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The Distinguished Scientist Lecture Series Continues with Dr. Doug Tallamy’s "Bringing Home Nature: How Native Plants Sustain Wildlife in Our Gardens," April 24

ANNANDALE-ON-HUDSON — On Friday, April 24, the Distinguished Scientist Lecture Series at Bard College presents University of Delaware Professor Doug Tallamy’s presentation on how native plants can sustain wildlife in our gardens, titled “Bringing Home Nature.” The program takes place at 5 p.m. in Olin Room 102, and is free and open to the public.

“Bringing Nature Home” explores how gardening in this crowded world carries both moral and ecological responsibilities that can no longer be ignored. Tallamy argues that native plants play a key role in the restoration of our landscapes because only natives provide the coevolved relationships required by most animals. By supporting a diversity of insect herbivores, native plants provide food for a large and healthy community of natural enemies that keep herbivores in balance and our gardens aesthetically pleasing. With as many as 33,000 species imperiled in the United States, it is clear that we must change our approach to gardening and landscaping if we hope to share the spaces in which we live and work with other living things.

Doug Tallamy is professor and chair of the Department of Entomology and Wildlife Ecology at the University of Delaware in Newark, Delaware, where he has authored 69 research articles and has taught insect taxonomy, behavioral ecology, and other courses for 28 years. Chief among his research goals is to better understand the many ways insects interact with plants and how such interactions determine the diversity of animal communities. His book Bringing Nature Home; How Native Plants Sustain Wildlife in Our Gardens was published by Timber Press in 2007 and was awarded the 2008 silver medal by the Garden Writer’s Association.

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This event was last updated on 04-09-2009