Lowell Lecture
The Snow Leopard Project: And Other Adventures in Warzone Conservation
Date & Time
Nov. 20, 2019 at 7 p.m. - 8 p.m.
Location
New England Aquarium
1 Central Wharf Boston, MA 02110
Driving Directions
Speaker(s)
Dr. Alex Dehgan, CEO, Conservation X Labs
Presenting Organization
Topics
Contact
Maggie See (aquariumlectures@neaq.org, 6179736596)
Postwar Afghanistan is fragile, volatile, and perilous. It is also a place of extraordinary beauty. Evolutionary Biologist Dr. Alex Dehgan arrived in the country in 2006 to build the Wildlife Conservation Society’s Afghanistan Program, and preserve and protect Afghanistan’s unique and extraordinary environment, which had been decimated after decades of war.
The efforts of Dehgan, an evolutionary biologist and former diplomat working for the Wildlife Conservation Society, were central to the creation of the first Afghanistan National Park Program. In his book, The Snow Leopard Project: And Other Adventures in Warzone Conservation, Dehgan takes readers along with him and his team through some of the most dangerous places in postwar Afghanistan as they work to establish the country’s first national park, complete some of the first extensive wildlife surveys in 30 years, and act to stop the poaching of the country’s iconic endangered animals, including the snow leopard.
Dehgan will reflect on innovative approaches to advancing the environment and security in some of the most politically and ecologically fragile places in the world, while exploring connections between conservation and political stability. This talk will also consider the larger changes of the political landscape and evolving U.S. positions toward Afghanistan, while showing spectacular imagery from Afghanistan that never crosses our televisions or computers.
Doors open at 6 p.m., and there will be a cash bar from 6 p.m. to 7 p.m.
A book signing of The Snow Leopard Project: And Other Adventures in Warzone Conservation will be held in the lobby after after his presentation. Hear from the NOAA scientists aboard the R/V Okeanos Explorer in this special Ship-to-Shore event. They’re visiting the region for the first time since it designated a marine national monument in 2016. Watch amazing deep sea submersible footage and then participate in a live Q&A session with NOAA scientists about the ship and what they’re seeing below the surface. Hear from a member of the Aquarium’s Anderson Cabot Center for Ocean Life aerial survey team about the biodiversity seen from the air. Learn why it’s so important to study and protect this marine protected area.
Cash Bar and Monument Pop-Up Exhibit, 6 p.m. to 7 p.m Lecture begins promptly at 7 p.m.