Professor named to chair of excellence

Dr. Anne LaBastille, an internationally recognized authority on the conservation of endangered wildlife and preservation of wilderness, has been named to the Wayne G. Basler Chair of Excellence for the Integration of Arts, Rhetoric and Science for the fall 2001 semester at ETSU.
LaBastille will teach “Wilderness Literature and Writing” during the semester.
She also will deliver four free public lectures: “Thoreau and the Woodswoman” on Sept. 10; “Women and Wilderness” on Oct. 8; “Environmental Restoration at Atitlan, Guatemala: A Dangerous Case Study” on Nov. 12; and “The Adirondacks – The Beauty and the Peril” on Dec. 5.
All lectures are scheduled for 7 p.m. in the Martha Street Culp Auditorium in the Culp University Center.
LaBastille’s background is rich with varied experiences.
She has worked on photojournalism assignments for National Geographic Magazine from Adirondack Park in New York to the parks of Central America; served as director for Smithsonian Institution projects; helped the World Wildlife Fund establish parks in Guatemala and Panama; and acted as staff ecologist and lecturer on specially designed cruises to Central America, the Caribbean, Baja California and Alaska.
Some of LaBastille’s major interests include introducing and training women for wilderness experiences, international conservation projects, including the preservation of Lake Atitlan in Guatemala, and domestic environmental concerns, especially the state of New York’s Adirondack Park.
LaBastille is the author of five children’s books and nine books for adults, including Woodswoman, Women and Wilderness, and most recently, Jaguar Totem.
She resides in New York state in a log cabin she built herself, but maintains a busy schedule of lectures and workshops concerning the wilderness and photojournalism in locations as diverse as Cornell University and University of the Valley in Guatemala.
Two television documentaries have featured LaBastille’s life and work.
She also was the first woman to receive the Citation of Merit from The Explorers Club and the Jade of Chiefs Award from the Outdoor Writers Association of America.