as matters of public policy.

“The Population Bomb” debuted in 1968, predicting widespread disaster — including mass starvation in parts of the world because of unprecedented growth in human numbers — and quickly became a national bestseller. Since then, Ehrlich has written or co-authored roughly 40 other books on a remarkable range of topics, from the extinction of species to anti-environmental rhetoric.

His Madison talk will open the national conference of the Association for Environmental Studies and Sciences (AESS), a new organization of educators and students from interdisciplinary college and university environmental programs. UW–Madison’s Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies is co-sponsoring the conference.

For more information, contact Pete Nowak, 265-3581, pnowak@wisc.edu.