In addition to presenting a public lecture, each forum speaker interacts with environmental science students through class visits, a dinner and informal conversations.
| 2023 | Elizabeth Rush | Pulitzer Prize finalist and former journalist. Author of Rising: Dispatches from the New American Shore | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | Elizabeth Kolbert | Pulitzer-prize winning author of The Sixth Extinction: An Unnatural History and journalist. | |
| 2018 | Ginette Hemley | Wildlife conservation: Senior vice president for wildlife conservation at the World Wildlife Fund | |
| 2016 | Joan Maloof | Scientist/writer: Old-growth forest conservation | |
| 2015 | Burt English | Agricultural economics: Biofuels | |
| 2014 | Josh Fox | Filmmaker: “Gasland” | |
| 2013 | Barbara Kingsolver | Writer: “Flight Behavior” | |
| 2012 | Brian Donahue | Historian: Environmental history (forests, agriculture, New England) | |
| 2010 | Amanda Griscom Little | Journalist | |
| 2009 | Scott Russell Sanders | Writer: Fiction and non-fiction, including “A Conservationist Manifesto.” | |
| 2008 | William Schlesinger | Scientist: Biogeochemist, dean of Nicholas School of the Environment, Duke University | |
| 2007 | Michael Pollan | Writer: “Omnivore’s Dilemma” | |
| 2006 | W. Tayloe Murphy, Jr. | Government: Virginia’s secretary of natural resources from 2002-2005 | |
| 2005 | Mark Hertsgaard | Journalist: “Earth Odyssey” | |
| 2004 | E. O. Wilson | Scientist: Biodiversity loss | |
| 2003 | Severn Cullis-Suzuki | Young activist: Intergenerational justice | |
| 2002 | Michael Mann and Pat Michaels | Scientists: Climate change debate | |
| 2001 | Julia Butterfly Hill | Young activist: Saving California’s redwoods. | |
| 2000 | David Orvos | Scientist: Ecotoxicology | |
| 1999 | Adam Werbach | Young activist: Young president of the Sierra Club |