The Gund Institute will host Dr. Norman Myers, a University of Vermont Marsh Professor-at-large, during the first two weeks of October. Dr. Myers has been a major contributing member of consultancy projects for research organizations and development agencies for nearly four decades. He has served as a consultant for the U.S. National Academy of Sciences, the World Resources Institute, the White House, the World Bank, the Rockefeller and MacArthur Foundations, and many other agencies and organizations.

Dr. Myers record of accomplishments in the fields of biodiversity, environment, energy, and development date to the early 1970s. He has authored or co-authored over 250 scientific papers and 17 books. He is also acknowledged as the creator of the biodiversity hotspot concept. Dr. Myers is well-known internationally and is the recipient of many prestigious awards, including the Blue Planet Prize, the UNEP/Sasakawa Environment Prize, and the Volvo Environment Prize. He is only the second environmentalist worldwide to receive all three leading prizes. Dr. Myers received a Bachelor of Arts and Master of Arts degrees from the University of Oxford, a Doctor of Philosophy degree from the University of California at Berkeley, and a Honorary Science Degree from the University of Kent.

While visiting UVM and the Gund Institute, Dr. Myers will host a Gund tea on Friday, October 7th at 12 noon in the GreenHouse conference room of the residential learning community. On Tuesday, October 11th he will deliver a Marsh Professor lecture entitled "The Citizen is Willing but Society Won't Deliver: the Problem of Institutional Roadblocks" at 3:00 pm in the Livak Room of the Davis Center. The seminar is based on his book Perverse Subsidies, published in 2001 with Jennifer Kent by Island Press (Washington, DC).