Dillard University will host a student ecology and leadership conference from Feb. 20-23. The event, which will bring diverse undergraduate students from across the country to New Orleans, is organized by the Ecological Society of America’s Strategies for Ecology Education, Diversity and Sustainability program (SEEDS), which encourages underrepresented students to study ecology and assume leadership in the field. The Mitsubishi Corporate Foundation for the Americas is sponsoring the event.

The conference’s theme is “Ecological Recovery and Prevention of Environmental Disasters: Harnessing Science and Building Social Resilience.” Workshops will study environmental disasters in a variety of ways, from assessment to prevention, and use Hurricane Katrina and the Deepwater Horizon oil spill as case studies. Field trips to sites in New Orleans will explore the impact of these cataclysmic events on ecosystems and communities and give students an opportunity to engage in recovery projects.

Featured presenters will include Dr. Lovell Agwaramgbo, professor of chemistry and chair of Dillard’s School of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics; Dr. Amy Lesen (co-organizer of the conference), associate professor of biology and the advisor for the ESA-SEEDS chapter at Dillard; Dr. Beverly Wright, founder of the Deep South Center for Environmental Justice at Dillard; Dr. Scott Collins, president of the Ecological Society of America; Darryl Malek-Wiley of the Sierra Club; representatives from Tulane University and the University of New Orleans; and more.

For more information about the event, contact Dr. Amy Lesen at (504) 816-4843 or This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .