Lindsay Wildlife Brings Renowned Speakers to Conservation Icons

SF Premiere Wildlife Rehabilitation and Education Center plans a season of distinguished and enthralling speakers

WALNUT CREEK, CALIF. — Lindsay Wildlife’s Conservation Icons will kick-off Nov. 11 with an in-depth look at woodpeckers and culminate on May 5, 2018 with oceanographer, former chief scientist of NOAA and “Sturgeon General,” Dr. Sylvia Earle. Earle is the preeminent expert on threats to sea life and is a National Geographic Society Explorer-in-Residence.

Earle is one of eight awe-inspiring speakers that are part of the 2017-18 Conservation Icons series that aims to educate, entertain and inspire change! From wolves, sharks and golden eagles to the human effects on habitat and climate change, these speakers will touch on the need for conservation and action to save our planet. The goal is to help everyone understand and learn what they can do to improve conditions for wildlife and habitats in which they live, said Lindsay’s Executive Director Dr. Cheryl McCormick.

“These speakers are an inspiring reminder of why the human connection to wildlife is so vitally linked to our own survival as a species—heroes who defy overwhelming odds and who are proof that one individual can affect ripples of long-lasting change,” said McCormick. “I guarantee you will leave each presentation, spirit soaring, brain engaged and mind inspired.”

McCormick argues the need for action and strong conservation voices may be necessary now more than ever, with environmental protections taken for granted for years now under real threat.

“Particularly now, against a canvas of social strife and tension, we all need inspiration to maintain clarity of purpose and singularity of mission,” McCormick said. “It’s time to reawaken to the fact that we are not apart from nature. We are a part of it.”

2017-2018 Conservation Icons Speaker schedule

• 6 p.m. Nov. 11 :: Kent Laudon, California Department of Fish & Wildlife. Re-introduction of

gray wolves to California – Challenges, Controversy, and Conflict.

• 6 p.m. Dec. 16 :: Dr. Doug Bell, East Bay Regional Parks. Golden Eagles.

• *6 p.m. Jan. 6 :: Dr. John McCosker, California Academy of Sciences. Great White Sharks.

• 6 p.m. Feb. 10 :: Dr. Walt Koenig, Cornell University Ornithology Lab. Acorn Woodpeckers.

• 6 p.m. March 10 :: Dr. Tim Bean, Humboldt State University. North American Porcupines.

• 10 a.m. March 19 :: Lindsay Wildlife Alliance Spring Speaker Sam Labudde, Environmental

Investigations Agency (EIA). From Dolphins to Rhinos: International Wildlife Protection.

• 6 p.m. April 14 :: Dr. Ari Friedlaender, Oregon State University & National Geographic

Explorer. Orcas and humpback whales.

• *6:30 p.m. May 5 :: Dr. Sylvia Earle, first female chief scientist at National Oceanic and

Atmospheric Administration and first female aquanaut!*

• 6 p.m June 9 :: Dr. Brian Cypher, UC Stanislaus. Urban canids (foxes, coyotes): Conservation

and Conflict.

*Note: These presentations will NOT be held at Lindsay Wildlife but instead at The Lesher Center for the Arts in downtown Walnut Creek.

For more information go to lindsaywildlife.org.conservationicons

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About Lindsay Wildlife Experience:

Lindsay connects people with wildlife to inspire responsibility and respect for the world we share. A unique natural history and environmental education center where live wild animals are just inches away from visitors, Lindsay serves more than 100,000 children and adults each year. Home to the first wildlife rehabilitation hospital established in the U.S., Lindsay treats more than 5,600 animals annually.