Renowned zoologist reveals the life of mammals

Monday, 31 July 2017

Internationally renowned zoologist, Professor Kris Helgen, will talk about his experiences discovering unknown animals in some of the most remote regions of the world at a free public talk at the University of Adelaide this Wednesday.

Professor Helgen, who completed his PhD at the University of Adelaide in 2006, returned to the University this year after 10 years as Curator-in-Charge of the Division of Mammals at the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History in Washington DC.

He has worked as a zoologist in more than 50 countries and, in 2013, made international headlines when he discovered a new member of the raccoon family – the olinguito – found living in the cloud forests, high in the Andes Mountains of Colombia and Ecuador. He has discovered about 100 new species of living mammals.

Professor Helgen’s searches have taken him to the wildest regions of almost every continent.

“Conventional wisdom would have it that we know all the mammals of the world,” he says. “In fact, we know so little,” says Professor Helgen. “There is so much more that’s profoundly different from anything ever discovered out there waiting to be found.”

While still a PhD student at the University of Adelaide in 2006, Professor Helgen discovered a “lost world” in the Foja Mountains of New Guinea with exotic new species of frogs, mammals and birds.

Professor Helgen is also an explorer with the National Geographic Society, was named one of Business Insiders Most Inspiring Innovators and Entrepreneurs Under 40, and has featured in numerous documentaries including BBC’s Wild Burma.

Members of the community are invited to attend Professor Helgen’s inaugural lecture at the University’s The Braggs lecture theatre, 5pm, Wednesday 2 August.



WHAT: Inaugural public lecture: The Life of Mammals in a Fast-Changing World
WHERE: The Braggs lecture theatre
WHEN: 5–6 pm, Wednesday 2 August 2017
COST: Free and open to all – please register

 

Contact Details

Professor Kris Helgen
Email: kristofer.helgen@adelaide.edu.au
Professor of Biological Sciences
Environment Institute
The University of Adelaide
Business: +61 8 8313 0262


Media Team
Email: media@adelaide.edu.au
Website: https://www.adelaide.edu.au/newsroom/
The University of Adelaide
Business: +61 8 8313 0814