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Intellect

Hal Black to deliver John Tanner Lecture at BYU's Bean Museum Dec. 1

Titled “Bears, Bugs, Buttresses, and Bats: Life Has Loveliness to Sell”

Brigham Young University integrative biology professor Hal Black will discuss his work with black bears and other creatures at the semi-annual John Tanner Lecture, hosted by the Monte L. Bean Life Science Museum, Thursday, Dec. 1, at 7 p.m. in the Tanner Auditorium of the Bean Museum.

The museum will also host a reception prior to the lecture at 6 p.m. in the main exhibit gallery. Admission to both the lecture and reception is free and the public is welcome. The Bean Museum is located southeast of the Marriott Center on the BYU campus.

Titled “Bears, Bugs, Buttresses, and Bats: Life Has Loveliness to Sell,” Black’s lecture will focus on the wonders of nature and highlight many fun and interesting experiences he has had while studying the various “critters.”

The lines “life has loveliness to sell” come from a poem by Sara Teasdale, which is a tribute to the wonders of the world. Black said he is using the lines as a theme for the lecture because nature has so many great attributes and he wants to try to describe some of them during his address.

After receiving his bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the University of Utah and a doctoral degree from the University of New Mexico, Black spent time in Africa teaching at the University of Zambia. In 1975, he accepted a job at BYU where he has taught various science classes for the last 30 years.

Named after a 19th century Utah businessman, the John Tanner Lectureship honors experts in fields of natural history. It began in 1989 through a donation by the John Tanner Family Organization.

For more information, contact Hal Black at (801) 422-4553.

Writer: Brian Rust

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Photo by Steve Walters/BYU Photo

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