Chatham University Rachel Carson Visiting Scholars program welcomes Zygmunt Plater to campus October 13-21

The Rachel Carson Visiting Scholars program in Chatham University’s Falk School of Sustainability and Environment is pleased to welcome its inaugural Scholar, Zygmunt J. B. Plater, JD, SJD, professor at Boston College Law School and a national figure in endangered species conservation. Plater is widely known for representing farmers, Cherokee Indian tribes, and the endangered snail darter in challenging the environmental impacts of the Tennessee Valley Authority's Tellico Dam. Plater ultimately argued the case before the U.S. Supreme Court in one of the most important conservation decisions in U.S. history.

For his Rachel Carson Visiting Scholars residency, Plater will visit Chatham for a series of lectures, panels, a stream conservation field visit, and other working sessions and events running Thursday, October 13 through Friday, October 21. This visit is part of the Falk School’s growing emphasis on conservation as a cornerstone of the school’s academic offerings and its support of broader regional biodiversity efforts.

The Rachel Carson Visiting Scholars program provides an opportunity for leading experts from around the United States and beyond to visit and live at Chatham’s groundbreaking Eden Hall Campus engaging with Chatham faculty, students, and partners, and sharing their work with local and regional leaders in Pittsburgh. Rachel Carson Visiting Scholars are experts in one of the following areas:

• environmental science and natural resource conservation,

• food and agriculture,

• sustainable and equitable communities,

• sustainable business practices, and

• environmentally-inspired creative writing.

Additional information about the Rachel Carson Visiting Scholars program and Professor Plater’s biography and residency agenda can be found at www.carsonscholars.chatham.edu.