DURHAM, NC – Biologist Edward Osborne Wilson, one of the century’s most influential and widely cited scientists, will present a free public talk at 6 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 11, at Duke University.

Wilson’s talk, “The Diversity of Life,” will be in the Reynolds Industries Theater at the Bryan University Center, 125 Science Drive. A Q&A will follow the talk. A public reception will precede it at 5:15 p.m. in the theater lobby.

Tickets are required, and are limited to two per person.  They can be picked up at the Duke University Box Office in Bryan Student Center.  Tickets are free, but a $6 transaction fee will be applied to all orders placed by phone (919-684-4444) or online (www.tickets.duke.edu.)

The talk is sponsored by Duke’s Nicholas School of the Environment and the E.O. Wilson Biodiversity Foundation.  

Earlier this year, the school and foundation signed a landmark agreement that brings Wilson to Duke to teach one graduate-level course a year. Under the agreement, the E.O. Wilson Biodiversity Foundation will collaborate with Duke faculty and students on biodiversity research and outreach and be based as an independent foundation at the Nicholas School, with offices in the school’s new home, Duke Environment Hall. 

Hailed as the father of the modern field of sociobiology and a major force in the development of tools and techniques for studying biodiversity, Wilson is a member of the National Academy of Sciences and has been awarded a U.S. National Medal of Science, the Carl Sagan Award for Public Understanding of Science, a TED Prize, and two Pulitzer Prizes for general nonfiction, among more than 100 other high honors. 

He has published more than 430 scientific papers and numerous best-selling books on science and society, including Letters to a Young Scientist, On Human Nature, and The Social Conquest of Earth.  In recognition of his achievements, he has been named one of the century’s most influential environmentalists by both Time and Audubon magazines. He is Honorary Curator in Entomology and University Reearch Professor Emeritus at Harvard University.

The Duke Box Office is open from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday.  Paid parking for Wilson’s talk is available at the Bryan Center Parking Deck, adjacent to the Bryan Center.