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Feb. 7, 2005 Volume 29, Issue 23 |
Sorority offers 'experience' with Animal Planet star
The popular host and namesake of the Animal Planet television channel’s “Jeff Corwin Experience” will be featured at a special Feb. 21 public event.
Corwin, a wild-animal specialist and habitat conservationist, is the first speaker for the Dorothy Garrett Martin Lectureship in Values and Ethics, an annual campus program established last fall by the university’s Delta Gamma social sorority. Corwin’s address will begin at 7 p.m. in Humphrey Coliseum.
MSU chapter members and alumnae raised $50,000 to match an equal amount from a Delta Gamma Foundation national grant provided by the Paul Martin family of Akron, Ohio.
To date, 11 of 14 proposed Martin Lectureships have been launched through the foundation. MSU remains the only Southeastern institution in the 11-campus contingent.
“The lectureship’s goal is to bring speakers annually who can discuss topics that educate students and other campus community members on the value and importance of ethical conduct in their personal and professional lives,” said chapter president Katie Lightsey of Jackson.
According to Corwin’s biography, he was introduced to tropical rain forests while on a 1984 summer expedition to the Central American nation of Belize. While later pursuing dual bachelor’s degrees in biology and anthropology at Bridgewater (Mass.) State College, he became an activist for protecting rain forests of the Americas.
Corwin also holds a master’s from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, where his graduate research focused on Central American bats. In 1999, he was honored with an honorary doctorate in public education from Bridgewater State for his work in communicating the importance of natural-resource conservation.
Since first airing in 2000, the Animal Planet program has generated a loyal following—including an online Corwin fan club.
Prior to his current high-profile TV role, Corwin helped establish the Cambridge, Mass.-based Emerald Canopy Rainforest Foundation and served as a member of the United Nations Environment Program. He also produced “Jaguar Trax,” a docudrama situated in Costa Rica, and produced and hosted a Disney Channel series titled “Going Wild with Jeff Corwin.”
In addition to his broadcast work, Corwin is developing a book series that explores the natural history of endangered species and the threatened ecosystems they inhabit.
For more information on or to make a tax-deductible donation to the DG lectureship program, contact chairperson Paula Raffo at phraffo@yahoo.com or 323-8363.