Alan Weisman traveled the world and spoke to paleontologists, structural engineers, biologists, art conservators, diamond miners, marine biologists, astrophysicists, and even Buddhist monks to find out what the world would be like without people.

On Wednesday, March 24, the radio producer and author will share with the West Virginia University community some of what he has learned about the impact of human activity on the natural world. Weisman will present “The World Without Us” as part of the 2010 David C. Hardesty, Jr. Festival of Ideas at 7:30 p.m. in the Mountainlair ballrooms.

Currently senior radio producer for Homelands Productions, Weisman has reported from the U.S., Mexico, Canada, Central and South America, the Caribbean, Antarctica, Europe, the former Soviet Union, the Middle and Far East.

His radio pieces have been heard on National Public Radio, Public Radio International and American Public Media. His writing has appeared in “Harper’s,” “New York Times Magazine,” “Atlantic Monthly,” “Los Angeles Times Magazine,” “Orion,” “Audubon,” “Mother Jones,” “Discover,” “Cond� Nast Traveler,” “Resurgence” and in several anthologies including “The Best American Science Writing 2006.”

Weisman’s most recent book, “The World Without Us,” was translated into more than 30 languages. It was named the Best Nonfiction Book of 2007 by both “Time Magazine” and “Entertainment Weekly,” the #1 Nonfiction Audiobook of 2007 by iTunes; a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award in Nonfiction, for the Orion Prize and a Book Sense 2008 Honor Book.

He is currently working on his sixth book, on the planet’s carrying capacity. Weisman is a professor of journalism and Latin American Studies at the University of Arizona, where he leads an annual field program in international journalism.

He has been a Fulbright Senior Scholar in Colombia, writer-in-residence at the Altos de Chav�n Escuela de Arte y Dise�o in the Dominican Republic, John Farrar Fellow in Nonfiction at the Bread Loaf Writers’ Conference and a contributing editor to the “Los Angeles Times Magazine.”

Weisman’s presentation is cosponsored by the Claude Worthington Benedum Lecture Series. A book signing will follow his presentation in the Mountaineer Room of the Mountainlair.

Weisman will be the fifth speaker at WVU’s 2010 David C. Hardesty Jr. Festival of Ideas. The lecture series is scheduled to feature nine events and seven outstanding professionals. The series will continue through April.

The series is supported in part by the David C. Hardesty Jr. Festival of Ideas Endowment, which was established in 2007 by the WVU Foundation, a private, nonprofit corporation that generates, receives and administers private gifts from individuals and organizations for the benefit of WVU.

To view the complete 2010 Festival of Ideas schedule, visit http://festivalofideas.wvu.edu .

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