March 25, 2009

• More than 800 biologists to attend

• Open to the public

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - Two-time Pulitzer Prize winning Harvard University biologist and Birmingham native E.O. Wilson, Ph.D., will deliver keynote remarks at a symposium co-hosted by UAB and Jacksonville State University in April. Wilson, who won the Pulitzer Prize for General Non-Fiction in 1978 for "On Human Nature" and 1990 for "The Ants," is widely considered the world's pre-eminent biodiversity researcher and expert. A one-time entomologist for the Alabama Department of Conservation, Wilson moved on to a career at Harvard University in 1953 and continues on the faculty today.

The 1 p.m. April 3 symposium featuring Wilson is the climax of the four-day 70th annual Meeting of the Association of Southeastern Biologists (ASB). The meeting takes place April 1-4 at the Birmingham Jefferson Convention Center (BJCC) and Sheraton Hotel Birmingham. The conference, which is the year's largest Southeast regional meeting of biologists, also includes more than 370 scholarly lectures, with as many as 10 presentations happening concurrently in locations throughout the BJCC each day.

The general public is invited to attend the symposium with E.O. Wilson, Ph.D., for an admission fee of $40. Tickets can be purchased the day of the event at the ASB registration desk on the third floor of the BJCC East Meeting Room. Parking will be available at the Sheraton Hotel Birmingham, 2101 Richard Arrington Jr. Blvd.

For costs and information related to attending the entire four-day conference, contact Ken Marion, Ph.D., at kmarion@uab.edu or George Cline, Ph.D., at gcline@jsu.edu.