ANNANDALE-ON-HUDSON, N.Y.— On Tuesday, October 27, the Distinguished Scientist Lecture Series at Bard College presents William H. Schlesinger, president of the Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies in Millbrook, N.Y. A leading biogeochemist, Schlesinger has been investigating the link between environmental chemistry and global climate change for more than 30 years. He has testified before U.S. House and Senate committees on a range of environmental issues, including desert habitat preservation, global climate change, and, most recently, carbon sequestration. In his lecture, “Climate Change: Causes, Consequences and What to Do,” Schlesinger will discuss the scientific basis of global climate change and how conditions may be expected to change in the northeastern United States. He will outline some of the economic and health impacts and discuss what we can do to minimize the change and adapt to its consequences. The lecture, which takes place at 7:30 p.m. in the multipurpose room of the Bertelsmann Campus Center, is free and open to the public.

Before coming to the Cary Institute William H. Schlesinger was the James B. Duke Professor of Biogeochemistry and dean of the Nicholas School of the Environment and Earth Sciences at Duke University. Schlesinger, whose recent work focuses on understanding how trees and soil influence atmospheric carbon dioxide levels, is the author or coauthor of over 180 scientific papers. His textbook Biogeochemistry: An Analysis of Global Change is widely taught at the university level. His research has been featured on NOVA, CNN, NPR, and in the pages of Discover, National Geographic, the New York Times, and Scientific American.

He is a member of the National Academy of Sciences and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, past president of the Ecological Society of America (2003-2004,) and an Aldo Leopold Leadership Fellow (1999). Dr. Schlesinger is committed to bridging the divide between science and policy. Currently, he serves on the boards of The Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, Southern Environmental Law Center, and Terrapass LLC. He is a graduate of Dartmouth College (A.B.) and Cornell University (Ph.D.).