Dr. Tiefenthaler discussed how the National Geographic Society draws on its legacy to shape its future, driving impactful initiatives — from international conservation projects to historic scientific expeditions — to illuminate and protect the wonder of our world.
The Horace M. Albright Lecture in Conservation was established at the University of California in 1959. A permanent endowment of the lectureship was provided by contributions from hundreds of generous friends and admirers of Albright. This lectureship enables the University to honor him as one of its distinguished graduates, and also to stimulate for this and future generations wide general interest in the preservation of the natural beauty of America.
Past Lectures
Past Lectures
Meeting the Moment: Embracing Change at the National Geographic Society
Jill Tiefenthaler, CEO of the National Geographic Society
Driving Climate Solutions: Amazon’s Path to Net-Zero Carbon
Kara Hurst
Kara Hurst, Chief Sustainability Officer, Amazon—in conversation with Dean Ann Harrison and Dean David Ackerly.
The Quest for Environmental and Climate Justice
Dr. Robert D. Bullard
Professor Bullard’s presentation will focus primarily on the U.S. and the need for empowering vulnerable populations, identifying environmental justice and climate change “hot-spot” zones and designing fair, just and effective adaptation, mitigation, emergency management and community resilience and disaster recovery strategies.
The Insect Crisis is a Human Crisis
Oliver Milman
Insects can seem to be everywhere, all at once, sometimes to an annoying extent. Three out of four every four known animal species on Earth are insects, after all. But these dazzlingly adept creatures, which pre-date the dinosaurs, are suffering a silent yet hugely consequential crisis, with their numbers plummeting around the world. Oliver Milman, environment correspondent for Guardian US, has outlined the ramifications of this loss in his book The Insect Crisis: The Fall of the Tiny Empires that Run the World.
Ecologies of Segregation: Empirical Insights from Baltimore and Experience from Louisville
Steward T.A. Pickett
Steward T.A. Pickett is an Ecologist and Distinguished Senior Scientist at the Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies, in Millbrook, New York who specializes in urban and landscape ecology.
Climate Justice and the Question of Reparations
Panel featuring: Olúfẹmi O. Táíwò, Naomi Klein, Sabrina Fernandes, and Jackie Fielder, moderated by Daniel Aldana Cohen. Organized by UC Berkeley’s Climate Equity and Environmental Justice Roundtable, co-sponsored by the Socio-Spatial Climate Collaborative, or (SC)2.
In Conversation with Elizabeth Kolbert
Elizabeth Kolbert
Pulitzer Prize-winning Science Writer Elizabeth Kolbert in Conversation with Dean David Ackerly, Rausser College & Dean Geeta Anand, Graduate School of Journalism.
Outside For All: Investing in Parks to Build Community Power
The Trust for Public Land and Community Leaders
Join Diane Regas, President and CEO of The Trust for Public Land, Teresa Bendito, co-founder of Parque Padrinos, and Taylor Toynes, Executive Director of For Oak Cliff, in a discussion on parks and community power.
Half-Earth: How to Save the Natural World
Edward O. Wilson
Half-Earth is a clarion call to protect half the land and sea in order to safeguard the bulk of biodiversity, and ourselves. At this critical moment for our planet, the Half-Earth Project is bringing together the unique expertise and experience of scientists and thought leaders from around to world to achieve this important moonshot and solve the current environmental crisis. Renowned biologist and naturalist E.O. Wilson joined former U.S. secretary of the interior Sally Jewell for a discussion as part of the Albright Lecture in Conservation.
2019 Spring Albright Lecture in Conservation
Ana M. Alvarez
Ana M. Alvarez serves as the Deputy General Manager of the East Bay Regional Park District, the largest local park agency in the United States. Ana’s professional accomplishments demonstrate a strong acumen for proactive and meaningful civic engagement, community building based on public trust and sustainability planning based on science, which she believes are paramount for the vibrancy of healthy communities.
