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January 13, 2009

ULM professor first speaker in monthly series slated at Museum of Natural History Jan. 20

John Carr, Ph.D., a biology professor at the University of Louisiana at Monroe, will be the first to deliver a monthly series of scientific presentations at ULM’s Museum of Natural History this spring.

The public is invited to hear Carr’s topic, “The Amazing Amazon: A trip to the Brazillian Rainforest,” beginning at 6:30 p.m., Jan. 20, at the museum. Friends of the Museum of Natural History will host the event.

Carr will present a “travelogue” describing his 2008 visit to the world's second longest river; only the Nile, in Africa, is longer. The Amazon also produces approximately 20 percent of all the water that the world's rivers pour into the oceans.

Carr earned a doctorate in Zoology from Southern Illinois University in 1991; He earned a masters of science in Wildlife & Fisheries Sciences from Texas A&M University in 1981, where he also earned a bachelor’s degree in zoology.

He recently guided a British Broadcasting Corp. film crew on a tour of Black Bayou Lake National Wildlife Refuge. The crew had contacted Carr to capture footage of one of the lake’s largest predators, the North American Alligator Snapping Turtle.

Dr. Michael Zambie, first president of the Friends of the Museum of Natural History, said the organization plans to provide the public an array of scientifically based lectures each month during the spring semester.

“The lectures will also be a great time for the community to come in and see all the interesting and educational displays the museum offers,” said Zambie.

The museum houses significant research collections of fishes, reptiles and amphibians, plants, fossils and archeological artifacts, and its world-class vertebrate and plant collections are the largest in Louisiana. The museum recently received approval to participate in the National Museum Assessment Program, a first step toward full accreditation.

For information about the upcoming lectures, or to become a member of Friends of the Natural History Museum, contact Zambie at 318-322-5555.

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