Conservation legend Sir David Attenborough has said, "No one will protect what they don't care about – and no one will care about what they have never experienced."

Today's world is experiencing an unprecedented rate and degree of change: change in technology, change in ecosystems, change in climate. Faced with this change, how can we continue to protect the planet and its biodiversity?

Join us as we delve into this question and more with a panel of conservation practitioners, authors, and professors. This interactive webinar will engage ideas in conservation around the celebration of Earth Day 50.

Register today and we'll share the webinar link in advance, and come with questions for our conservation experts!

Presented by the Chicago Academy of Sciences / Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum. Moderated by Jill Allread.

ABOUT OUR PANELISTS

Dr. Megan Bang is a Professor of the Learning Sciences and Psychology at Northwestern University and is currently serving as the Senior Vice President at the Spencer Foundation. Dr. Bang studies dynamics of culture, learning, and development broadly with a specific focus on the complexities of navigating multiple meaning systems in creating and implementing more effective and just learning environments in science, technology, engineering, arts, and mathematics education. She has taught in and conducted research in teacher education as well as leadership preparation programs. Dr. Bang currently serves on the Board of Science Education at the National Academy of Sciences. She also serves as an executive editor of Cognition and Instruction and is on the editorial boards of several other top tiered journals in the field.

Cindy Crosby is the author, contributor to, or co-author of more than 20 books, including the forthcoming Chasing Dragonflies: A Natural, Cultural, and Personal History (Northwestern University Press); Tallgrass Conversations: In Search of the Prairie Spirit (Ice Cube Press 2019, with Thomas Dean); and The Tallgrass Prairie: An Introduction (Northwestern University Press, 2017). She teaches and speaks on natural history in the Chicago region.

Alex Rose is the Science Editor for Ocean Geographic Magazine, and the Managing Editor for Ocean Geographic Explorers. Alex is also a professional photographer, violinist, Explorers Club Fellow, PADI Divemaster, and lover of all things aquatic. She founded ocean conservation company, Blue Ring, at the beginning of 2017 in an effort to create a new method of ocean conservation accessible to and inclusive of everyone. Her driving goal is to find ways to protect our world’s precious marine habitats through diving, writing, photography, education, and research.

Dr. Allison Sacerdote-Velat is the Curator of Herpetology at Chicago Academy of Sciences / Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum, conducting applied conservation research focused on restoration of local reptiles and amphibians including the Smooth Greensnake and Wood Frog. Allison directs the Calling Frog Survey, a community science program monitoring amphibians based at the museum. Allison received her B.S. in Environmental and Forest Biology from the State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry, and a Ph.D. in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology from Northern Illinois University. Past work includes conservation research projects with the National Park Service, Utah Division of Wildlife Resources, University of Nevada, and SUNY Research Foundation, with reptiles, amphibians, songbirds, small mammals, bats, and mesocarnivores. Allison served as a Visiting Assistant Professor at NIU from 2009-2010, teaching conservation biology, herpetology and ichthyology, and environmental biology, and was the Reintroduction Biologist at Lincoln Park Zoo from 2010-2016. Allison currently serves as Graduate Faculty Scholar at NIU, advisory board member for Midwest Partners in Amphibian and Reptile Conservation (PARC), and the National PARC Herpetofaunal Disease team.

ABOUT OUR MODERATOR

Jill Allread is CEO of Chicago-based Public Communications Inc., a women-owned agency providing communication counsel to diverse organizations and individuals to enhance their brands, strategies and reputations. An advocate for nature and wellness, Jill champions efforts to improve the lives of children and to conserve open space, wildlife, and urban nature. She is an active board member for Openlands and Girls in the Game and is advisor to the Illinois Nature Preserves Commission. Nature is always a backdrop for her and her family’s photography, biking, and canoeing adventures.