Conservation Lecture February 5, 2011

Polar bears in the 21st Century - the science of today, the hope for tomorrow. Dr. Steven C. Amstrup. Dr. Amstrup, senior scientist with Polar Bears International, retired in July of 2010 after 30 years as project leader for Polar Bear Research at the United States Geological Survey, Alaska Science Center, Anchorage, AK. He has been conducting research on all aspects of polar bear ecology in the Beaufort Sea since 1980. He is a past chairman of the IUCN Polar Bear Specialist Group and has been an active member of the group for 30 years. He has authored or coauthored more than 100 peer reviewed articles on movements, distribution and population dynamics of large mammals, and is the senior editor of a recent text on population estimation methods. Dr. Amstrup led the team of researchers that prepared 9 reports that became the basis for the recent decision to list polar bears as a threatened species in 2008. Tickets may be purchased at the zoo's reception office during regular operating hours, or ordered online with service charge.