POST's 12th Annual Wallace Stegner Lecture Series "Learning from Nature–New Connections"
February 7, 2005
Twenty years ago, Diane Josephy Peavey moved to a sheep and cattle ranch in south central Idaho from Washington, D.C., where she was a lobbyist. Now the author and environmentalist writes stories about life on the ranch, its people, history and the changing landscape of the west.
Among other topics, Peavey will explore the conflicts that can occur between ranching and resource preservation as the first speaker at the 12th Annual Peninsula Open Space Trust (POST) Wallace Stegner Lecture Series.
Peavey will speak at the Mountain View Center for the Performing Arts on February 17 at 8 p.m., followed by a question-and-answer session and book-signing reception. This is the first in a four-part series presented by POST in honor of the late Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist and conservationist Wallace Stegner.
The lecture series is dedicated to exploring important issues involving land, nature and conservation. It features writers, artists and thinkers who help shape current ideas about our natural environment.
Two-time Pulitzer Prize-winner Edward O. Wilson will speak on March 24. Wilson has spent his entire life studying nature, and uses arguments from science, economics and ethics to demonstrate that proper stewardship of the earth's biodiversity is not an option, but a necessity. He is one of the most highly respected scientists in the world today.
The third lecture features author Michael Pollan in conversation with San Jose Mercury News environmental writer Paul Rogers. Pollan has written a range of books and articles on environmentalism and architecture. His most recent book is The Botany of Desire. He is currently at work on a book tracing food chains in which humans take part.
Ecologist, scholar and author Gretchen Daily is the final speaker in the lecture series. Her ideas forge new ground on the topics of biodiversity, preservation and the economy. She is currently at Stanford University as an Associate Professor (Research) of Biological Studies and director of the Tropical Research Program of the Center for Conservation Biology.
For the twelfth consecutive year Ambassador Bill and Mrs. Jean Lane are sponsoring the lecture series. It was their interest in education and conservation that provided the inspiration for the theme, "Learning from Nature–New Connections." Other sponsors include the San Jose Mercury News, INNW Fund, Paul and Antje Newhagen, Chris and Carol Espinosa and Sand Hill Advisors.