Robert T. Walker (UF Department of Geography)
March 19, 2024
Scott Nygren Scholars Studio
Library West
5:30 PM
“…Even if the tree was aware of my approach, there was no guarantee it would welcome me. Just because I thought we were mutually sympathetic co-habitants of the same planet did not make it so. I was an intruder in Patagonia, not necessarily a welcome one. If the tree could talk, it might tell me to quit acting like we were evolutionary partners. It might tell me to turn around, continue down the trail, and disappear for good.
“In truth, I wasn’t at all like the tree or the condor. For one thing, my species was of a more recent origin. Yes, we’d been orphaned on occasion, forced to cross continents to survive. Yes, we’d suffered earthquakes and landslides, predation and starvation. But we were different in a fundamental way. Unlike the condor and southern beech, we mostly fled from disasters of our own making, as refugees from what we’d deliberately destroyed. The condor and southern beech would probably soon cease to exist because of us. There was no escaping who we were: the apocalyptic species…”
This event is free and open to the public.
About the Speaker
Robert T. Walker is a Professor in the University of Florida’s Department of Geography and Center for Latin American Studies, a core faculty member of UF’s Tropical Conservation and Development Program, an affiliate faculty member of UF’s Natural Resources and the Environment program, and an affiliate faculty member of Nucleo de Meio Ambiente, Federal University of Pará, Brazil.
“Apocalyptic Species” is sponsored by Imagining Climate Change and the George A. Smathers Libraries.