Chief conservation officer for Global Wildlife Conservation (GWC) Russell A. Mittermeier, PH.D., will visit DePauw on Thursday, Sept. 27. The free event will be at 11:30 a.m. in the Ballroom of the Memorial Student Union with lunch provided.
According to the website of the GWC, Mittermeier was named “Hero for the Planet” by TIME magazine and is a world leader in the field of biodiversity and tropical rainforest conservation. Also, Mittermeier has described 18 new species of animals and has had eight species named in his honor. Mittermeier has also written 35 books and more than 650 scientific and popular articles.
Mittermeier is also the 2018 recipient of the Indianapolis Prize, the world's leading award for animal conservation from the Indianapolis Zoo. He will travel to Indiana to receive the Indianapolis Prize’s Lilly Medal and $250,000 - the largest monetary award given exclusively for the successful conservation of endangered or threatened species.
According to the GWC’s website, Mittermeier has also traveled to over 169 countries and has done field work in more than 30 of them. He will speak about these experiences during his speech: Biodiversity Conservation: A Global Priority.
“Hearing about how renowned speakers will be visiting campus always excites me, especially when the subject of these presentations is a current issue,” said Senior Environmental Fellow Regan Giesting in an email interview with The DePauw.
Giesting continued, “I am looking forward to hearing Dr. Mittermeier speak about Megadiversity Countries and High Biodiversity Wilderness Areas because with the rapid evolution in technology in today’s world, issues like biodiversity are often dismissed by the general public.“
Mittermeier will also be signing books after his presentation that are available for purchase.