The Aspen Environment Forum formally kicks off in one week. If you will be in town, but haven’t gotten your ticket it is not too late. There are day passes still available and, as of today, you can purchase single event tickets through www.aspenshowtix.com. Below is a listing of events for which tickets are available. We hope to see you next week!
Friday, June 22
Aspen Environment Forum Opening and Reception
Featuring E.O. Wilson, Walter Isaacson, Chris Johns, Stewart Brand, and Elliot Gerson
Paepcke Auditorium at 4:30 PM
- A Conversation with E.O. Wilson: No scientist alive today has done more than Harvard biologist Ed Wilson to promote the understanding of biodiversity and its conservation. At 82, Wilson comes to Aspen after a year that included an expedition to Papua New Guinea and to Mozambique’s Gorongosa National Park. Wilson will talk about ants, sociobiology, “group” vs. kin selection—and his somewhat controversial new book The Social Conquest of Earth with Aspen Institute’s Executive Vice President, Elliot Gerson.
- Bringing Back the Dead: Must extinction be forever? Advances in cloning and DNA sequencing have made recreating extinct species a real possibility. Several research groups around the world are now pursuing resurrections—from the Passenger Pigeon, which vanished a century ago, to the mammoth, which has been gone for millennia. Are these efforts stunts or ideas worth taking seriously? Stewart Brand proposed bringing back the Passenger Pigeon at last year’s Environment Forum, and since then he and Ryan Phelan have been exploring the possibility seriously. They’ll talk about the issues—and the hope and peril of technology generally—with Aspen Institute President and CEO Walter Isaacson.
Reception and book signings to follow.
Saturday, June 23
- Just a Monkey: One of the world’s foremost natural history photographers, National Geographic Editor-at-Large Nick Nichols, presents a compelling career retrospective based on 30 years in the field photographing apes, elephants, tigers, lions, and giant trees. Through countless hours spent observing humans and nature–and the nature of humans–Nichols shows through his photography and life experience that conflict and the path to peace are innately tied to environmental issues.
Paepcke Auditorium at 8:30 PM
Monday, June 25
- “Talk of the Nation” Live from the Aspen Environment Forum
NPR’s midday news-talk show “Talk of the Nation” will broadcast live from the Aspen Environment Forum. Host Neal Conan will talk with guests about the changes we’re seeing in the environment, environmental pragmatism, the future of biology and marine studies, and efforts to revive extinct species.
Paepcke Auditorium 12:00 – 2:00 PM
