5:30 PM Reception
6:30 PM Prize Presentation and Lecture

Prize Recipient:
Suzanne Simard, Ph.D.
Professor of Forest Ecology
University of British Columbia
Author of Finding the Mother Tree: Discovering the Wisdom of the Forest

LECTURE VIDEO

For over two decades, Jennifer L. Eberhardt has demonstrated, with hard data, the extensive and inescapable nature of hidden racial biases. She has also developed strategies to correct these damaging attitudes and the behaviors that result from them. In her book Biased: Uncovering the Hidden Prejudice That Shapes What We See, Think, and Do, Eberhardt weaves experimental and observational studies with personal stories from her experience as an African-American woman and mother, bringing to life the prejudice that pervades our society.

For her accomplished record in applying rigorous scientific methods to the behavioral study of race, and her exceptional storytelling, Eberhardt will be presented with the Lewis Thomas Prize for Writing about Science on April 7. More>>

In his 2017 book, The Evolution of Beauty, Richard Prum challenges a central idea about evolution by natural selection, questioning the prevailing view that the astonishing visual and vocal displays of male birds signal their adaptive fitness. Instead, Prum posits that females’ preference for the most stimulating, attractive males is what drives the evolution of many of the most elaborate and extraordinary traits in animals.

For his exceptional writing, Prum was presented with the 2021 Lewis Thomas Prize for Writing about Science last week. The prize, established by the trustees of Rockefeller in 1993, honors scientists as inspirational authors. More>>