6:00 p.m. - Hors d’oeuvres reception and gallery visit to Survivor: The long journey of lake sturgeon temporary exhibition with live music performed by an ensemble from the U-M School of Music, Theater, and Dance. Museum of Natural History Lower Level
7:00 p.m. - Panel discussion, Room 1060 Biological Sciences Building

Sturgeon are ancient fishes, tracing their lineage back more than 100 million years. In the Great Lakes system, lake sturgeon are not only the largest indigenous freshwater fishes, they are also important players in complex aquatic food webs. Their remarkable past has given way to a tenuous future as overfishing, habitat loss, and pollution threaten their survival. Today, there is hope in efforts to restore lake sturgeon populations and spawning grounds, as well as in public awareness initiatives that share the cultural and ecological significance of this species. Thanks to the leadership of Michigan Native American Tribes and other organizations, lake sturgeon are beginning to make a comeback. Join a panel of experts as we explore the past, present, and future of this extraordinary endemic fish:

Matt Friedman, Director, U-M Museum of Paleontology and Associate Professor, Earth and Environmental Sciences
Karen Alofs, Assistant Professor, U-M School for Environment and Sustainability
Doug Craven, Director, Natural Resources Department, Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa Indians

This program and the temporary exhibition, Survivor: The long journey of lake sturgeon, are offered as part of the LSA Great Lakes Theme Semester, https://lsa.umich.edu/greatlakes.

This event honors the memory of Dr. William R. Farrand, who served as director of the U-M Exhibit Museum of Natural History for seven years (July 1993-June 2000), and who enjoyed a long career as a professor at the University of Michigan’s Department of Geological Sciences. Numerous friends, colleagues, and family members contributed to an endowment fund to ensure that this annual honorary lecture will be offered in perpetuity.