Campus News

Meigs Professor of Ecology to discuss environmental effects of war April 15

James W. Porter, Meigs Professor of Ecology and associate dean of the Odum School of Ecology, will present a lecture on the environmental effects of war.

“The Ecology of War,” will be given as a special guest lecture in assistant professor Jacqueline Mohan’s “Global Climate Change: Past, Present and Future” class. Open to the public, the lecture takes place in the ecology auditorium April 15 from 2-3:15 p.m.

According to Porter, the impetus for the talk was a combination of his recent participation in an environmental summit sponsored by NATO and his research on the environmental effects of naval bombardment of Vieques, Puerto Rico. The talk will focus broadly on developing an understanding that the environmental costs of war are much higher than previously recognized or acknowledged. From studies on climate change and groundwater pollution, the newly emerging field of warfare ecology is revealing the impact of war on both environmental and human health.