Thursday September 24, 2009

6:00 - 6:30; reception

6:30 - 8:30 program

Book signing and evening seminar program:

Richard Wiese, author of Born To Explore: How To Be A Backyard Adventurer has lead quite an exciting life!  In 2002, he became the youngest President in the 100-year history of the Explorers Club.  As an Emmy-winning journalist, outdoorsman, and respected field scientist, Wiese has traveled to all seven continents. He has tagged jaguars in the Yucatan jungles, lead an expedition to the Northern Territory of Australia to probe the Aboriginal myth of the Rainbow Serpent, co-discovered 202 forms of new life in the first microbial survey of Central Park in New York City, NY, and founded the Central Park, NY 'Bio Blitz.'

In Born To Explore Mr. Wiese dispels the claim that backyards are boring. He introduces many aspects of outdoor life that many people, both young and old, might not notice -- such as fossil hunting, navigating with stars, predicting the weather, building a radio that does not require electricity, and even making coffee from a bean that grows in New York's Central Park. 

Ever been weary of wearing a watch?  He tells how to tell time without one!  Want to start a fire without matches or lighter fluid? When the snow is falling do you ever dream about making an igloo like an Eskimo?  He can teach you all this and more!

Living an active, nature-filled life in today's society is challenging but certainly not impossible. Wiese's message is not simply about spending more time outdoors; it is about civic-mindedness, the act of doing, being creative, and learning skills that will make you become an interesting and more evolved person.

This is an Education Department Adult Program that is sponsored by the Center for Environmental Policy in it's Town Square Forum series.