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Environmental advocate Chafee to deliver keynote

February 19, 2007

Lincoln Chafee, former Republican senator from Rhode Island, will speak on the federal endangered species act at the Goodwin-Niering Center for Conservation Biology and Environmental Studies seminar on February 22.

The 7:00 p.m. certificate program seminar is free and open to the public, and will be held in Blaustein Humanities Center Room 210 on campus.

Chafee, who was one of the few Senate Republicans to vote against allowing drilling in Alaska National Wildlife Reserve, will speak on "Challenges in reauthorizing the federal endangered species act." As a senator, Chafee emerged as a leader on environmental issues and foreign policy, and promoted sensible economic and energy policies.

Chafee was appointed to the U.S. Senate in 1999 and was elected to a full six-year term in 2000. In 2006 he lost his re-election bid. Currently, Chafee is a distinguished visiting fellow at the Watson Institute for International Studies at Brown University.

The Goodwin-Niering Center for Conservation Biology and Environmental Studies is a comprehensive, interdisciplinary program that fosters research, education, and curriculum development aimed at understanding contemporary ecological challenges. The certificate program is designed to enhance Connecticut College students' undergraduate experience with a strong concentration on environmental issues.

Chafee's lecture is a lead-up to the Goodwin-Niering Center's second Elizabeth Babbott Conant Interdisciplinary Conference on the Environment at Connecticut College, which will be held in April. The conference topic is "Saving Biological Diversity: Weighing the Protection of Endangered Species vs. Entire Species."

For more information about the seminar or the conference, contact the Goodwin-Niering Center office at 860-439-5417 or visit the Center's Web site.

For media inquiries contact: Amy Martin (860) 439-2526; a.martin@conncoll.edu