Sustain What? Luncheon Discussion with Scientists

[David Levine]

We would like to invite New York science writers and reporters, including freelancers, to this special lunch. Please note this invitation is for reporters or freelance journalists only, not PIOs.

The luncheon discussion will begin at 11:30 a.m. Tuesday, November 9, at the Explorers Club, 46 E. 70th Street, New York, NY 10021 (between Park and Madison Avenues, on the Upper East Side of Manhattan).


Sustain What? Luncheon Discussion with Scientists



Tuesday, November 9, 2010

11:30 a.m. – 1:30 p.m.

Explorers Club, New York

Please RSVP or contact us for more information.
____________________________
Carol Hughes
College of Liberal Arts and Sciences
ARIZONA STATE UNIVERSITY
Tempe, Arizona  USA
480.965.6375 direct line
480.254.3753 cell
carol....@asu.edu



You are invited to join a group of well-known scientists from around the world and several of your colleagues in the national media for a luncheon discussion on the concept of an unprecedented, NASA-like mission to discover and describe 10 million species in 50 years or sooner. The scientists in attendance will have just completed a two-day workshop to envision and outline this audacious mission to describe and map all the species in the biosphere.



The purpose of our luncheon discussion is to bring together scientists and members of the national news media for a wide-ranging conversation of issues involving species exploration. Among the topics likely to be discussed are:



•         Taxonomic triage. What steps might be taken immediately to speed up species discovery?

•         Mapping all the species. Who needs to know and how much do they need to know?

•         Scientific and societal impacts. If we had full knowledge of species and phylogenetic diversity, might we rethink the end goal of conservation activities?

•         Exploring the unknown 90 percent. If threats to ecosystem well-being did not exist, how high a priority would it be that we pursue our innate curiosity about evolutionary history?



The luncheon discussion is hosted by Arizona State University’s International Institute for Species Exploration. Among the scientists and researchers expected to attend are:



>  Quentin Wheeler, Arizona State University

>  Gary Borisy, Marine Biological Laboratory

>  Michael Donoghue, Yale University

>  Catherine Graham, Stony Brook University

>  Sara Graves, University of Alabama, Huntsville

>  Sandra Knapp, Natural History Museum, London

>  Thomas Lovejoy, George Mason University

>  Shahid Naaem, Columbia University

>  Mike Novacek, American Museum of Natural History

>  Larry Page, Florida Museum of Natural History

>  Norman Platnick, American Museum of Natural History

>  Dennis Stevenson, New York Botanical Garden

>  Niki Vermeulen, University of Vienna, Austria

>  Johannes Vogel, Natural History Museum, London



We hope you can join us.






--
Best,

David

David L. Levine
212-772-9447
646-306-6815 (cell)