The next event in our regular series of events on Tuesdays in Second Life will be a presentation and discussion with Dr Jonathan Baillie, Conservation Programmes Director at the Zoological Society of London

Jerboa

We are currently entering the greatest extinction crises in human history. As the wave of extinction intensifies we will have to make difficult decisions about which species and ecosystem to focus on. In this talk I argue that we must prioritize Evolutionarily Distinct and Globally Endangered Species (EDGE Species) such as the golden rumped elephant shrew, bumblebee bat or the long-eared jerboa. These are species that have evolved for millions of years independently and tend to be genetically, behaviourally, ecologically, and physically different from all other species. Focusing on these species will help conserve the amazing diversity of life on earth and may help maintain future evolutionary potential.

Dr Baillie is a global authority on the status and trends of threatened species. He is Conservation Programmes Director at the Zoological Society of London and works with a large number of projects which focus on monitoring the status of rare and threatened species. His extensive fieldwork experience includes research and monitoring of western lowland gorillas in Gabon, Central Africa, developing ecotourism sites in Central Africa, monitoring rare endemic birds in the Gulf of Guinea, behavioural studies of desert baboons in Namibia.

He will be Nature Publishing Group’s guest in Second Life on Tuesday 21st July at 10am PDT where he will give a talk and take questions from the audience. All very welcome!

Title: The EDGE Project
Date: Tuesday 28th July, 10am PST / 1pm EST / 6pm BST
Speaker: Dr Jonathan Baillie, Zoological Society of London
Location: Nature Amphitheatre, Second Life
Contact: Joanna Wombat / j.scott@nature.com