Date: Oct 03, 2007

Leading Urban Ecology Scholar to Visit Hofstra

Presidential Scholar Dr. Eric Strauss to be guest lecturer, give public talk on how man and nature interact

Hofstra University, Hempstead, NY  – Eric Strauss, Ph.D., director of Boston College's Environmental Studies Program and science director of its Urban Ecology Institute, will visit Hofstra from Oct. 17-19, 2007 as part of the University's Presidential Scholar program.

Dr. Strauss is a leading expert in the field of urban ecology, which emphasizes the interface between cities and the natural environment and the need to achieve a balance between man and nature. In addition to being a guest lecturer in several classes and holding a seminar for Biology Department faculty during his Hofstra visit, Dr. Strauss will give a public lecture, "The Frontier of Urban Ecology and the Challenge of Rejuvenating America" on Thursday, Oct. 18, 2007 from 4-6 p.m. in the Leo A. Guthart Culture Center Theater, Joan and Donald E. Axinn Library, south campus. The lecture, which is co-sponsored by the Biology Department and the Center for Civic Engagement, is free and open to the public.

With a focus on behavioral ecology, Dr. Strauss's group conducts its research in the Boston Metropolitan Area and the Sandy Neck Barrier Beach Complex on Cape Cod, Massachusetts, where they focus on factors that influence reproductive success and life history patterns of coyotes, white-tailed deer and diamondback terrapins. Long-term research efforts are strengthened by collaborations with the Urban Ecology Institute, the Urban Sciences Research & Learning Group and the Urban Ecology Collaborative. Each of these collaborative partners work to promote the stewardship of healthy urban ecosystems by improving our knowledge of urban ecological function, and by engaging communities in the process of urban restoration and transformation.

Their studies serve as curricula for courses taught at Boston College, partner universities and collaborating high schools. Dr. Strauss is also senior author of a nationally distributed science textbook (Biology the Web of Life) and an upcoming textbook in urban ecology. In 1991 he co-founded the environmental policy and consulting firm Environmental Consulting Professional, Inc. Dr. Strauss' research is supported by the National Science Foundation, The Henry David Thoreau Foundation, The Boston College Intersections Program, and other funding agencies.

Dr. Strauss received his Ph.D. in biology from Tufts University (1990), his B.S. from Emerson college (1981), high honors, and his A.A. from Cape Cod Community College (1980), high honors. He is currently research associate professor at Boston College, director of science of its Urban Ecology Institute, director of its Environmental Studies Program.

His current awards and grants total $4.2 million, including a $2 million National Science Foundation grant for which he is principal investigator, Urban Ecology Course Materials Created with a Universal Design for Learning Framework, fall 2006 to fall 2009.

Hofstra University is a dynamic private institution where students can choose from more than 140 undergraduate and 155 graduate programs in liberal arts and sciences, business, communication, education and allied human services, and honors studies, as well as a School of Law. With a student-faculty ratio of 14-to-1, our professors teach small classes averaging 23 students that emphasize interaction, critical thinking and analysis. Hofstra offers a faculty whose highest priority is teaching excellence, cutting edge technology, extensive library resources, internships and special educational programs that appeal to their interests and abilities. The Hofstra community is driven, dynamic and energetic, helping students find and focus their strengths to prepare them for a successful future.