AMES, Iowa -- Paul Watson, who founded the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society -- the leading direct action ocean conservation organization -- will speak at Iowa State University on Thursday, April 7. His talk, "Whale Wars," will be at 7 p.m. in the Memorial Union Great Hall. The lecture is free and open to the public. It is part of the university's Earth Day 2011 observance and the Live Green! Sustainability Series.
Since 2002, Watson and his crew have attempted to stop Japanese ships from hunting whales in Antarctica. Their efforts are documented in the Animal Planet's series "Whale Wars," now in its fourth season.
Watson also is a co-founder of Greenpeace and the Greenpeace Foundation. He became involved in environmental activism in 1969 at age 19 when he helped organize a voyage on the U.S. and Canadian border to protest nuclear testing at Amchitka Island. An outcome was formation of the Don't Make a Wave Committee, which sponsored the voyage of the Greenpeace 1 in October 1971.
Watson is the author of several books, including "Sea Shepherd: My Fight for Whales and Seals," "Earthforce," "An Earth Warriors Guide to Strategy," "Ocean Warrior: My Battle to End the Illegal Slaughter on the High Seas" and "Cry Wolf."
Watson has worked for Defenders of Wildlife, Fund for Animals and the Royal Society for the Protection of Animals. He cofounded the Earthforce Environmental Society and Friends of the Wolf. He was elected to the national board of the Sierra Club USA, serving as a director from 2003-06. In 2000, Time Magazine selected Watson as one of the environmental heroes of the 20th century.
Watson's talk is cosponsored by World Affairs, Green
Umbrella, the Marine Biology Club, ActivUs and the Committee on
Lectures, which is funded by the Government of the Student
Body. More information on ISU lectures is available at http://www.lectures.iastate.edu,
or by calling 515-294-9935.