On February 11, 2014, Edward O. Wilson delivered a public lecture entitled “The Diversity of Life” to an enthusiastic audience at Duke University’s Reynolds Theater. Wilson weaved together an engaging and wide-ranging presentation, accompanied by a slideshow of photographs, drawings, and graphs, and filled with his personal stories of his journey as a scientist.
In his talk, Wilson covered the present day threats to biodiversity and the risks the loss of biodiversity holds for the human race. Watch Wilson’s lecture and the question-and-answer session below, and read coverage of his talk in the Duke student newspaper The Chronicle.
The sponsors of Wilson’s lecture—the E.O. Wilson Biodiversity Foundation and the Nicholas School of the Environment at Duke University—signed an agreement in November 2013 to launch a number of new biodiversity initiatives. As part of the agreement, Wilson taught a one-credit course, “Environment 590: Biodiversity and the Meaning of Human Existence,” at the Nicholas School in February 2014.
