Country's Biodiversity Conservationists Come 'Home'

Dr. Lawrence Heaney, Curator and Head of the Division of Mammals at the Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago, USA, points to a slide of his presentation on “Diversity and Conservation of Philippine Mammals: A 20-Year Overview” during the opening of 20th Biodiversity Conservation Symposium of the Wildlife Conservation Society of the Philippines (WCSP) at the Claire Isabel McGill Luce Auditorium at Silliman University. Dr. Heaney was one of three plenary presenters of the symposium hosted by Silliman on April 11 to 14. Looking on at the table are his fellow plenary presenters: Dr. Angel C. Alcala, Professor Emeritus of Silliman University, who spoke on “The Wildlife Conservation Society of the Philippines: 20 Years Working for Biodiversity Conservation, Preparing for Future Challenges,” and Silliman President Dr. Ben S. Malayang III (partially covered by Dr. Alcala) who spoke on “Rethinking How We Think About the Environment and Conservation” (click title to read Dr. Malayang's presentation). Silliman University was the host of the WCSP's inaugural symposium in 1992, which was organized by Drs. Alcala and Heaney. Two other WCSP symposia took place at Silliman before this year's: 1996 and 2001. Ten years after, WCSP comes home to Silliman for its 20th symposium, with close to two hundred conservationists, researchers and environmental advocates from different parts of the country, Australia and the US on its roster of participants. [Click: 20th WCSP Biodiversity Symposium Program]