ReBUILDetroit presents “Coloring the Conservation Conversation” March 18

A consortium comprised of the University of Detroit Mercy (UDM) and Wayne State University with HFC serving as its pipeline partner, ReBUILDetroit will host the virtual event “Coloring the Conservation Conversation” on Thursday, March 18, from 12:45 to 1:45 p.m. Author/wildlife ecologist Dr. J. Drew Lanham will be the speaker.

Please register for this event by Tuesday, March 16. A ZOOM link will be sent to registered participants prior to the event.

A native of Edgefield, SC, Lanham is the author of The Home Place: Memoirs of a Colored Man’s Love Affair with Nature, which received the Reed Award from the Southern Environmental Law Center in Charlottesville, VA and the Southern Book Prize. It was also a finalist for the John Burroughs Medal. Lanham earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in zoology and his PhD in forest resources, all from Clemson University in Clemson, SC, where he is an Alumni Distinguished Professor of Wildlife Ecology and Master Teacher.

In his lecture, Lanham will discuss what it means to embrace the full breadth of his African-American heritage and his deep kinship to nature and his adoration of birds. The convergence of ornithologist, college professor, poet, author and conservation activist blend to bring our awareness of the natural world and our moral responsibility for it in new ways.

Participants will:
• Gain insight on the breadth of what it means to be a Black ornithologist and scientist in higher education
• Gain an understanding of the interplay between diversity, race, and conservation
• Understand how conservation is both a science and an art

For questions or more information, please contact Dr. Jahzara D.E. Mayes at otoojm@udmercy.edu.