Environmental Justice
Van Jones
Across America, low-income and minority communities are being hit hardest by the economic and health impacts of climate change. Join us for an afternoon with Van Jones—news commentator, author, and founder of Dream Corps —and learn how we can seek environmental justice for the country’s most vulnerable communities.
Planet Vision
Dr. Jonathan Foley
Dr. Foley, Executive Director of the California Academy of Sciences, will speak on why we need to build a shared, positive vision of the future to address our environmental challenges.
Can Nature Save Us? Stories from the Natural World
M. Sanjayan, Ph.D.
At a time when humanity’s demands on the natural world have never been greater, Dr. M. Sanjayan’s keynote address highlights nature’s essential role in creating a livable future for people everywhere.
Activism in Business
Rose Marcario
Rose Marcario, President and CEO of Patagonia, and Robert Strand discussed the role of progressive business leaders in the current era.
Our Environmental Destiny
Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.
Environmentalist Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. is chief prosecuting attorney for the Hudson Riverkeepers, senior attorney for the Natural Resources Defense Council, and president-at-large of the Waterkeeper Alliance.
America's Two Best Ideas—Public Education and Public Lands
A conversation with U.S. Secretary of the Interior The Honorable Sally Jewell, President of the University of California Janet Napolitano, Historian and Author Douglas Brinkley, and Chancellor of the University of California, Berkeley Nicholas B. Dirks
The World Until Yesterday
Jared Diamond
Pulitzer Prize winning author of Guns, Germs, and Steel and UCLA professor of geography Jared Diamond discussed his most recent book about how traditional peoples differ from members of modern industrial societies in their reactions to danger.
What's Next for the Food Movement?
A conversation with Kathleen Merrigan, former U.S. Deputy Secretary of Agriculture under President Obama, and Michael Pollan, Knight Professor of Science and Environmental Journalism, UC Berkeley. Emmy award-winning reporter Linda Schacht, UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism, moderated this event.
The Quest for Sustainable Seas
Sylvia Earle
Sylvia Earle, TIME magazine's first Hero of the Planet, taught how actions the we take in the next ten years to support the ocean will matter more than what we do in the next one hundred years.
California Forever: The Future of Our State Parks
Sally Kaplan, Carolyn Finney, David Vassar
A special screening of "California Forever: Parks for the Future," part two of a PBS program that takes us on a journey through California's magnificent state parks and presents the challenges they face. Then, filmmakers and experts shared how we can manage and steward the state's natural and cultural resources for future generations.
About Horace M. Albright
Born in Bishop, California, in 1890, Horace Albright was a member of the class of 1912 at the University of California, devoted alumnus, and an honorary LL.D. (1961). He joined the Department of the Interior in 1913 as an assistant to the then Secretary Franklin K. Lane. In 1916 he helped create the National Park Service with Stephen Mather. He was the first civilian Superintendent of the Yellowstone National Park from 1919 until 1929 when he was appointed the second Director of the National Park Service. He served as Director until 1933 when he left to join the U.S. Potash Company from which he retired as president in 1956.
During the time he served as a corporate executive Mr. Albright maintained an active role in the conservation of America’s resources, serving as a member of the National Park System’s Advisory Board, the Council of the Save-the- Redwoods League, and the advisory council of the National Outdoors Resources Review Committee. Thus, Mr. Albright’s career encompassed both the preservation and utilization of natural resources. His years of service as Chair of the Board of Directors of Resources for the Future, Inc., typify his concern with the conservation of resources. The Albright lectures are dedicated to that end.
The nation’s highest civilian award, the Medal of Freedom, was awarded to Mr. Albright by President Carter on the 64th Anniversary of the National Park Service. President Carter announced the award in August of 1980, and the medal was presented on December 8 by Assistant Secretary of the Interior, Robert L. Herbst, in a ceremony at Van Nuys, California. Horace Albright died on March 2, 1987. His lifelong dedication to conservation was exemplified by the effort in the last year of his life to assist the University of California in acquiring land for the Natural Reserve System.