Dr. Amy Vedder, who launched a highly recognized Mountain Gorilla Project in Rwanda and initiated several other park and forest protection initiatives in central Africa, leads off the 2002 Barrows Lecture Series, sponsored by the Cincinnati Zoo and Botanical Garden.

        Dr. Vedder, director of the Living Landscapes Program at the Wildlife Conservation Society, New York, recently wrote a book, In the Kingdom of Gorillas — Fragile Species in a Dangerous Land, with her husband, Dr. Bill Weber.

IF YOU GO

What: 2002 Barrows Lecture Series.     When: 7:30 p.m. April 11, April 29, May 23, Aug. 29, Sept. 2.6     Where: Rockdale Temple, 8501 Ridge Road, Amberley Village.     Tickets: $9 per lecture. Discounts (up to 30 percent) for zoo members, volunteers and students. Send payment with a self-addressed stamped envelope to Zoo Education Lecture Series, P.O. Box 198073, Cincinnati 45219-8073.     Information: (513) 559-7767.

        She will appear 7:30 p.m. April 11, at Rockdale Temple, 8501 Ridge Road, Amberley Village.

        The series, now in its ninth year, draws experts in the fields of endangered species and ecosystems to inform the public and support various programs of the local zoo.

        Other speakers in the series:

        • Dr. Wangari Maathai, the first black African woman to receive a doctorate degree and the first female Kenyan professor at the University of Nairobi, will speak April 29.

        She has been designated as winner of the 2002 Cincinnati Zoo Wildlife Conservation Award for her work.

        In 1977, she founded the Greenbelt Movement and organized African women to plant more than 10 million trees. The project was expanded to include family planning and nutrition education.

        She has received numerous awards, including the Goldman Environment Award, the African Prize for Leadership and the Golden Ark Award of the Netherlands. Time magazine selected her as one of the top environmental leaders of the century.

        She teaches at the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies through the Dorothy McCluskey Visiting Fellowship in Conservation.

        • Dr. Terri Roth, vice president of Animal Sciences and director of the Center for Conservation and Research of Endangered Wildlife at the local zoo, will speak May 23. She is being recognized for her work in rhinoceros reproduction.

        For the past five years, Dr. Roth has dedicated herself to researching and achieving the first captive birth of a Sumatran rhino in 112 years. The baby, Andalas, was born here Sept. 13 at 165 pounds. His mother is 11-year-old Emi.

        With fewer than 300 remaining, Sumatran rhinos are among the world's most endangered animals.

        Dr. Roth continues her work with the International Rhino Foundation in collaboration with Malaysian and Indonesian colleagues in an effort to protect the Sumatran rhino.

        • Dr. David Wilcove, author of The Condor's Shadow: The Loss and Recovery of Wildlife in America and other publications related to the wildlife and natural habitat conservation and conservation policy, will speak Aug. 29.

        Dr. Wilcove, who has worked for the Nature Conservancy, the Wilderness Society, the Environmental Defense Fund and the Safe Harbor program, is working now with Princeton University scientists to pinpoint concentrations of endangered species.

        • Scott Burns, environmental biologist and lawyer and director of the World Wildlife Fund's (WWF) Conservation Program, will speak Sept. 26.

        He has taken the lead in developing WWF's campaign for global marine conservation and has helped determine national and international fisheries policies since 1994. He has served as staff attorney and director of the Environmental Defense Program and the Chesapeake Bay Foundation.

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