Speaker: Dr. Selma Glasscock, Assistant Director of the Welder Wildlife Foundation
Date: October 27, 2011
Time: 7 PM
Place: Room 130, Sul Ross State University Range Animal Science Center in Alpine

Contemporary conservationists have come to term our current model of wildlife management the North American Model of Wildlife Conservation. In this lecture, Dr. Glasscock will talk about the history of the North American Model and two of its basic tenets—that fish and wildlife do not belong to any select group of individuals, but to all citizens of the United States, and that by law our wildlife resources are to be held in trust and managed in such a way that populations will be forever sustainable.

She will also discuss contemporary concerns regarding the viability of the model that are surfacing because of changes in human lifestyles.

Speaker: Dr. Jerry D. Johnson, University of Texas at El Paso
Date: July 14, 2011
Time: 7 PM
Place: Sul Ross State University, Lawrence Hall, Room 300

What’s in a name? A lot, according to Dr. Jerry D. Johnson, Professor of Biological Sciences at UTEP. Join us as Dr. Johnson discusses recent taxonomic changes related to the herpetofauna of the Chihuahuan Desert and how modern phylogenetic systematics has changed the taxonomic perception of species and subspecies categories in theory and practice.

Speaker: Dr. Jack Neff, Central Texas Melittological Institute
Date: June 23, 2011
Time: 7 PM
Place: Sul Ross State University, Room TBA

In celebration of National Pollinator Week, come learn more about pollination biology with Dr. Jack Neff. One aspect that fascinates Dr. Neff is the way in which plants manipulate floral visitors. Listen as he tells us of the complex relationships between plants and pollinators. He has studied the pollination of native plants and the biology of native Texas bees—hint, not honey bees—since the late 1970s and has recently been documenting many undescribed species of Texas bees.

Speakers: Robert Potts (Dixon Water Foundation) & Paul Weatherby (Middle Pecos Groundwater Conservation District)
Date: March 10, 2011
Time: 7 PM
Place: Sul Ross State University, Lawrence Hall, Rm 300

Do you know where our groundwater comes from or even what groundwater is? What kind of aquifers exist or what type we have in West Texas? What new legislation is being passed or what your rights and responsibilities are regarding local groundwater issues?

Join Robert Potts and Paul Weatherby for a presentation addressing some of these questions. They will also describe a few innovative projects—like the use of sustainable cattle-ranching practices patterned after historic buffalo movements that help to recharge aquifers.

Speaker: Raymond Skiles, NPS Wildlife Biologist
Date: February 24, 2011;
Time: 7 PM;
Place: Sul Ross State University, Lawrence Hall, Room 300

Extirpated from the Trans-Pecos region of Texas during the early 20th century, black bears naturally recolonized Big Bend National Park beginning in the 1980s. NPS Wildlife Biologist, Raymond Skiles, will discuss the amazing story of the bears of the Big Bend, their quest to again thrive in Texas, what we know about the bears in Big Bend, and what it will take to preserve the small, but tenuous, population.