A biology professor from one of MTSU‘s international education partners will discuss conservation efforts in the Amazonian rainforest during a special campus visit Tuesday, Jan. 28.

Dr. Juarez Pezzuti

Dr. Juarez Pezzuti, professor of biology at Brazil’s Federal University of Pará, will speak on “Amazon Burning: Conservation Struggles Balancing People and Wildlife in the Rainforest” at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday in Room 1006 of MTSU’s Science Building at 440 Friendship St.

A campus map is available at http://bit.ly/MTSUParkingMap. A handicapped-accessible entrance is available at the front of the Science Building.

MTSU’s Department of Sociology and Anthropology and the Department of Biology are presenting the free public discussion, which is part of MTSU’s Distinguished Lecture Series.

Pezzuti teaches at the Belém, Pará-based university, also known as UFPA, in its Program for Sustainable Development of the Humid Tropics and also teaches courses in zoology and aquatic ecology and fishing. His research includes ecology, ethnoecology, and wildlife management with an emphasis on aquatic reptiles.

During his MTSU lecture, Pezzuti will discuss his research and current events in the Brazilian Amazon.

The professor’s interest in Amazon ecology bridges the gap between the natural and social sciences and includes his work on subsistence hunting and wildlife management by indigenous and traditional populations, community-based population recovery of overexploited Amazonian wildlife and the effects of community-based management on river turtles.

His publications include subsistence hunting rights in the Brazilian Amazon, assessing mercury concentration in river turtles as a result of gold mining, and unpacking changes in mangrove social-ecological systems.

The Federal University of Pará is one of more than 50 educational institutions worldwide that collaborate with MTSU on student and faculty exchange and research.

For more information about this lecture, please contact Dr. Richard Pace of the Department of Sociology and Anthropology at richard.pace@mtsu.edu.

— Gina E. Fann (gina.fann@mtsu.edu)