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DURHAM, N.C. – Dean Urban, professor of environmental sciences and policy at the Nicholas School of the Environment, will present the 2023 Henry J. Oosting Memorial Lecture in Ecology at 4 p.m. Thursday, March 30 in Love Auditorium at the Levine Science Research Center on Duke’s West Campus.

His talk, “Landscape Ecology: A Disciplinary Memoir,” is free and open to the public, but to ensure a seat you must register by March 24. 

Urban’s research in landscape ecology has led to the development of new analytical approaches to conservation planning and a deeper understanding of the agents and implications of pattern in forested landscapes—particularly the importance of habitat connectivity. A hallmark of his work is the integration of field studies, spatial analysis, and simulation modeling to help extrapolate fine-scale empirical understanding of environmental issues to the larger space and time scales of management and policy.

Urban’s studies have been cited more than 28,000 times by other scientists and have received funding from numerous federal agencies, including the National Science Foundation, the National Park Service and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. He was named a Distinguished Landscape Ecologist, a lifetime achievement award, by the U.S. Chapter of the International Association for Landscape Ecology, in 2014.

In addition to his research and teaching, he served as the Nicholas School’s senior associate dean for academic initiatives from 2014 to 2018 and as chair of its Environmental Sciences & Policy Division from 2010 to 2014.

The Oosting Lecture is presented annually by 91��������’s Nicholas School of the Environment, Department of Biology and University Program in Ecology. This is the 50th year the lecture has been presented.

A reception with light refreshments will precede Urban’s talk at 3:30 p.m. in the adjacent Hall of Science.