DURHAM, N.C. – Biologist Paul R. Ehrlich, author of the 1968 bestseller The Population Bomb, will present a free talk, “Surviving the Sixth Mass Extinction,” on Tuesday, Oct. 18, at Duke University.

The talk will be at 6 p.m. at Love Auditorium in the Levine Science Research Center on Duke’s West Campus. A light reception will precede the talk at 5:15.

Ehrlich will be delivering the 2016 Ferguson Family Distinguished Lectureship in the Environment and Society, sponsored by Duke’s Nicholas School of the Environment.

One of today’s most widely cited biologists, Erhlich first gained fame in 1968 with the publication of his prophetic nonfiction bestseller The Population Bomb which, along with Silent Spring by Rachel Carson, helped launch the U.S. environmental movement.  Ehrlich’s book warned of the far-ranging consequences human overpopulation and non-sustainable resource use could have on the survival of Earth’s species, including humans themselves.

Ehrlich is Bing Professor of Population Studies and Professor of Biological Sciences at Stanford University.

In recognition of his pioneering research in the fields of population biology, ecology and evolution he has been elected a member of the National Academy of Sciences and won many top honors, including the Crafoord Prize, a widely recognized equivalent for the Nobel Prize in fields of science where the Nobel is not awarded.  

He also has won the Heinz Award in the Environment; the Heineken Prize for Environmental Sciences; the John Muir Award from the Sierra Club, the Gold Medal Award from the World Wildlife Fund International, a MacArthur Prize Fellowship, and the United Nations’ Sasakawa Environment Prize.

Seating at Ehrlich’s talk is on a first-come first-served basis. Overflowing viewing via streaming video will be available in Levine Science Research Center room A158.

The talk can also be viewed remotely via http://trinity.capture.duke.edu/Panopto/Pages/Viewer.aspx?id=a0be2ad2-ec07-46c7-b752-b6afd6278f04

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