Annual conference on November 5th, 2005 will draw hundreds of scientists, volunteers, and members of the public to celebrate the role of "citizen scientists".
Earthwatch Institute will present its 2005 Earthwatch Conservation Award to Harvard professor emeritus Dr. Edward O. Wilson at its annual conference in Cambridge, Massachusetts on Saturday, November 5, 2005. Dr. Wilson will present a keynote address on Saturday at 4:00 pm, to be followed by cocktails and a festive Evening in Kenya dinner to benefit Earthwatch conservation and education programs.
An entomologist and an international authority on biodiversity, Dr. Wilson helped to develop the seminal theories of island biogeography and sociobiology. A professor at Harvard University for four decades, he has been an outspoken advocate of conserving biodiversity and has discovered hundreds of new species.
Dr. Wilson has written 20 books, and won two Pulitzer Prizes for general nonfiction, first in 1979 for On Human Nature and again in 1991 for The Ants. In 1990, Wilson won the highest scientific award in the field of ecology, the Crafoord Prize from the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences. In 1976, Wilson received the prestigious National Medal of Science from President Carter for his work in the biological sciences. In 1996, he was named one of America's 25 most influential people by TIME magazine. Wilson has served on the Earthwatch Institute International Advisory Council since 1998.
The Earthwatch annual conference, open to the public, will be a full day of presentations, poster sessions, and discussions about Earthwatch-supported scientific research and conservation programs worldwide. Attendees may meet and talk with more than 100 distinguished scientists from 20 countries who use the help of "citizen scientist" Earthwatch volunteers on their field research projects ranging from archaeological digs to saving endangered sea turtles.
The highlight of the day will be a keynote speech by Dr. Wilson, addressing the challenges to biodiversity conservation today, and the presentation of Earthwatch's 2005 Conservation Award. This will be followed by a festive benefit dinner focusing on the successes of Earthwatch programs in Kenya, including Kenyan cuisine and entertainment.
Founded in 1971, the nonprofit Earthwatch Institute supports scientific field research worldwide by recruiting almost 4,000 paying volunteers each year to work as short-term assistants on research expeditions in some 20 states and 47 countries.