Home
About
Fellowships
Faculty Resources
Cosponsorship
Subvention
Lectures
UO Today
Publications
Robert D. Clark Lecture in the Humanities
The Clark Lecture in the Humanities, established in 1994 with a gift from the Bowerman family, promotes "public discussion on the natural sciences, the history of Oregon, and the interface between science and social and cultural affairs, as exemplified by Thomas Condon, legendary frontier missionary, geologist, paleontologist, and founding member of the University of Oregon." Named for UO President emeritus Robert D. Clark, author of The Odyssey of Thomas Condon, this lectureship has brought to campus many outstanding writers and naturalists including David Rains Wallace, Chris Maser, Terry Tempest Williams, William Cronon, David Quammen, and Kathleen Dean Moore.
Denis Hayes
President and CEO of the Bullitt Foundation, National Coordinator of the first Earth Day in 1970
"Is Prosperity Incompatible with Posterity?"
February 24, 2010
7:30 p.m.
150 Columbia HallAt its core, ecology is the study of how energy is captured and harnessed as efficiently as possible. Success always requires a net energy gain. For example, if it takes a predator more energy to hunt down its food than it gets from eating that food, Darwin will make swift work of the predator. With the dawn of the steam age, humans began to harness abundant sources of coal, and then oil and gas. Cheap, plentiful energy allowed us to create an ecological bubble -- a huge population using resources at a rate far above the long-term carrying capacity of the planet. This ecological bubble dwarfs in importance the various economic bubbles that occasionally bedevil societies. If the ecological bubble is not addressed with far more intelligence than was applied to the financial bubble or the dot.com bubble, the consequences will be catastrophic. Hayes will explore how civilization might move toward an ecologically-informed economic system that values quality over quantity, fine craftsmanship and beautiful design over the latest fad, sustainable wealth over unsustainable growth
For a complete list of previous Clark lecturers, click here.
Updated: 11/12/09
