‘Hero for the Planet’ Peter Raven to give conservation biology talk

Dr. Peter H. Raven, one of the world's leading botanists and advocates for conservation and biodiversity, will deliver the Jean Pasakarnis Buchanan Annual Lecture in Biological Sciences on April 4 at BGSU. In his 7 p.m. talk in 101 Olscamp Hall, Raven will discuss “Sustainability and Our Common Future: Where Are We Headed?”

Dr. Peter Raven

Raven is the George Engelmann Professor of Botany at Washington University in St. Louis. He is also chair of the National Geographic Society's Committee for Research and Exploration; chair of the Division of Earth and Life Studies of the National Research Council, and vice president of Sigma Xi, the scientific research society.

For more than three decades, Raven has headed the Missouri Botanical Garden, an institution he has nurtured to become a world-class center for botanical research, education and horticulture display. Under his leadership, the garden has become a leader in botanical research in Latin America, Africa, Asia and North America.

Described by Time magazine as a "Hero for the Planet," Raven champions research around the world to preserve endangered plants and is a leading advocate for conservation and a sustainable environment. In recognition of his work in science and conservation, he has received numerous international awards, and has held Guggenheim and John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation fellowships.

In 2001, Raven received the National Medal of Science, the highest award for scientific accomplishment in the United States. He served 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 the academies of science in more than 15 countries. He was first chair of the U.S. Civilian Research and Development Foundation, a government-established organization that funds joint research with the independent countries of the former Soviet Union.

Raven is co-editor of The Flora of China, a joint Chinese-American project that is leading to a contemporary account of all the plants of China. He has written numerous books and publications, both popular and scientific, and is co-author of Biology of Plants, the internationally best-selling textbook in botany, now in its seventh edition, and Environment, a leading textbook on the environment, currently in its fourth edition.

Raven received his Ph.D. from the University of California, Los Angeles, in 1960 after completing his undergraduate work at the University of California, Berkeley.

The annual lecture series was created in 1998 through an endowment by Jean Pasakarnis Buchanan, who graduated from the University in 1952 and went on to a 33-year career as a cytologist with Massachusetts General Hospital. She also taught cytology, which is the study of human cells, at Northeastern University. Buchanan received the Alumni Community Award from BGSU in 1972, and in 1987 set up a scholarship for biology or medical technology majors. Her lectureship endowment has allowed the University to bring some of the leading figures in biology and medicine to campus each year.