Earth Observations and Public Policy is Focus of Kimball Lecture at Wilkes University on April 19

Wilkes-Barre, PA (04/16/2018) — Media contact for this release: Gabrielle D'Amico, Director of Communications gabrielle.damico@wilkes.edu (570) 408-4510

"Of Fire, Floods and Penguins: Earth Observations and Their Use in Public Policy" will be the focus of the annual Kimball Lecture on April 19 at Wilkes University. It will be presented by Ann Bartuska, a 1975 Wilkes graduate and vice president for the Land, Water and Nature Program at Resources for the Future. Bartuska will speak at 8 p.m. in Stark Learning Center, Room 101. The event is free and open to the public.

Resources for the Future is a nonprofit organization that conducts independent research into energy, environmental and natural resource issues. Bartuska's team at the organization delivers research and solutions for cost-effectively managing key land, water, and marine resources that support a thriving economy and society, while ensuring healthy and productive natural systems and building resilience in a changing climate.

Bartuska earned her bachelor's degree in biology from Wilkes. She went on to earn her master's degree in botany and ecology from Ohio University and her doctorate in biogeochemistry and ecosystem ecology from West Virginia University.

Prior to joining Resources for the Future, Bartuska served as the U.S. Department of Agriculture's deputy under secretary for research, education, and economics as well as chief scientist. Prior to joining the department of agriculture, she was deputy chief for research and development of the U.S. Forest Service and was on the advisory board of the National Science Foundation, executive director of The Nature Conservancy's Invasive Species Initiative and president of the Ecological Society of America.

The Kimball Lecture Series is named for Grace Kimball, former professor of microbiology at Wilkes. The Kimball lecturer is chosen by the Wilkes biology department as a scientist who has distinguished themselves in evolutionary biology.

About Wilkes University:

Wilkes University is an independent institution of higher education dedicated to academic and intellectual excellence through mentoring in the liberal arts, sciences and professional programs. Founded in 1933, the university is on a mission to create one of the great small universities, offering all of the programs, activities and opportunities of a large, research university in the intimate, caring and mentoring environment of a small, liberal arts college, at a cost that is increasingly competitive with public universities. The Economist named Wilkes 25th in the nation for the value of its education for graduates. In addition to 43 bachelor's degree programs, Wilkes offers 25 master's degree programs and five doctoral/terminal degree programs, including the doctor of philosophy in nursing, doctor of nursing practice, doctor of education, doctor of pharmacy, and master of fine arts in creative writing. Learn more at www.wilkes.edu.

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