Call of the Wild Lecture Series

Houston Zoo Call of the Wild Lecture Series kicks off the new season in September with an exciting lineup of guest speakers.

September 4th, 2008
Madagascar: A Ten-Year Perspective

Dr. Edward Louis, Conservation Geneticist,
Omaha's Henry Doorly Zoo
Brown Education Center
Doors open at 6:30 p.m. for refreshments
Lecture begins at 7:00 p.m.
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A Houston native, Ed Louis is the conservation geneticist for Omaha’s Henry Doorly Zoo’s Center for Conservation and Research. In an effort to develop baseline molecular, distribution and census data on lemurs and other Malagasy flora and fauna, Louis has carried out and supervised extensive fieldwork on the island since 1998. Under his leadership as the principal investigator of the Madagascar Biodiversity & Biogeography Project, he has mentored over 35 students from the University of Antananarivo, and spearheaded multiple education programs including the novel re-introduction of two lemur species, the creation of a conservation-based coloring book distributed to 15,000 Malagasy primary school children, and a grass roots reforestation project. In addition, he has remarkably named 18 new species of lemurs.
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October 7th, 2008:
Cheetah Conservation Botswana

Rebecca Klein, Project Coordinator

Brown Education Center
Doors open at 6:30 p.m. for refreshments
Lecture begins at 7:00 p.m.
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Cheetah Conservation Botswana (CCB) was formed to help protect the remaining population of endangered cheetahs in Botswana, one of the last strongholds for cheetahs in the world. And with the spirit of collaboration and community participation, CCB has also created an opportunity to join the effort to protect cheetahs in all of Southern Africa, helping to create trans-border management strategies and managing the southern population as a whole. The first step, led by conservationist Rebecca Klein, is to learn more about the Botswana cheetah (Acinonyx jubatus) and how to protect this very fast, very rare cat.
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January 22nd, 2009
Proyecto Tití: Conserving the Cotton-top Tamarin in Colombia

Rosamira Guillen, Director Proyecto Titi and Anne Savage, Conservation Biologist, Disney's Animal Kingdom
Brown Education Center
Doors open at 6:30 p.m. for refreshments
Lecture begins at 7:00 p.m.
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Cotton-top tamarins are an endangered species of primate found only in the tropical forests of Colombia. Weighing about 1 pound, this tiny monkey needs our help in order to survive. Proyecto Tití is a conservation program that works to study cotton-top tamarins in their natural forest habitat as well as educating local communities about the need to protect the biodiversity of Colombia. To make conservation economically feasible for many local communities, we have developed some innovative strategies to empower local people to get involved and benefit from conservation activities.
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March 5th, 2009
Visual Advocacy: Photography as a Tool for Conservation

Kevin Schafer, National Geographic Photographer
Brown Education Center
Doors open at 6:30 p.m. for refreshments
Lecture begins at 7:00 p.m.
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Kevin Schafer is an award-winning natural history photographer, whose photographs appear in all of the major science and nature publications in the US, including National Geographic, Smithsonian, Natural History and National Wildlife. He also works regularly with conservation organizations such as the Nature Conservancy and the World Wildlife Fund, and is a founding Fellow of the International League of Conservation Photographers. Kevin was the 1997 recipient of the Gerald Durrell award for photography of Endangered Species, and his book Penguin Planet received the 2000 National Outdoor Book Award. His latest book, Living Light, was published in 2007.
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