Steward T. A. Pickett is a plant ecologist and Distinguished Senior Scientist at the Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies. He specializes in urban and landscape ecology, founding the Baltimore Ecosystem Study Long-Term Ecological Research project and co-directing the Urban Sustainability Research Coordination Network. His research explores social-ecological dynamics, equity of green infrastructure, and the ecology of segregation across diverse ecosystems. A champion of inclusivity in ecological science, he has authored influential books on ecological theory, conservation, and urban design. Pickett is a member of the National Academy of Sciences and a Fellow of multiple scientific societies. His many honors include the ESA’s Eminent Ecologist Award and the BBVA Foundation Frontiers of Knowledge Award in Ecology and Conservation.

Talk title: Urban Ecology Reflections on Insights about Nature, Community, Self.

Shane Campbell-Staton is an evolutionary biologist and assistant professor at Princeton University. He uses physiology, gene expression, genomics and experimentation to explore how human activity drives evolution in species across the globe, from urban adaptation of Caribbean lizards to the evolution of tuskless elephants in response to poaching.

A passionate science communicator, Shane shares the wonders of biology with broad audiences. Inspired by nature documentaries as a child, he now brings science to the public as the host of Human Footprint and Evolution Earth on PBS. Through research and media, he highlights the deep connections between human history, culture, and the evolution of life on Earth.

Talk title: The past, present and future Urbanization: Understanding and designing the fastest growing ecosystem on the planet

A native of Edgefield, South Carolina, J. Drew 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 and the Southern Book Prize, and was a finalist for the John Burroughs Medal. Most recently, he is the author of Sparrow Envy: Field Guide to Birds and Lesser Beasts. He is a birder, naturalist, and hunter-conservationist who has published essays and poetry in publications including Orion, Audubon, Flycatcher, and Wilderness, and in several anthologies, including The Colors of Nature, State of the Heart, Bartram’s Living Legacy, and Carolina Writers at Home. Lanham is a 2022 MacArthur Fellow. An Alumni Distinguished Professor of Wildlife Ecology and Master Teacher at Clemson University, he and his family live in the Upstate of South Carolina, a soaring hawk’s downhill glide from the southern Appalachian escarpment that the Cherokee once called the Blue Wall.

Talk title: Coloring the Conservation Conversation