The Land of Cinnamon and Gold: 500 Years of Amazon Science and Exploration-Thomas Lovejoy

Featured Speaker: Thomas Lovejoy, Ph.D., Senior Fellow, United Nations Foundation; Professor, Department of Environmental Science and Policy, College of Science, George Mason University

The Amazon is as big as the 48 contiguous United States and represents the greatest terrestrial repository of biodiversity on Earth. The Amazon river system contains 20 percent of all the world’s river water and more species of fish than any other river. It has been inhabited for millennia by very sophisticated indigenous tribes, some of which remain uncontacted. Not surprisingly, the Amazon has drawn the attention of scientists and explorers. Thomas Lovejoy presents the highlights of exploration and science from the 1539-1541 expedition of Francisco de Orellana up to the present day.

The Land of Cinnamon and Gold is a Conservation Conversation of The Academy of Science – St. Louis, the Saint Louis Zoo, and the Living Earth Collaborative Center for Biodiversity. Special thanks to co-sponsors the Whitney R. Harris World Ecology Center at the University of Missouri-St. Louis, the American Association of University Women, and the Tuesday Women’s Association of The Ethical Society of St. Louis.

Free and OPEN to ALL. Junior Academy members and middle and high school students are welcome and encouraged to attend. Reservations not required. Parking is free in the Zoo North lot or on the street in Forest Park.