Mitchell Lecture to focus on ‘Our Unending Pursuit to Feed Civilization’

Ruth DeFries, the Denning Family Professor of Sustainable Development and University Professor at Columbia University, will give the 2016 Mitchell Lecture on Sustainability at the University of Maine in Orono Oct. 20.

Her free public lecture, “Between Optimism and Pessimism: Our Unending Pursuit to Feed Civilization,” will begin at 1 p.m. at the Wells Conference Center and will include remarks by Sen. George Mitchell. Tickets are available online. For more information or to request a disability accommodation, call 207.581.3196.

Based on her book, “The Big Ratchet: How Humanity Thrives in the Face of Natural Crisis,” DeFries’ lecture will trace the long journey of our species from hunters and gatherers to shoppers in the aisles of grocery stores. Through technologies, innovations and quirks of fate, people over millennia have manipulated ecological processes to propel our species to the current day of abundant food amidst a myriad of environmental and social consequences.

From this long-term view, the pattern shows neither collapse nor technological supremacy. Rather, our tenure on the planet reveals cycles of crisis and growth, with each innovation leading to a new set of ecological problems that in turn spur new innovations. The next step in this long cycle is science-based, nonideological solutions to the problems that our success has created.

DeFries uses images from satellites and field surveys to examine how the world’s demands for food and other resources are affecting climate, biodiversity and other ecosystem services, as well as human development. She has also developed innovative education programs in sustainable development.

DeFries was elected as a member of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences, received a MacArthur “genius” award, and is the recipient of many other honors for her scientific research. She is committed to communicating the nuances and complexities of sciences to popular audiences, most recently through “The Big Ratchet.” She is also engaged in linking science with policy.

Launched in 2007, the Senator George J. Mitchell Lecture on Sustainability serves as a forum in which the university community, the general public, and many others can learn from and interact with some of the world’s leading thinkers about the challenges and opportunities involved in accelerating the transition to a sustainable world. Sharing the stage with these extraordinary thought leaders, Sen. Mitchell offers his compelling insights about the importance of sustainable development, a subject he first addressed in his 1991 book, “World on Fire: Saving an Endangered Earth.”

The Mitchell Lecture on Sustainability is co-sponsored by UMaine’s Senator George J. Mitchell Center for Sustainability Solutions, School of Economics, Honors College, School of Food and Agriculture, Department of Communication and Journalism, Ecology and Environmental Sciences Program, Darling Marine Center; School of Marine Sciences, and Cultural Affairs/Distinguished Lecture Series Fund.

Contact: Margaret Nagle, 207.581.3745