College-Level
Guest Lectures & Seminars
by Connie Barlow and Michael Dowd

For Biology, Chemistry, Cosmology, Environmental Studies, Religion, Philosophy, and Cross Disciplinary Programs
in Colleges and Universities

Books by Connie Barlow (3 on left) and Michael Dowd (right)

  

Feature article on CONNIE BARLOW's work in
June 2008 ORION Magazine    

"TORREYA STATE PARK perches on the steep, sandy banks of the Apalachicola, where the river twists slowly through the Florida Panhandle toward the Gulf of Mexico. This is one of the most isolated spots in Florida, rich only in plant life and prisons, stupefyingly hot in summer and eerily quiet nearly all year round. Most park visitors are on their way somewhere else, and when Connie Barlow stopped here on a winter day in 1999, she was no exception . . . "

   

  

Praise for Michael's 2007 book from NOBEL LAUREATES     full list of endorsements

  • "The universe took 13.7 billion years to produce this amazing book. I heartily recommend it." — JOHN MATHER, NASA CHIEF SCIENTIST, 2006 NOBEL PRIZE IN PHYSICS

  • "The science vs. religion debate is over! Michael Dowd masterfully unites rationality and spirituality in a world view that celebrates the mysteries of existence and inspires each human being to achieve a higher purpose in life. A must read for all, including scientists." — CRAIG MELLO, 2006 Nobel PRIZE IN PHYSIOLOGY OR MEDICINE

  • 19 June 2008 Viking/Penguin released the new hardcover edition of Dowd's Thank God for Evolution. The book website provides links to the news articles about it, including New York Times Magazine and Washington Post.

  • Click to read words of praise / endorsements about us from college professors and students.

  • Click here for Connie's BIOLOGY, CHEMISTRY & ENVIRONMENTAL STUDIES programs.

  • Click here for Michael's PHILOSOPHY, RELIGION & HUMANITIES programs .

    • Science Lectures (by Connie Barlow)

       

    Program #1:
    "Rewilding North America: A Deep-Time Perspective" - In August 2005, the journal Nature published a landmark paper by 12 authors (including Josh Donlan, Harry Greene, Paul S. Martin, Dave Foreman, Michael Soule, Joel Berger, and others) that uses a benchmark of 13,000 years ago for wildlife restoration (where feasible) in North America. This means "bringing back" the American cheetah, the American camel, the American plains lion, and American elephants, using proxies from the Old World to re-start their evolution in the New World and to restore their vital roles as shapers of ecological landscapes. Although not an author of this paper, Connie was cited in the 2006 paper, and she has written on this topic (with Pleistocene ecologist Paul Martin) in their own 2005 paper, "Assisted Migration for Torreya Taxifolia" and a pair of papers published in Wild Earth journal in 1999: "Rewilding for Evolution" (by Connie) and "Bring Back the Elephants" (by Paul Martin). This is a color digital powerpoint program. Presented at Teton Nature Center (Moose, Jackson Hole WY, 2005), Sedona Public Library (Sedona AZ, 2006), Weedon Island Preserve (Tarpon Springs FL, 2007), New College (Sarasota, FL 2007), and University of Florida (Gainesville, 2007). Click for an on-line interview with Connie on this subject.


       

    Program #2:
    "Assisted Migration of Plants in a Time of Global Warming" - The cover story of the February 2007 issue of Conservation Magazine explored the pros and cons of human intervention in helping plants track climate change. The New York Times (Science Times section) then summarized the issues raised in that landmark article. The citizen initiative of Torreya Guardians was highlighted in the original article (and again in the June 2008 ORION Magazine), as this group is already engaged in "rewilding" this highly endangered conifer to points far north of its so-called "native range" in the Florida panhandle. Connie Barlow instigated this group, and is among those who suggest that Torreya taxifolia was "left behind in near time" in its Ice Age pocket refuge in Florida. Thus, at this point in an interglacial, where the tree normally would be is the southern to mid Appalachians. Connie and Paul S. Martin co-authored an advocacy paper proposing "assisted migration" of T. taxifolia in the 2005 issue of Wild Earth magazine. Connie also proposed this intervention for Torreya in her 2001 book, The Ghosts of Evolution. Torreya taxifolia is thus the poster plant for assisted migration in eastern North America, while Joshua Tree is the poster plant in western north America. This is a color digital powerpoint program. Presented at Highlands Nature Center (Highlands, NC 2006), Selby Botanical Garden (Sarasota, FL 2007) and New College (Sarasota, FL 2007). Click to access Torreya Guardians website; a list of hotlinks to the key articles; and proposed standards for assisted migration.

