The anthropology department co-sponsored a talk by David Macdonald, founder and director of Oxford University’s Wildlife Conservation Research Unit (WildCRU).

The talk, “People and Nature: Conservation, Conflict, and Compromise”was presented 8 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 22. It was 35th annual Hefner Lecture.

The theme of Dr. Macdonald’s lecture was the interconnectedness of all parts of nature, from water to plants, plants to animals, and animals to people.
Dr. Macdonald drew from the diverse work of WildCRU, the conservation unit at Oxford University, using examples the extended connections between mice, lions, elephants, farmers, hunters and others to reinforce his message that when facing conservation issues, we have to choose the nature that we want. While taking action to protect the environment, we have to recognize the delicate balance between nature and conservation, and we have to take into account that making a change in one piece of nature can certainly have unforeseen consequences in many other segments of nature.

Macdonald, Oxford University’s first professor of wildlife conservation, studies the behavioral ecology and conservation of wild mammals – in particular carnivores – ranging from meerkats in the Kalahari to capybaras in Venezuela to wood mice in the United Kingdom.

In 1986 he founded WildCRU, the first university-based conservation research unit in Europe. It has now grown to be one of the largest and most productive conservation research institutes in the world. With more than 50 researchers and members drawn from more than 30 countries, WildCRU’s projects range from the Scottish Highlands to Mongolia, West Africa and the Galapagos Islands. Its mission is to achieve practical solutions to conservation problems through original scientific research.

Anthropology helps support the annual Hefner lecture in recognition of the strong ties between anthropology's primatology program and the zoology department.