Dr. William Ripple, a distinguished professor in the College of Forestry at Oregon State University, will share how society might face the environmental crisis through science.

Ripple will present his work on how the far-reaching impacts of wolves are affecting the ecosystem in Yellowstone National Park. He will illustrate how he transitioned from Yellowstone to other national parks in western North America and beyond to demonstrate both the benefits of wild large predators and the costs of their demise. Ripple will disclose how his conservation research and general concern about the global environment and climate change led to him publishing the letter “World Scientists’ Warning to Humanity: A Second Notice.” As a health checkup for planet Earth, this letter has reached millions of people and is one of the most widely discussed and endorsed scientific articles of recent times. His talk will be full of illustrated stories about his 20-year journey from first only doing ecological research to now also being an advocate for science and the environment. He will provide suggestions for sustainability on planet Earth.

It was 25-years ago that the Union of Concerned Scientists along with more than 1,500 independent researchers, including the majority of living Nobel laureates in the sciences, penned the 1992 “World Scientists’ Warning to Humanity.” These concerned professionals called on all people of the world to curtail environmental destruction and cautioned that “a great change in our stewardship of the Earth and the life on it is required if vast human misery is to be avoided.” They expressed concern about current, impending, or potential damage on planet Earth involving ozone depletion, fresh water availability, marine fishery collapses, ocean dead zones, forest loss, biodiversity destruction, climate change and continued human population growth.