Many species of large land animals are currently at risk of extinction. Jeff Yuwill examine ways to protect the biodiversity of North America at the next installment of Dixie State University’s weekly lecture series, “Dixie Forum: A Window on the World.”

Yule will present “Cloning, Rewilding, Baseline Decisions, and Ecological Restoration: Navigating North America’s Ecological Options” from noon to 12:50 p.m. on Tuesday, Oct. 18 in the Dunford Auditorium in the Browning Resource Center on the Dixie State campus. Admission is free, and the public is encouraged to attend.

For about the last 50,000 years, large land animals have been at particular risk of extinction. The continual contraction of large predator distributions and populations has a range of consequences that have already begun to play out and will likely continue to do so far into the future.

Traditionally, scientists have focused on biological conservation and habitat restoration. Recently, they have been considering options including extinct species cloning and the creation of parks that would support biological communities similar to those that existed during the last ice age. By presenting a series of examples, Yule will help the audience understand North America’s potential ecological futures and make informed decisions about which one(s) should be pursued.

Jeff Yule studies extinctions and science in society via literature, biology, environmental studies, and environmental science. He is particularly interested in the biological causes and consequences of extinctions and in developing a better understanding of the ways in which people can or might prevent extinctions — or, failing that — respond to them. Before joining the Interdisciplinary Arts & Sciences faculty at Dixie State, he was a professor of biology, environmental science, environmental studies, and English.

Dixie Forum is a weekly lecture series designed to introduce the St. George community and DSU students, faculty and staff to diverse ideas and personalities while widening their worldviews via a 50-minute presentation. Dixie Forum will continue at noon on Tuesday, Nov. 1 in the Dunford Auditorium with a presentation on nutrition by Susan Roberts.

For more information about Dixie State University’s Dixie Forum series, please contact DSU Forum Coordinator John Burns at 435-879-4712 or burns@utahtech.edu or visit humanities.utahtech.edu/the-dixie-forum.