    Program #1: SUGGESTED PROMOTIONAL PARAGRAPH:

    In the fall of 2006, a top science journal published an article coauthored by 12 prominent conservation biologists proposing a shift in the "benchmark" commonly used for restoring lost wildlife to former habitats. Most parklands and wilderness areas in North America will continue to be restored to conditions that prevailed just prior to the arrival of Columbus (the "pre-Columbian" benchmark). But what about rewilding a small portion of America's natural heritage to conditions that prevailed just prior to the first human incursion on the landscape — some 13,000 years ago? If one adopts an "end-Pleistocene" benchmark, then it is time to "bring back" the American cheetah, the American camel, the American plains lion, and American mastodons and mammoths by using proxies from the Old World to re-start their evolution in the New, and to restore their vital roles as shapers of ecological landscapes. Join conservationist and science-writer Connie Barlow for an astonishing look at a radical idea in conservation biology now going mainstream.

    Program #2: SUGGESTED PROMOTIONAL PARAGRAPH:

    In the the winter of 2007, a provocative new idea in conservation biology was widely reported in the press. This is the proposal that geographically isolated and slow-to-disperse plants be offered a helping hand to ensure their ability to track global warming and its related climatic shifts. The first two plants proposed for such assistance are America's highly endangered conifer, the Florida Torreya tree, and America's tallest Yucca, the Joshua Tree of the Mojave Desert. Connie Barlow was the first to propose "assisted migration" for the Florida Torreya tree. In her 2001 book, The Ghosts of Evolution, she argued that Florida Torreya was "left behind" in its Ice Age refuge in northern Florida. The tulip trees and hemlocks and sweet gums moved back north as the glaciers receded, but Torreya was unable to do so. Join conservationist and science-writer Connie Barlow for an inside look at this latest controversy, where the concern for biodiversity, native species, and global warming all intersect.

    PREVIOUS PROGRAMS by Connie Barlow

    I. Based on Connie's 2001 book, The Ghosts of Evolution and articles excerpted from that book: "Haunting the Wild Avocado" (in Wild Earth magazine, 2000); "Ghost Stories from the Ice Ages" (in Natural History magazine, 2001); and "Anachronistic Fruits and the Ghosts Who Haunt Them" (in Arnoldia magazine, 2001). Also based on her 2005 paper (with Paul S. Martin) in Wild Earth journal: "Assisted Migration for Torreya Taxifolia"

  • "Rewilding Torreya Trees to Appalachia" (presented at Highlands Nature Center, Highlands NC (2006) COLOR POWERPOINT [based on her work with www.TorreyaGuardians.org]
  • "Botanical Ghost Stories from the Ice Ages" (presented at Selby Botanical Gardens, FL, 2003) COLOR
  • "Anachronistic Fruits: Why a Deep Time Perspective is Crucial for Conservation" (at Stanford, Biology Department, 2003) COLOR
  • "The Ghosts of Evolution" (at National Zoo public lecture and Smithsonian research seminar, 2002; also at Brooker Creek Preserve, Tarpon Springs FL, 2007) COLOR
  • "Ghosts of the Ice Age Mammals" (at American Museum of Natural History, 2001; University of Kansas, Zoology, 2002) COLOR
  • "Anachronistic Fruits and the Ghosts Who Haunt Them" (at New York Botanical Garden, 2001; Baker University KS, Biology Dept., 2002) COLOR
  • "The Elder Wisdom of Plants" (at Heartwood Institute, CA, 2002)
  • "The New and Practical Science of Evolutionary Ecology" (at Miami-Dade Community College, 2004; The Gailer School, Burlington VT, 2003) COLOR


    • II. Based on Tim Flannery's 2001 book, The Eternal Frontier,
    and Connie's articles in Wild Earth:     "Goodbye Eternal Frontier" (2002); "Rewilding for Evolution" (1999); "Re-Storying Biodiversity by Way of Science" (1998)

  • "The 65 Million Year Story of the North American Continent" (at John Abbot College and Vanier College in Montreal QC, 2003; at Edgewood College WI, 2002) COLOR
  • "North America Story: Becoming Native to Place" (at University of Wisconsin Arboretum, 2002) COLOR
  • "What Is Native? And How Does a Deep Time Perspective Instruct Us?" (at Northwest Earth Institute in-service training, Portland OR) COLOR
  • "Our North American Story: From T. rex to Today" (at Holy Names College CA, Sophia Center, 2002) COLOR
  • "The Wildlands Project" (at University of Wisconsin Arboretum, 2002)

    III. Based on Connie's 1997 book, Green Space, Green Time: The Way of Science), and as excerpted in UU World, The Humanist, and Wild Earth magazines

  • "The Importance of Deep Time in Environmental Studies" (presented at Warren Wilson College, NC, Environmental Studies, 2002; University of Tennessee Chatanooga, Environmental Studies, 2004)
  • "The Mythic Potential of the Great Story" (at Edgewood College WI, Anthropology, 2002)
  • "Green Space, Green Time: The Way of Science" (at University of California Fullerton, Biochemistry Dept.; University of Vermont, Environmental Writers Lecture Series; Rhode Island School of Design, 1998)

      

    IV. Micellaneous Presentations

  • "Evolutionary Parables". For creative writing classes, or general science classes writing across the disciplines, as excerpted in EarthLight magazine.
  • "We Are Stardust". For chemistry or general science classes; introductory to technical lectures, with VIDEO and GRAPHICS, that present the scientific story of the creation of chemical elements inside stars. (Presented in workshops for secondary school teachers of independent schools, Columbia SC 2004.) This program is highly recommended for chemistry, astronomy, and earth science classes; download the background documents and charts that Connie uses.
  • "Death Through Deep-Time Eyes" (presented at Stanton College, NJ; What Is Enlightenment? magazine, MA; EarthLight magazine, CA) Draws from mainstream science in 8 disciplines to examine how death, as a material fact, is natural and generative at all levels of reality: from stars and galaxies to cells within developing fetuses. Click here for more details and illustrations of this Death program.


