Symposium spotlights ecological disaster, recovery

One of this nation’s biggest environmental mishaps will be the subject of the keynote address at the Ecology Group’s Fifth Annual Ecology Symposium Sept. 16-17 in the State Historical Society of Wisconsin, 816 State St.

John Wiens, a leading landscape ecologist and Colorado State University professor, will open the symposium with a lecture on “Science Versus Advocacy: The Lessons of the Exxon Valdez Oil Spill,” at 7 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 16. This year marks the 10th anniversary of the supertanker disaster in Alaska’s Prince William Sound. Wiens will review the extent of ecological recovery and consider how scientists measure an accident’s impact and recovery.

Information: Tom Sinclair, 263-5599; or visit http://www.ies.wisc.edu/meg/.