A decorated conservationist will examine the ethical ramifications of using DNA to bring back an extinct bird during a pair of presentations at North Dakota State University on Friday, April 25.
Stanley Temple is scheduled to present “Remembering a Lost Bird: Lessons From the Past for a Sustainable Future,” at 6:30 p.m. at Festival Concert Hall. He also will present “De-extinction: A Game Changer for Conservation Biology,” at 3 p.m. at Van Es room 101.
Both presentations are free and open to the public.
Temple, professor emeritus in conservation at the University of Wisconsin-Madison Department of Forest and Wildlife Ecology, will discuss the passenger pigeon’s extinction 100 years ago, the possibility of bringing them back through DNA and the implications for the future.
Temple has spent almost 40 years as a respected conservationist.
His interdisciplinary approaches to solving environmental problems and energetic contributions to the conservation movement from the local to global levels have earned international recognition.
Temple has been a senior fellow of the Aldo Leopold Foundation since his retirement in 2007. He and his 75 graduate students have worked to solve conservation problems in 21 countries, and have helped save some of the world’s most rare and endangered species.
He has been recognized for his achievements by the Wildlife Society and Wisconsin Society for Ornithology, and has earned an International Chevron Conservation Award and a Fulbright Fellowship.
Temple’s presentations are sponsored by NDSU’s biological sciences department, the college of science and mathematics, the environmental and conservation sciences interdisciplinary programs and the Red River Zoo.
NDSU is recognized as one of the nation’s top 108 public and private universities by the Carnegie Commission on Higher Education.