    Click to see an annotated list of Popular and Academic Writings by Connie Barlow.

    Religion, Philosophy, and Humanities Lectures
    by Michael Dowd

    (based on his 2007 book, Thank God for Evolution!
    and other writings by Michael available on this website)

       

    LEFT: Michael at Public Speaking class at Wenatchee Valley College (WA).
    RIGHT: And at St. Ursula Academy in Sylvania, Ohio.


      

    published in 2007


    Michael's book is endorsed by 5 NOBEL LAUREATES, other scientists, and religious leaders across the spectrum

    * * *

    Visit the Thank God for Evolution! website for

  • samples of audio and video clips from Rev. Dowd's media interviews and live presentations

  • the entire 432-page book downloadable for free in PDF

  • Rev. Dowd's BLOG: "The Evolutionary Evangelist"

  • link for purchasing the book

    • Click to view an annotated list of Popular and Academic Writings by Michael Dowd.

    CONNIE BARLOW is the author of three popular science books that explore the intersection of evolutionary and ecological sciences with philosophy and religion: Green Space, Green Time (1997 Copernicus); Evolution Extended: Biological Debates on the Meaning of Life (1994 MIT Press); From Gaia to Selfish Genes (1991 MIT Press). Her most recent book, The Ghosts of Evolution (2001 Basic Books), is widely regarded as an important contribution to the field of evolutionary ecology and was the No. 1 "Editor's Choice" among science books at Amazon.com. Connie was a correspondent for Wild Earth, a contributing editor for EarthLight, and has also written for Natural History, Arnoldia, BioScience, and other journals. A warm and unpretentious speaker, Connie offers dynamic powerpoint presentations as a guest lecturer in college science classes and for public or research presentations in major museums and botanical gardens. For ecospiritual workshops, she crafts presentations that feature audience involvement. Her great joy is sharing ways in which an understanding of the evolutionary and ecological sciences can enhance our communion with the natural world.

    MICHAEL DOWD is the author of Thank God for Evolution! (2007, Council Oak Books). During the 1980s and 90s he pastored three United Church of Christ congregations, worked with Jewish, Catholic, Protestant, Evangelical, Unity, and Unitarian Universalist leaders throughout the U.S. on environmental issues, and managed municipally funded Sustainable Lifestyle Campaigns on both coasts. A gifted speaker and well-known teacher on the sacred and psychological implications of a science-based cosmology, Michael has addressed more than a thousand secular and religious groups over the past two decades, particulary since Spring 2002, when he and his wife launched their itinerant teaching work. His great joy in life is telling the 14 billion year history of everyone and everything in ways that evoke awe, gratitude, and trust, inspire faith, and empower people to follow the path where their own great joy and the world's great need intersect. NOTE: Michael often speaks to Christian audiences, where he elicits an enthusiastically positive response. Yet he has also spoken to hundreds of groups of atheists, secular environmentalists, Buddhists, Native Americans, and other non-Christian and non-religious groups and received equally positive responses. He is especially skilled at speaking to audiences of diverse worldviews, such as one might find in a college classroom. In those circumstances, his words appeal to the full range of views: from biblical literalists to atheists.

    Connie Barlow and Michael Dowd offer a variety of programs for college students and college communities, ranging from slide-lectures in evolutionary-ecology by Connie to religion and philosophy by Michael, to environmental issues and ethics by both. We are independent agents, not affiliated with any religious or educational organization; we are moved to be of service in helping others to share our sense of awe and belonging in a 14 billion year old universe, as known through mainstream science. We earn our living selling books after evening and weekend presentations we make to adult groups in environmental or spiritual retreat centers, botanical gardens, and a variety of churches. College programs in individual classrooms and for broader events are usually offered pro bono, provided we have already booked paying presentations in your area.

    Scheduling Presentations

    Michael and Connie are passionate about these topics and will present them wherever there is interest, with or without financial compensation. This is our calling; we are especially eager to bring these perspectives to college students. So in the spring of 2002, we embarked on an itinerant lifestyle, lining up speaking engagements on a regional basis to minimize transportation time and costs. Our road tour teaching is made possible by a commitment to voluntary simplicity, by the generosity of those who open up their homes to us, and by the occasional honoraria we receive. To learn when they will be in your region, click for our ITINERARY. To discuss the possibility of having us bring one or more of these presentations to a classroom or college campus, contact our personal assistant at:

    Click to learn more about us and our work and words of praise about us from college professors and students.


    WWW www.TheGreatStory.org