Photo from National Park Service website
Dr. E.O. Wilson during a 2014 interview with National Park Service staff.
The Hoover Public Library on Tuesday, April 22, plans to honor the life and legacy of Dr. Edward Wilson, a biologist, two-time Pulitzer Prize winner and advocate for biodiversity during an Earth Day event.
A native of Mobile and longtime professor at Harvard University, Wilson passed away in December 2021, leaving behind a legacy of scientific discovery and environmental advocacy.
The event at the Hoover Public Library, scheduled from 6 to 7:30 p.m., will include a showing of a special edition of Alabama Public Television’s “Discovering Alabama” show that focused on Wilson’s work and legacy.
As part of this Earth Day programming, Dr. James McClintock, professor emeritus at the University of Alabama at Birmingham and board of advisors at the E.O. Wilson Biodiversity Foundation, will talk about his work with the foundation and Wilson’s legacy. In tributes after Wilson’s death in 2021, McClintock highlighted Wilson’s influence on his thinking about human nature, the consilience of knowledge and conservation as a whole.
In a creative tribute to Wilson, the program will feature poetry readings by two Alabama writers — Beth Stewart, former executive director of the Cahaba River Society, and Halley Cotton, instructor at UAB and managing editor of the Birmingham Poetry Review.
Others influenced by Wilson’s work who are to be present include herpetologist Jimmy Stiles and Sierra Stiles, director at the Turtle Point Science Center, both of whom are environmental educators who travel the state introducing Alabamians to the state’s diverse flora and fauna.
Light snacks will be provided at the event at the Hoover Public Library. For more information, contact Shannon Haddock at 205-444-7820.
