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Conference on Conservation at Miami

Tomorrow, April 10, Miami University will welcome Thayne Maynard, the director of the Cincinnati Zoo and Botanical Garden, and John Kamanga Ole Ntetiyian, a Kenyan activist for a discussion on the relationship between conservation and houses.

Miami’s Humanities Center is putting on this event as part of the Altman Program Spring Conference. The conference’s theme is “Thinking Interspecies: Conversations about Human-Nonhuman Boundaries.”



Kamanga and Ole Ntetiyian will speak about “Coexistence and Collaboration” at 5 p.m. in 102 Benton Hall, and the speech will be followed by a reception.

The event, sponsored by the Miami University Humanities programs, hopes that this conference can achieve the goal of fostering new campus conversations between scientists, social scientists and humanists.

The speakers have a lot to contribute.  Not only is Kamanga the director for the Cincinnati Zoo and Botanical Garden, but he is also a very active public advocate for biological diversity, natural history and wildlife conversation, and he has been featured on many radio and television programs.

Additionally, Kamanga has written 13 books on wildlife, and has served as the host for the public radio series The 90-Second Naturalist.  Kamanga has made numerous television appearances on popular shows like Good Morning America, The Today Show, CBS This Morning, and Late Night with Conan O’Brien.  His current book, Hope for Animals and the World, was co-authored by Jane Goodall and features the story of endangered species being saved from extinction.

Kenyan activist Ole Ntetiyian has made various contributions to conservation efforts.  He serves as chair of the Olkiramation Group ranch and architect of the Olkiramation community conservation project.  Ole Ntetiyian has coordinated projects for the Kenyan government, the Netherlands Development Organization (SNV), Practical Actions, the UK’s Department for International Development and ActionAid.

He has also worked to promote the conservation of the Maasai culture of the South Rift Valley of Kenya.  In this area, humans coexist with animals including elephants, lions and other wildlife among social and environmental pressures.

It’s an event you don’t want to miss!