WUSTL Association of Women Faculty to present program and panel on world sustainability

April 10, 2008 -- Peter H. Raven, Ph.D., the George Engelmann Professor of Botany in Arts & Sciences and director and president of the Missouri Botanical Garden, will present a talk on "A Sustainable World: What It Means to Us" at 2 p.m. Friday, April 18, in Whitaker Hall auditorium on the Danforth Campus at Washington University in St. Louis.

Afterward, WUSTL professors will convene a panel discussion to be held in Whitaker Hall auditorium. A reception and an awards ceremony recognizing the research of WUSTL graduate students will follow.

Sponsored by the University's Association of Women Faculty, the event is free and open to the public.

Faculty panelists will include: Ellen Damschen, Ph.D., assistant professor of biology; Ursula Goodenough, Ph.D., professor of biology; and Clare Palmer, Ph.D., associate professor of philosophy, all in Arts & Sciences. Joining the professors will be Lilia Abron, Ph.D., founder and president of PEER Consultants, a global, full-service, environmental and general civil engineering consulting firm.

Raven is a world leader in the fields of botany and plant evolution and a major force in global conservation and biodiversity.

Described by Time magazine as a "Hero for the Planet," Raven is the recipient of numerous international prizes and awards, including the Society for Conservation Biology Distinguished Service Award and the Peter H. Raven Award for Scientific Outreach, which was created to honor him.

In 2001, Raven received the National Medal of Science, the highest award for scientific accomplishment in the United States.

He served for 12 years as home secretary of the National Academy of Sciences, to which he was elected in 1977. He is also a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the American Philosophical Society and of the academies of science in Argentina, Brazil, Chile, China, Denmark, Georgia, Hungary, India, Italy, Mexico, Russia, Sweden, and the United Kingdom, among other countries.

For more information, call 314-935-6160.