Source: Richard Marston, 785-532-6227, rmarston@k-state.edu
http://www.k-state.edu/media/mediaguide/bios/marstonbio.html
News release prepared by: Megan Wilson, 785-532-6415, media@k-state.edu
Thursday, September 6, 2007
K-STATE'S RICHARD MARSTON TO PRESENT FIRST LARSON LECTURE OF SEMESTER
MANHATTAN -- The first Vernon Larson International Luncheon-Lecture of the 2007-2008 school year will be by Kansas State University's Richard Marston, university distinguished professor and head of the department of geography.
Marston will present "Land, Life, and Environmental Change in the Himalayas" Wednesday, Sept. 12, at the Holiday Inn, 17th Street and Anderson Avenue. The lecture will start around 12:20 p.m. and last until 1 p.m. A luncheon starting at 11:30 a.m. will precede the lecture. Cost for the luncheon is $12. Reservations should be made by Monday, Sept. 10, with K-State's office of international programs, 785-532-5990. The lecture is free and open to the public.
The lecture will explore challenges facing mountain scientists, with emphasis on the need to separate environmental change due to human activities from change that would have occurred without human interference. According to Marston, linking cause-and-effect is difficult in mountain regions where physical processes can operate at high rates and ecosystems are sensitive to rapid degradation by climate change, resource development and land use and land cover change.
Marston said his presentation will highlight three special insights that geographers offer to understanding human impacts on mountain landscape stability. The lecture will discuss modern techniques of measuring rates of geomorphic change, the need for training and expertise in understanding both physical and human systems in order to solve problems, and the many methods and theories employed by geographers to attempt to resolve the debate over human-triggered physical landscape change in mountains. Marston said the ultimate goal of his lecture is to raise awareness of human-environmental interactions in the mountain regions.
The Vernon Larson Luncheon-Lecture Series was started in 1979 by Larson, then director of international agriculture programs at K-State. The series consists of six lectures, with three in the fall semester and three in the spring semester. The lectures offer the K-State community a chance to hear from faculty who have recently participated in extensive overseas activity or who are involved in major international activities.