Woods Lecture Series 2025-2026

Fall 2025

Dr. Lily-Arison René de Roland

A Global Conversation with Indianapolis Prize Winner

Monday, September 29, 2025, 7:30 PM
Schrott Center for the Arts

Renowned conservationist Dr. Lily-Arison René de Roland, the Peregrine Fund’s national director of its Madagascar Program, will share his journey from rediscovering species in Madagascar, thought to be extinct, to winning the Indianapolis Zoo’s Indianapolis Prize for his critical work.  Dr. Rene de Roland will be joined by his colleague, from the Peregrine Fund, Dr. Stéphanie Razakaratrimo, who will expand on how their collective work is having a positive impact on species in the wild.

John Vucetich

Lessons From Six Decades of Observing the Wolves of Isle Royale

Wednesday, October 15, 2025, 7:30 PM
Shelton Auditorium

John Vucetich has been leading research on the wolves and moose of Isle Royale since 2000. He is also a distinguished professor at Michigan Technological University, where he teaches courses on population biology and environmental ethics. He’s testified before both houses of the U.S. Congress on wolf conservation, and he is the author of Restoring The Balance: What Wolves Tell Us About Our Relationship With Nature (2021) and The Biology And Conservation Of Animal Populations (2024). 

Dawn Wright

The Dive of a Lifetime to the Deepest Place on Earth

Thursday, November 13, 2025, 7:30 PM
Shelton Auditorium

Dawn J. Wright, Ph.D., is Chief Scientist of the Environmental Systems Research Institute, a world-leading geographic information system software and spatial data science company. She is also courtesy professor of Geography & Oceanography at Oregon State University, and an elected member of the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering, and the American Academy of Arts & Sciences. Dr. Wright was the first Black female to dive to the deep ocean floor in a research submersible and the first Black person of any gender (and only the fifth woman) to dive nearly 7 miles to the deepest spot on the entire planet. Dr. Wright’s work has had a significant impact on research in seafloor and global terrestrial mapping, environmental conservation, and the development of integrated data management, interoperability, and infrastructure across conservation science. 

Daniel Schacter

Remembering, Imagining, and the Brain

Thursday, December 4, 2025, 7:30 PM
Shelton Auditorium

Daniel L. Schacter is William R. Kenan, Jr. Professor of Psychology at Harvard University. Schacter’s research has examined the relation between explicit and implicit memory, the nature of memory distortions, how memory is related to future thinking, imagination, and creativity, and the effects of aging on memory. Schacter has won various awards for his research and has been elected to the National Academy of Sciences. He has authored several books, including Searching for Memory and The Seven Sins of Memory, both named as New York Times Notable Books of the Year. 

Spring 2026

Hava Siegelmann

Computer Science, Neural Networks, AI, Ethics

Wednesday, February 18, 2026, 7:30 PM
Schrott Center for the Arts

Hava Siegelmann is a national and international expert in AI, Neural networks, and Computational Neuroscience. She conducts highly interdisciplinary research in next-generation machine learning, neural networks, and computational studies of the brain – with biomedical, industrial, and defense applications. Among her contributions are the Bio-inspired Replay algorithm to enable Continual Learning, the Signal Propagation algorithm to substitute the back-propagation with forward-only, small size low power hardware that also enables learning during inference, the Support Vector Clustering algorithm for Data Science, delineating jet-lag mechanisms, identifying brain structure that leads to abstract thoughts, and the Super-Turing computation theory which has become the backbone of the latest generation of biologically inspired neural networks and lifelong learning machines.

Siegelmann recently completed her term as a DARPA PM. One of her key initiatives, Lifelong Learning Machines (L2M), inaugurated “third-wave AI,” pushing major design innovation and a dramatic increase in AI capability. “GARD” is leading to unique advancements in assuring AI robustness against attack. “CSL” is introducing powerful methods of combined learning and information sharing on AI platforms without revealing private data. Other programs include advanced biomedical applications.

Eduardo Brondizio

Environmental Anthropology in Amazonia

Thursday, March 26, 2026, 7:30 PM
Shelton Auditorium

Dr. Eduardo Brondizio is an environmental anthropologist from Indiana University. His decades of work to better understand how humans and the environment interact in the Amazonian region of South America recently earned him the prestigious Tyler Prize for Environmental Achievement, often referred to as the “Nobel Prize for the environment”. He is also a recent recipient of the Volvo Environment Prize, another highly prestigious award. Brondizio’s work has made important contributions to the human role in Amazonian conservation, land use, sustainability and human well-being.

Claire Bowen

From Raw Data to Well-Done Decisions: Baking Federal Data into Facts that Serve the Public Good

Tuesday, April 14, 2026, 7:30 PM
Schrott Center for the Arts

Claire McKay Bowen (she/her) is a senior fellow and leads the Data Governance and Privacy Practice Area at the Urban Institute. Her research focuses on developing technical and policy solutions to safely expand access to confidential data for advancing evidence-based policymaking and ensuring everyone is responsibly represented in data. She also has an interest in improving science communication. In 2024, she became an American Statistical Association Fellow “for her significant contributions in the field of statistical data privacy, leadership activities in support of the profession, and commitment to mentoring the next generation of statisticians and data scientists.” Further, she is a member of the ICPSR Governing Council and several other data governance and data privacy committees as well as an adjunct professor at Stonehill College.