M. Sanjayan, executive vice president and senior scientist with Conservation International, will give a free public talk, “Earth and People: Lessons in Living Together,” to more than 1,500 people — including students, faculty and staff from The Ohio State University and members of the surrounding community — at 7 p.m. Feb. 11 in the Ohio Union on Ohio State’s campus in Columbus. Reporters are welcome to attend.
Sanjayan will be available for media interviews starting at 4:15 p.m. Contact Molly Bean at 614-688-8798 or bean.21@osu.edu to make arrangements.
Columbus Zoo and Aquarium CEO Tom Stalf will give the event’s opening remarks. He’ll share highlights of central Ohio’s contributions to protecting Earth’s environments and peoples.
The Environmental Professionals Network, a service of the School of Environment and Natural Resources in Ohio State’s College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences, is hosting the event.
Co-sponsors include The Nature Conservancy; the Ohio Department of Natural Resources’ Division of Wildlife; and Ohio State’s Office of Energy and Environment, Sustainable and Resilient Economy Discovery Theme, and TerrAqua student group.
Background
Sanjayan’s main message will be that people need nature to survive.
About the speaker
Sanjayan is a global conservation scientist, writer and Emmy-nominated news contributor specializing in the role of conservation in saving people and nature.
Last summer, he co-hosted “Big Blue Live,” PBS and BBC’s three-part television event, which showcased marine life on the Pacific Coast. It was the first live primetime natural history show on American television.
Sanjayan also hosted the 2015 PBS and National Geographic television series “Earth: A New Wild,” which was filmed in more than 24 countries, and was a contributor on Showtime’s Emmy-winning series on climate change, “Years of Living Dangerously.”
He has appeared on numerous other programs, including “The Today Show” and “The Late Show with David Letterman,” and was named to Men’s Journal’s list of the “50 Most Adventurous Men” in 2015.
Sanjayan also co-led the launch of “Nature is Speaking,” Conservation International’s critically acclaimed campaign that features, among others, actors Julia Roberts, Harrison Ford, Liam Neeson and Penelope Cruz. It delivers the same message that Sanjayan will share at Ohio State: People need nature to survive.
Sanjayan is a DisneyNature Ambassador, a Catto Fellow at the Aspen Institute, a Clinton Global Initiative adviser and a member of the National Geographic Society’s Explorers Council.
He posts frequently from his expeditions on Twitter at @msanjayan.
When
At 7 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 11. Doors will open at 6:20 p.m. The event is free, but attendees must preregister at go.osu.edu/epn_Sanjayan.
Where
In the Archie M. Griffin Grand Ballroom on the second floor of Ohio State’s Ohio Union, 1739 N. High St., Columbus. Public parking is available in the building’s adjacent garages. (Photo: Ami Vitale.)