"Seeing Ourselves and Earth With New Eyes by Christopher Uhl
Ecologist Christopher Uhl, professor of biology at Penn State presents a speech as part of the 2010-11 University Theme, "A Sustainable Future." In addition to publishing numerous articles, Uhl is the author of "Developing Ecological Consciousness: Path to a Sustainable World."
As an ecologist, Uhl looks at the world and sees a finite planet being overwhelmed by humans. As he summarizes, 'soils are thinner, ground water increasingly polluted and scarce, the atmosphere tainted, climate destabilized, and many plant and animal species endangered."
Early in his career, Uhl had an interest in both medicine and ecology, and he has joined these interests under the rubric of "ecological healing." During the 1980s, he studied the ways in which Amazon ecosystems heal after human assaults. In the 1990s, he focused on the role that universities might play in healing-for example, by assuming roles of leadership in the so-called Sustainability Revolution.