Conservation expert speaking at Paul Smith's - 2008-03-13

The director of the Wildlife Conservation Society’s North America Program will speak at Paul Smith’s College on Wednesday, March 19, at 7 p.m.

Jodi Hilty’s talk, “Don’t Fence Me In: The Importance of Wildlife Corridors,” focuses on the need to ensure that wildlife habitats separated by human development remain linked together.

She will speak in the Adirondack Room of the Joan Weill Adirondack Library. The college’s student chapter of The Wildlife Society and the Wildlife Conservation Society’s Adirondack Program are sponsoring the event, which is
free and open to the public.

Hilty, as well as representatives from the college and Adirondack Program, will be available afterwards for discussion during an informal reception.

The Wildlife Conservation Society has been working on conservation issues in this area under the Adirondack Program, which was established in the mid 1990s. That program, which seeks to balance wildlife conservation and human prosperity in the Adirondacks, has been involved in research, community partnerships and public outreach throughout the region.

The Wildlife Conservation Society is currently addressing four major conservation challenges across North America: energy development, rural sprawl, habitat fragmentation and climate change.

Hilty is a landscape ecologist and conservation biologist who focuses on understanding thresholds of human impact on biodiversity. She received her doctorate from the University of California at Berkeley in 2001 and her undergraduate degree from Middlebury College in Vermont. In 2006, she
co-authored “Corridor Ecology: The Science and Practice of Linking Landscapes for Biodiversity Conservation.”

About the Wildlife Conservation Society

The Wildlife Conservation Society is headquartered in New York City. It saves wildlife and wild lands through careful science, international conservation, education and the management of the world’s largest system of urban wildlife parks, led by the flagship Bronx Zoo. Together, these
activities change individual attitudes toward nature and help people imagine wildlife and humans living in sustainable interaction on both a local and a global scales. WCS is committed to this work because we believe it essential to the integrity of life on earth.

About Paul Smith’s College

Paul Smith's College is the only four-year institution of higher education in the Adirondacks. Our programs, in fields including hospitality, culinary arts, forestry, natural resources, entrepreneurship and the sciences, draw on industries and resources available in our own backyard while preparing students for successful careers anywhere.