PAUL SMITHS — The Paul Smith’s College Visitors Interpretive Center opens its fall 2023 lecture series Saturday, Oct. 14 at 3 p.m. with “Of Monarchs and Milkweed” by Professor Anurag Agrawal of Cornell University.

Agrawal holds the James Perkins Endowed Chair in Environmental Studies at Cornell University. He obtained both a Bachelor’s Degree in Biology and Master’s Degree in Conservation Biology from the University of Pennsylvania and worked with the renowned tropical ecologist, Daniel Janzen.

In 1999, he earned a PhD in Population Biology from the University of California, Davis.

Anurag lectures widely to professionals and the public, and he has won numerous awards including the highest honors from several academic societies focused on biology, plant science, entomology and ecology.

In 2021, he was elected to the U.S. National academy of Sciences. His research melds questions on the ecology and evolution of interactions between wild plants and their insect pests, including aspects of community interactions, chemical ecology, coevolution, and the entire monarch life-cycle. Integrating natural history, bold scientific theories, and interacting with diverse scientists, from students to citizens, is his passion.

The lecture series continues on Oct. 21 with Adam Welz, “The End of Eden: Wild Nature in the Age of Climate Breakdown”; Oct. 28, “Leave No Trace (LNT) Spotlight Lecture: How to Leave Not Trace and Reduce Your Waster in the Outdoors and Your Daily Life”; and Nov. 4, Jack Bowen and Rocci Aguirre from the Adirondack Council, “VISION 2050 — Redefining the Adirondack Council and Future Advocacy Across the North Country.”

The final lecture in the series will be “Hotter Planet, Hotter Politics” on Nov. 11 with Bill McKibben, the popular author and founder of 350.org and Third act, and his co-lecturer Rev. Lenox Yearwood, Jr., president of Hip Hop Caucus.