Dr. Stanley A. Temple, senior fellow at the Aldo Leopold Foundation, will give two presentations on Wednesday, March 21, both in CNS C101.

At 11 a.m., he will discuss “Aldo Leopold and ‘the Oldest Task in Human History'” (which Leopold defined as “living on a piece of land without spoiling it.”)

At 7 p.m., he will speak on “Aldo Leopold, Phenology and Climate Change.”

Aldo Leopold, the father of wildlife management who was best known as the author of A Sand County Almanac, was a keen observer of the natural world. Throughout his life he kept daily journals recording observations of seasonal events, especially those occurring at his beloved “shack” on the Leopold farm, which was the setting for many essays in A Sand County Almanac.

Leopold’s meticulous observations provided an unparalleled record of when plants bloomed, birds migrated and other natural events. Comparing his observations of hundreds of natural events to recent records helps us understand how climate change is affecting the ecological community.

These talks are supported by the Beach Lewis Fund of the Biology Department and are cosponsored by the Biology Department, the Environmental Studies program and John Wesley Powell Audubon Society.

Renowned nature photographer Tom Ulrich will give a presentation on Monday, Feb. 27 at 7 p.m. in CNS C101.

Originally from Illinois, Ulrich now resides outside Glacier National Park in Montana, but returns to Illinois each year on his photo tour. He will take us on a photographic journey of the year 2011 in the life of a wildlife photographer. This year’s focus will include the Nature of New Zealand and Glacier National Park, with a special feature on warblers and the hummingbirds of Ecuador.

His presentation is co-sponsored by the Sugar Grove Nature Center, IWU Biology Department, the Environmental Studies program and John Wesley Powell Audubon Society.

On Saturday, Feb. 18, the Athletic Department, Illinois Wesleyan’s Sierra Student Coalition and GREENetwork will host “Go Green Night” at the Shirk Center.

The audience is encouraged to wear their Titan green to cheer on the women’s and men’s final regular season home basketball games — against Elmhurst College at 5 and 7 p.m., respectively — while also celebrating campus efforts to “Go Green!” in support of Illinois Wesleyan’s commitment to environmental sustainability.

The evening is also “Seniors’ Night,” honoring the seniors on the basketball teams.

Thursday, Feb. 9, at 7 p.m. in CNS C101

Dr. Jeff Walk, the director of science for the Illinois Chapter of The Nature Conservancy, will give a talk based on the book Illinois Birds: A Century of Change, published in 2010.

From 1906-1909, Stephen Forbes, Alfred Gross and Howard Ray conducted the first quantitative bird survey in North America, documenting the numbers of all species they observed in all habitats across Illinois with a specific, repeatable method. Richard and Jean Graber repeated the study from 1956-1958, and Walk and his colleagues replicated their efforts from 2006-2008.

Walk will summarize his findings in this talk, which is supported by the Beach Lewis fund of the IWU Biology Department.

On Monday, Jan. 23, at 8 p.m. in CNS C102, Clayton Daughenbaugh of the Sierra Club and Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance will speak and show a short video about saving the greater canyonlands area in Utah from off-road vehicles as well as oil and natural gas development.

Daughenbaugh will also give an update on the progress Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance and the Sierra Club have made on encouraging legislators to co-sponsor America’s Redrock Wilderness Act. 

The Martin Luther King, Jr. Day Teach-In this afternoon in the Hansen Student Center includes three panel discussions related to food and social justice.

The first panel, at 1 p.m., will explore “National Efforts to Create Local Food.” At 2 p.m., the second panel will focus on sustainable agriculture in Bloomington and Illinois Wesleyan. The third panel, at 3 p.m., will discuss food insecurity from international, national and local perspectives.

The Teach-In’s theme of food and social justice carries over from last semester’s symposium, What We Eat. Why It Matters.

Tuesday, Jan. 17, 7 p.m., CNS C101

Author Thomas Lerczak will give a talk, “From Field Notes to Book Publication: The Story Behind Side Channels, A Collection of Nature Writing and a Memoir,” cosponsored by the Environmental Studies Department and John Wesley Powell Audubon Society.