Anyone who has seen the 2006 Oscar-winning documentary An Inconvenient Truth can recall the image of polar bears’ ice floes melting beneath their feet. How has the polar bear population fared since?
On Thursday, January 20 at Bellarmine University, wildlife biologist Dr. Eric Regehr will discuss his research on polar bears. Regehr, who holds a Ph.D. in zoology and physiology, has worked in Alaska since 2002 as a wildlife biologist for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and U.S. Geological Survey. His current work involves documenting changes in polar bear health and behavior over time to determine how climate change is affecting the survival and abundance of polar bears in the Arctic.
On Friday, Regehr will visit the Louisville Zoo to meet with staff and discuss the upcoming Alaskan simulation exhibit, Glacier Run, which is scheduled to open in early spring.
The event, which will take place from 3:30 to 4:30 p.m., will be held at Hilary’s on the first floor of Horrigan Hall. Visitors who do not have Bellarmine parking passes are asked to park in the freshman parking area near the tennis courts; passenger drop-off is available in Franciscan Circle immediately to the north of Horrigan. It is free and open to the public. For more information, contact Jason Cissell, Bellarmine’s director of media relations, at 272-8329 or jcissell@bellarmine.edu.
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Photo: Flickr/Tamara Manning
